ROME, July 15 - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition on Wednesday vowed to press ahead with a new election law, a day after a bruising parliamentary defeat on a key aspect of the reform.

In a secret ballot on Tuesday, a proposal championed by Meloni's Brothers of Italy to allow electors to express preference votes for candidates on party lists was defeated by a single vote, partly due to ruling coalition defections.

The loss, which triggered opposition calls for Meloni to resign, has highlighted strains within the coalition before a general election due next year. It represents another major blow for the prime minister after a stinging defeat at a referendum on a justice reform in March.

"It is crucial to go ahead with this law that guarantees stability," Enrico Costa, Forza Italia's lower house leader, told Corriere della Sera newspaper, ruling out the possibility that the setback could trigger a wider political crisis.

The ruling bloc, comprising Brothers of Italy, the League and Forza Italia, has proposed a fully proportional system with a seat bonus guaranteeing a majority to any coalition winning more than 42% of the vote.

"Our priority is to pass the bill in the lower house and then send it to the Senate," Parliamentary Relations Minister Luca Ciriani said. He added that the upper chamber could approve the legislation in September.

DEFECTIONS IN THE RANKS

Barring any surprise political crisis, Meloni, in power since 2022, is due to become postwar Italy's longest-serving prime minister in September. On Tuesday she said missing votes from her allies "call for a reflection."

Politicians said around 30 coalition lawmakers had defied the government line in the vote, provoking Meloni's anger. "We gave it a try. The swamp won again," the prime minister wrote on Facebook.

"Given the razor-thin margin, the result looks less like a coordinated revolt than the cumulative effect of multiple pockets of discontent within the coalition, which ultimately sank the proposal," analyst Lorenzo Pregliasco wrote on X.

Meloni's Brothers of Italy remains the most popular party, but recent opinion polls show the ruling coalition trailing the centre-left alliance led by the Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement. Surveys suggest that the 2027 election could produce no clear winner and a hung parliament.

CONTENTIOUS PREFERENCES

Under the current electoral system, about one third of lawmakers are elected via first-past-the-post constituencies, with the rest elected by proportional representation via lists drawn up by party leaderships.

Meloni's proposal would have allowed parties to retain considerable influence over the selection of elected candidates. The new law would also reward parties that can form pre-election pacts, which her coalition did to great effect in the 2022 vote.

According to a simulation by pollster YouTrend, candidates from smaller parties such as Forza Italia and the League would be less likely to secure election under a system with preference voting.

The opposition has criticised the electoral reform as an attempt by Meloni to boost her re-election chances, since the first-past-the-post system she is seeking to abolish tends to favour the centre-left bloc. REUTERS

Italy's coalition vows to pursue election law reform after setback