Italy’s parliament has approved
slashing the number of its members by 37 percent.
The BBC is reporting that Italy’s
lower house passed a new law to cut the number of representatives in both
chambers “to save cost”.
The law, passed on Tuesday, will
see the number of parliamentarians in the lower house reduced from 630 to 400
while senators will be reduced from 315 to 200.
With each MP and senator said to
be earning €230,000 and €249,600 respectively annually, the cut is expected to
save Italy about €82 million every year.
Five Star Movement, the main
party in Italy’s governing coalition which had promised the cut, was quoted as
saying the measure will streamline parliament and save an estimated €1 billion.
Riccardo Fraccaro, cabinet
secretary, also said the reduction in the number of MPs is for the benefit of
the ordinary citizens.
“It’s the day we’ve been awaiting
forever. After almost 30 years of broken promises, the cut in MPs and senators
is a reality,” he reportedly said.
“A new political season is
starting, now the citizens are at the centre.”
The new law, which is to be
subjected to a referendum before taking effect, is however, not widely approved
of.
The BBC quoted critics as saying
it will “weaken democracy and increase the influence of lobbyists”.
The initiative by the Italian
parliament comes amid clamour for Nigeria’s federal lawmakers to make some
adjustments in their numbers or in their pay to reduce the cost of governance.
A senator earns N13.5 million as
running cost monthly while a member of the house of representatives is said to
earn N12 million monthly.
Rochas Okorocha, senator
representing Imo west, recently said Nigeria does not need 109 senators and 360
members of the house of representatives.
He told his colleagues that their
numbers should be slashed by 70 percent.
“What (are) three senators doing
that one senator cannot do?” Okorocha had asked.
“Here, we have three senators per
state. Over there (house of representatives), over there, we have 360 eligible
human beings. This country must begin to make sacrifices and cut down the cost
of governance.”
Over
N70 billion was spent as running cost for senators in the 8th assembly.
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