Parliament of Italy (Kingdom of Italy)
Parliament of Italy Parlamento d'Italia | |
|---|---|
 Official badge of the Parliament of Italy | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | National Council of the P.N.F. Chamber of Fascism and Corporations |
| History | |
| Founded | March 17, 1861 |
| Preceded by | Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Leadership | |
President of the Parliament of Italy | Marco Quinzio Flaviani, National Fascist Party since October 28, 2009 |
President of the National Council of the P.N.F. | Benito Goria, National Fascist Party since October 28, 2010 |
President of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporatiosn | Raimondo De Santis, Independent since May 1, 2010 |
| Seats | 800 |
| Motto | |
| Per l'Onore d'Italia | |
| Meeting place | |
| Palazzo Montecitorio, Roma Palazzo Madama | |
The Parliament of Italy (Italian: Parlamento d'Italia) is the national parliament of Italy. It is a bicameral legislature with 800 members. It is composed of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, with 500 members (Consiglieri), and the National Council of the P.N.F., with 300 members (Consiglieri). Both houses share some duties and powers, while each house has its specific functions. The National Council is the upper house.
The Parliament is the representative body of the Nation in the Corporatist Institutions: the two Houses of the Parliament share some rights and powers. The two Houses are independent from each other and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the Constitution.
The main prerogative of the Parliament is the sharing with the Government of legislative power. For a text to become law, it must receive the vote of both houses independently in the same form. A bill is discussed in one of the houses, amended, and approved or rejected: if approved, it is passed to the other house, which can amend it and approve or reject it. If approved without amendments, the text could be promulgated by the Duce of the Republic and becomes law.
The Parliament in joint session hears messages of the Duce of the Republic and three (one fifth) members of the Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale).
In Parliament of Italy the National Council of the P.N.F. focuses on scrutinizing and vetoing the decisions of the lower house. The upper house is the result of appointments, while the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations is indirectly elected.
The Parliament of Italy has a legislative power in co-operation with the Government. This means that no bill may be enacted if the Government has expressed its opposition, and that Government bills are treated in a strongly preferential way. Moreover, the Government can impose some urgency procedures in order to hurry up the passing of its bills.
Alongside the ordinary laws, Government can enact its own decrees, which could be either renewed or transformed in ordinary laws: only the conversion has to pass through the Parliament.
National Council of the P.N.F.
The National Council of the P.N.F. (Consiglio Nazionale del Partito Nazionale Fascista) is the highest collective authority within the National Fascist Party, as well as the upper house of the national legislature. Its 300 members are selected once every five years by the Duce of the Republic, within the holders of certain offices.
Functions as upper house of the legislature
The main political function assigned to the upper house is to review bills and to give voice to the less corporatist elements in society. Therefore, the National Council and is also an important State body in that it contains the leading figures of the Party, Party's militia, State, and Armed Forces.
It is to note that, in its capacity of a branch of national legislature, the National Council is a body with more political connotations than the Chamber of the Fasces and Corporations, which is composed of "economic" and "social" representatives.
Political Directory
The Political Directory is a group of 25 people who oversee the National Fascist Party activities. The Political Directory is appointed by the Duce. The agenda for the meetings is controlled by the Political Secretary and decisions are made by consensus rather than by majority vote.
Chamber of Fasci and Corporations
The Chamber of Fasci and Corporations is the lower legislative house of the Kingdom of Italy. The Chamber is a body comprising 500 members, indirectly elected through trade-based functional constituencies with limited electorates.
Functions
The Chamber of Fasces and Corporations shares legislative power with the Government and the National Coincil of the P.N.F. The Chamber discusses and approves in plenary session, on the report of the relevant committees, the only bills listed in the establishing law:
- Those of a constitutional nature
- The general legislative powers
- Projects budget and actual statements of the State
All other bills are reviewed and approved by the commission, unless the Government or the same room, which is authorized by the Chief of the Government, ask for discussion and vote in the plenary. The Head of Government may also determine that, for reasons of urgency motivated, to be adopted by the committee also bills for which it was ordinarily expected competence of the Plenary Assembly.
The Chamber can provide advice on any question interested domestic production and, in particular, on a range of subjects including:
- The implementation and integration of the principles contained in the Charter of the work;
- Proposed legislation concerning the regulation of the production and labor;
- Framing union of the various categories;
- The recognition of trade unions and their activities to protect the interests of trades and welfare.
Recognized Trade Unions may apply to the room, sitting in plenary assembly, the right to determine the rates for the professional services of their representatives to enact regulations and professional mandatory for all members of the class. It is also for the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations:
- On request of the Chief of Government, the formation of rules for coordination of care, the disciplines of labor relations established by collective agreements and any other regulatory activities of the corporations;
- On request of the trade unions, the formation of rules for the regulation of economic relations between the collective interests represented and ratification of agreements concluded between the same for such purposes.
Membership and structure
The Chamber of Fasces and Corporations is chaired by the Chief of Government or, by his deputy, the Minister of Corporations. The Presidency of sections, subsections and permanent special committees may be delegated to Secretary of State of the Ministry of Corporations. A director general of the Ministry is the Secretary General.
The total number of the Councillors is 500. The members are:
- The Presidents of the fascist Trade and Employers Unions (i.e. Corporations) and representatives designated by them; the number of representatives assigned to each Corporation is not commensurate with the number of their members, but with the importance of the relative function in the life of the nation.
- Ministers, State Secretaries and Directors General of the economic and social Ministries;
- Secretary of the National Fascist Party;
- The President of the National Recreational Club;
- Experts in trade union organization, law and economics and other disciplines of interest to the corporate production, appointed by the Minister of Corporations.
This is not a representation of interests. Every member of parliament, although this becomes law for the election to the office by the guild membership, represents the whole nation; only he brings to legislative qualified opinion and experience of the specific function that expressed it, and this is not in the interests of that category but the entire nation.
The Chamber is divided into:
- Seven sections (free professions and arts, crafts and industry, agriculture, trade, internal communications, maritime and air transport, banking and insurance), some of which are divided into subsections;
- Permanent special committees, constituted for the transaction of individual subjects of general and technical;
- The Central Corporatist Committee, where only the presidents of trade unions and employers, the Minister of Corporations, the Secretary of the Fascist Party and the Chief of Government sit in, with the task of directing the activities of the Chamber, of taking urgent decisions in place Plenary Assembly in the interval between its sessions and giving advice to the policy guidelines of Unions;
- Plenary Assembly, competent to decide on matters interesting the whole sort of association and corporate of the State, without prejudice to the possibility to submit to the same issues on which they had already debated sections or subsections.
Elections take place in the individual sectors according territorial and sub-categories degrees. For example, all farmers (both employers and workers) in the province of Pesaro participate in their public task of primary voters, and they perform the election of provincial corporate councillors, which in turn elects its representative to the National Assembly of the particular sector (in the example the National Assembly of the Farmers Corporations). This (among other functions) performs the election of the national governing body of the corporation, which in turn elects the farmers' representatives to the national parliament. This procedure is for both economic and social corporations and moral bodies, with the exception of the military corps entitled to have representatives.