(ANSA) - Rome, September 21 - Changing a Constitutional reform to allow the direct election of future regional Senators by the Italian people cannot happen because the reform bill has already been passed in the same form twice, but a form of picking the Senators as in a 1995 regional law is possible, Premier Matteo Renzi told his Democratic Party executive Monday.
Renzi went on to say that it would be an "unprecedented" break with protocol if Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso were to open to changes to Article 2 of the government's Senate reform bill.
"I'd have to convene the PD caucuses of both houses for an emergency joint session" if the Senate speaker were to take sides, the premier told the meeting, which was called to thrash out an agreement with internal leftwing dissenters over Article 2 of the government's Senate reform bill.
The article in question says the future, leaner Senate would be made up of regionally selected officials, while the PD rebels want Senators elected directly by the Italian people.
The bill is not the result of a "palace coup", Renzi said, recalling that the now-defunct 'Nazarene Pact' with former premier Silvio Berlusconi that first envisaged the reform was conceived by the PD. "The fairy tale of a surprise palace coup might be OK for talk shows but not even children believe it," he said.
The premier went on to compare his government's reforms to Japan's rugby team. "The Japanese took their opponents by surprise...and went all out," he told the meeting. "They achieved the seemingly impossible, much as the reforms we have made seemed impossible a year and a half ago". Japan beat South Africa at the weekend in what was the biggest upset in rugby World Cup history.
The government is "one step from the finish line, and anyone who decides to interrupt this process must say so and explain why," Renzi went on. "We seek the broadest possible consensus, as long as the debate...is on the merits...if (this) conceals an attempt to constantly raise the stakes, let it be known we won't accept diktats".
Article 2 of the bill now before the Upper House is a "very small part of the jigsaw" of a much larger Constitutional reform plan, Renzi said.
"The idea that the PD, every day, is not going public on issues like immigration, Europe and growth but instead is quibbling over...amendment X or Y is reductive and frustrating for our militants and volunteers," he said.
"Do we want to go on debating technical details that could be solved in 15 minutes or do we want to move ahead with reforms?" Renzi said. "Naysayers are a minority in Italy, the country is tired of self-referential quarrels".