Italian opposition accuses Meloni of rewriting election rules to stay in power

The government claims the reform would ensure stability while opponents accuse it of changing the rules ahead of a 2027 vote

Published 8 Oct, 2026 12:15

The political opposition in Italy has accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition of attempting to rewrite the election rules in a bid to remain in power, over a controversial reform that would award bonus parliamentary seats to winning alliances in next year’s general election.

The new bill has cleared three confidence votes in the lower house of parliament, with the final secret ballot scheduled for Thursday. It passed on Wednesday by 228 votes to 144, bringing the government closer to securing ultimate approval for the overhaul.

The reform would replace Italy’s current electoral system, which combines directly elected constituency seats with proportional representation, with a fully proportional system that rewards the winning coalition with additional seats if it secures at least 42% of the vote.

Meloni’s ruling coalition has claimed the reform will ensure more stability, although opposition parties have condemned the proposal, accusing the coalition of changing the rules because it fears losing the 2027 election. They have also questioned whether the proposed system of awarding bonus seats is constitutional.

“Fear, lies, contempt, and failure. These are the characteristics of an electoral law passed at the last minute in the final year [of the parliamentary term],” Anna Ascani of the opposition Democratic Party said, according to ANSA.

The reform would replace Italy’s current system, which combines directly elected constituency seats with proportional representation, with a proportional system that rewards the winning coalition if it secures at least 42% of the vote in both chambers.

The winning alliance would receive a bonus of 105 parliamentary seats – 70 in the lower house and 35 in the Senate. If no coalition reaches the threshold, or different alliances win the two chambers, seats would be distributed proportionally without the bonus.

The bill would also require coalitions to name their candidate for prime minister before the election and allow voters to express preferences for up to three candidates on party lists. Critics argue that leading candidates would still be effectively guaranteed a seat.

Meloni has rejected claims that the reform is designed to benefit her coalition, insisting it would ensure political stability regardless of who wins. “I don’t think it’s a law that serves the center-right, but whoever wins the elections will have the numbers to govern,” she said in June.

The overhaul has also raised concerns within Meloni’s own coalition. Some lawmakers fear the new rules could instead benefit a united center-left opposition or smaller rival parties, according to the Financial Times.

The bill has already passed the Senate and faces its final hurdle in the lower house, with Italy’s next general election due in 2027.

https://www.rt.com/news/646932-meloni-election-rules/

Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for skilled foreign workers, Vance says

The H-1B program has long been a target of President Donald Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse. (Finally!!!)

Oct. 8, 2026, 11:05 AM EDT/ Source: The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration issuspending tech giant Microsoftfrom a program to apply for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. to live andwork using an H-1B visa as it accuses the company of fraud.

“If you do the math,for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,” said Vice President JD Vance in a White House news conference announcing the decision.

The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.

H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users,with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Vance announcement came one day after Trump’s Republican administration launched another broadside against international students and their ability to work in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesdayproposed a $70,000 feefor international students seeking to work in the United States. The proposed rule would require schools to pay the fee for every student who participates in the Optional Practice Training program, known as OPT, which allows students to work in jobs related to their major during or after their time in school.

Vance also called out universities that he suggested were abusing a program to allow international students to come to the U.S. These temporary visas,called J-1 visas, allow international visitors to temporarily come to the U.S. for work and study exchange programs.

Vancesingled out nine universitiesthat he said merited further investigation for J-1 visa fraud, saying they used the program in greater proportions than their counterparts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/microsoft-suspended-green-cards-h-1b-visa-j-1-visa-vance-rcna602314

U.S. suspends Microsoft, Adobe from green-card labor program in foreign worker crackdown

Published Thu, Oct 8 202611:24 AM EDT

Key Points

• The U.S. Labor Department announced it would suspend Microsoft and Adobe from its Permanent Labor Certification.

• Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro and HCL were also suspended from the program.

In this article

• MSFT-0.79 (-0.15%)

• ADBE+0.66 (+0.29%)

The U.S. Department of Labor announced it would suspend Microsoft and Adobe from its Permanent Labor Certification program on Thursday, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said, as the Trump administration continues to take aim at immigration and foreign hiring programs ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Sonderling said the Labor Department won’t accept or process any new applications under the program for a host of companies, including Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro and HCL.

The secretary said Adobe and Microsoft were alsosuspended “due to multiple active federal investigations.”

“Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost 3 million foreign workers. They’ve received over 230,000 H-1B visas approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications. That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers,” Sonderling said.

Vice President JD Vance criticized Microsoft specifically, pointing to the firm’s 6,000 layoffs in 2025. Vance claimed that the company “replaced” those workers with people on H-1B visas.

“So we’re going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we’re also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first,” Vance said.

President Donald Trump is set to award the National Medal of Science to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other leading technology CEOs on Thursday at the same summit where the suspension announcement was made.

Nadella is from India and moved to the U.S. in 1988. He joined Microsoft in 1992.

CNBC has reached out to Microsoft and Adobe for comment.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/08/microsoft-adobe-green-card-labor-suspension.html