ROME (Reuters) - Italy's upper house Senate approved on Thursday a new electoral system that is expected to handicap the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement at a forthcoming national election and favour mainstream political blocs.
The bill has already been approved by the lower house thanks to a battery of confidence motions and now only needs a green light from the head of state to become law. This is expected in the coming days.
The voting system, which is a mix of proportional representation and first-past-the-post, should benefit parties that form pre-election coalitions -- something the 5-Star has always ruled out..
However, opinion polls suggest that given current voting trends, the system will not throw up a clear-cut winner, meaning some form of grand coalition will probably be needed after the next elections, which are due by May 2018.
President Sergio Mattarella had called on parliament to draw up a new law to harmonise the existing systems that risked throwing up different results in the two houses.
All previous attempts at reform fell foul of political infighting, but unexpectedly, the ruling Democratic Party of former prime minister Matteo Renzi struck a deal with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party over a revised voting system. The rightist Northern League also backed the initiative.
The bill was approved by the Senate by 214 votes to 61.