Everyone recognizes the inherent instability of the Italian political system. It is enough to say that in the 51 years of the Republic of Italy, there have been 56 different governments.

Some politicians thought a solution could be found in increasing the number of politicians elected by a first-past-the-post system, currently used for 75% of Deputies. The remaining 25% are elected by proportional representation.

A referendum is only valid in Italy if 50% + 1 of all eligible voters turn out on polling day, so opponents of the reform tacitly invited Italian electors to stay at home. In this way, the turnout was unusually low, with opponents adding to the number of people who would not have voted anyway.

This tactic worked, given that the "aye" votes cast were more than 90% of ballots, with the "nays" less than 10%. But turnout was only 49.7%, so the referendum was voided.

The proportionalists (Northern League, Refounded Communists, Italian Communist Party, Greens, Popular Party, and a part of Silvio Berlusconi's "Forza Italia" - or "Come on Italy" - party) gained the upper hand. The Northern League now proposes a proportional representation method with a 5% lower cut-off point (as in Germany). Giuliano Urbani of Forza Italia agrees, as do the Refounded Communists.

Given that some of these parties are in the governing coalition, the Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema has decided to play his cards, saying that "the Government has decided to give full backing to the reform program undertaken, and asks the majority parties not to slide back."