[JURIST] A Rome court [official website, in Italian] on Tuesday rejected an appeal challenging the wording of a political reform referendum in Italy. Brought by former constitutional court judge Valerio Onida [official website, in Italian], the challenge alleged that grouping referendum topics into one yes or no question was improper. The referendum seeks to diminish the power of the senate and regional governments, putting more power into the hands of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi [Guardian materials]. Opinion polls suggest the referendum will fail, in which case Renzi’s party has announced that it will seek early elections.

Renzi has recently promised political and economic reforms designed to increase stability in Italy, which has had 63 governments since World War II. In April the Italian Parliament passed [Reuters report] a constitutional reform promoted by Renzi intended to resolve Italy’s overwhelming political instability by restricting the Senate’s powers. Renzi has promised to resign from his position should the constitutional referendum fail to achieve a successful turnout. That same month, a referendum in Italy seeking to shorten the number of currently existing offshore oil and drilling sites for environmental purposes failed to draw [JURIST report] enough votes. Last May the Italian Parliament approved [JURIST report] Renzi’s new electoral rules that provide a majority of electoral seats to a clear winner of an election. He has expressed plans [BBC report] to further transform the Italian system by replacing the Senate with a non-elected body with lesser powers, as a way to provide more checks on legislation that is currently routinely held up.