Assemblea Costituente
The Assemblea Costituente was the constituent assembly of the Italian Republic . The assembly was elected on June 2 and 3, 1946 and met between June 25, 1946 and January 31, 1948 in the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome .
On June 2 and 3, 1946, a referendum also decided on the future form of government , with the monarchy losing out. June 2nd is Italy's national holiday to this day .
The Assemblea Costituente was a unicameral parliament with the usual legislative and ratifying powers of a regular representative body . She elected a provisional head of state . The governments appointed by it were dependent on the confidence of the Constituent Assembly.
Of the 556 members of the assembly, 75 formed the so-called "Committee for the Constitution" (Commissione per la Costituzione - Commissione dei 75) , which prepared the draft constitution for the new republic. The plenum of the Assemblea Costituente adopted the constitution on December 22, 1947.
On the basis of the constitution that came into force on January 1, 1948, the first parliament of the Italian Republic was elected on April 18, 1948 .
background
The fascist regime of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini had eroded or abolished the constitutional order of Statuto Albertino of 1848 and the established parliamentary system of government from 1925 . After losing World War II and the Cassibile Armistice , the Kingdom of Italy continued to exist despite the Allied occupation.
After the end of the fascist regime, there was broad consensus in Italy on the need for a new constitution. However, the question of the future form of government divided Italian society deeply.
Consulta Nazionale
The governments appointed by the Italian monarch between 1944 and 1946 under the supervision of the Allies ruled within the framework of the requirements of the occupying powers without an elected parliament. In order to limit this deficiency until the election of a parliament, the advisory committee Consulta Nazionale was created by a decree of April 5, 1945 . The first around 300 and later around 430 members of the Consulta were mainly sent by the anti-fascist parties that formed the National Liberation Committee . But also trade unions , cultural organizations, professional associations and veterans of the Resistancea were represented . The former Foreign Minister Carlo Sforza was in the chair .
The Consulta Nazionale met between September 25, 1945 and May 10, 1946 in the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome. There were ten standing technical committees . The Consulta laid the foundations for the elections on 2 and 3 June 1946 in which in Italy for the first time women were allowed to vote. The official dissolution of the Consulta Nazionale took place on June 24, 1946, one day before the constituent meeting of the Assemblea Costituente .
Assemblea Costituente
The Constituent Assembly was elected on the basis of a pure proportional representation system. Since no elections could take place in the provinces of Bozen , Gorizia , Trieste , Pola , Fiume and Zara due to the post-war situation, only 556 of the originally planned 573 seats were awarded. The turnout was almost 90 percent. The strongest parties included the Democrazia Cristiana (DC) with over 35 percent and 207 seats, the socialist PSIUP with over 20 percent and 115 seats and the Communist Party (PCI) with just under 19 percent and 104 seats.
On June 25, 1946, Giuseppe Saragat (PSIUP) was elected President of the Assemblea Costituente . Umberto Terracini (PCI) held this office from February 8, 1947 to January 31, 1948 .
On June 28, 1946, the assembly elected the liberal politician Enrico De Nicola as interim head of state.
Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi resigned with his first government after the election of the Assemblea Costituente and the provisional head of state on July 1, 1946, but was again commissioned to form a government. De Gasperi II and III cabinets were based on grand coalitions in the Constituent Assembly . De Gasperi's second cabinet had to resign in February 1947 because of the split in the PSIUP, and his third cabinet in May 1947 because the United States demanded the expulsion of communists and socialists from government. De Gasperi's fourth cabinet remained in office until after the parliamentary elections in April 1948.
In the absence of a constitution, government control and other parliamentary activities were based on the principles of the Albertino Statute and the liberal parliamentary tradition until 1924. In addition to the drafting of the new constitution, the ratification of the Paris Peace Treaty and the budget laws for 1947 and 1948 were of particular importance .
Commissione dei 75
The assembly and structure of the Assemblea Costituente corresponded to a democratic parliament with members , presidium , parliamentary groups and committees. The special committee for the constitution, also known as the "Committee of 75" after the number of members, was to draft the new republican constitution.
The committee was formed on July 15, 1946 and was chaired by the former Minister and President of the State Council, Meuccio Ruini . The committee was divided into three sub-committees. Umberto Tupini (DC) chaired the subcommittee that prepared the section on rights and obligations of citizens. The State Building Subcommittee was headed by Umberto Terracini (PCI), and the Economic and Social Relations Subcommittee was headed by Gustavo Ghidini (PSIUP). In addition, there was an 18-person drafting committee that coordinated the work of the three sub-committees and put together the draft constitution in its entirety.
The work of the Committee of 75 lasted until February 1, 1947. Thereafter, the plenary session , chaired by Umberto Terracini , discussed the draft constitution and adopted it on December 22, 1947.
Initially, eight months were allotted for drafting the republican constitution. Due to the need for additional discussion, this period was extended by constitutional law. At the beginning of 1948, the Assemblea Costituente approved the constitutions of the autonomous regions of Sicily , Sardinia , Aosta Valley and Trentino-South Tyrol , which had been drawn up by the local committees (Consulta regional) .
Others
Since the death of Emilio Colombo on June 24, 2013, none of the members of the Assemblea Costituente has been alive.