Stop the majority to equal leave. Opposition arises

The majority blocks the unitary law proposal of oppositions on the equal leave for both parents. And the opposition arises: “The centre-right e Melons they flee from confrontation and bury a law that helps women”. The proposal, first signed Elly Schlein and signed by all the leaders of the minority forces, provides for five months of mandatory parental leave for each non-transferable parent. In essence, the opposition is asking to equalize the months of parental leave provided for mothers and fathers, bringing them from 80 to 100%.

But the centre-right rejects the proposal, first asking the State General Accounting Office for an opinion, which arrives today and assesses the proposals as “unsuitable”. financial coverage provided for by the text, to then approve a negative opinion in Budget commission with which the “suppression” of the articles of the provision is requested.

The appeal of all the opposition forces so that the examination by theAutheso as to be able to reopen the deadlines for submitting amendments and redefine the coverage. And the appeal made by the secretary of the Democratic Party directly to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to “think again” is of no use. The centre-right, with a margin of 23 votes, rejects the request for postponement. The examination of the bill then resumes in the Chamber, but it is already destined to end up in the bin: in fact, the suppressive amendments to the text are approved by the Montecitorio Assembly by majority.

“I wonder how President Meloni, the first female prime minister of this country, can be against this law. And I wonder what the point of a female prime minister is if she doesn’t fight to improve the living conditions of all the other women in this country”, attacks the dem leader in the Chamber. It is not the first time, the opposition points out, that the majority “with tricks” it “kills” or “appropriates” legislative proposals in the face of opposition, as happened with the minimum wage or the reduction of working hours.

The of minorities

“A missed opportunity for the majority to open a debate on a measure that would be a cultural revolution in the country”, says Schlein in a press conference convened together with Giuseppe Conte, Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli, Riccardo Magi and Maria Elena Boschi and Elena Bonetti close to the votes in the Chamber. “We made ourselves available to find other covers”, recalls Schlein, and “we are here asking the centre-right to stop and Giorgia Meloni, the first female prime minister, to take on the responsibility of telling us why she doesn’t want the law”.

For Angelo Bonelli of Avs “the political direction and the political line that President Meloni has decided today on such an important issue is that of closure. Meloni has built a policy against Italian families, against women and against those who would like to have children”, he insists. “Thank goodness that during the election campaign Meloni said she was ready to provide support to families. Now the rate of birth rate it has fallen to 1.18 and we expect an even lower rate”, says the M5s leader Conte, who promises: “The battle does not stop here”.

This “is the arrogance of the right every time the opposition puts forward a proposal”, adds Fratoianni. This is how “women are discriminated against”, adds Bonetti from Azione while the secretary of Più Europa Magi reminds us that it is “a film we have already seen”, and Boschi from Iv observes: “The oppositions are all united. It happened in the regional elections, it happened on many proposals. Here there is a coalition united and ready to govern and this scares the majority who don’t even sit at the opposition table”. Words which Bonetti however is keen to clarify: “The oppositions are united on this issue, but I wouldn’t speak of a coalition because we at Action are not in a coalition”. Bickering aside, the opposition stands united and defends the bill.

The majority’s response

But the majority carries on: no openness to the requests of minorities. He thinks about it Walter Rizzettoof FdI, president of the Labor commission, to respond to the accusations: “With the first one Budget law of the Meloni government, parental leave was increased from 30% to 80% for one month. And we didn’t stop, because with the 2024 budget law we increased it by another month and with the one for 2025 we increased the leave by adding another month: leave from 3 months up to 80%”, he says speaking in the Chamber. Then, rejecting the criticism to the sender, he observes: “Were we incapable of finding solutions or was nothing done before? When you say ‘you should have the courage to reject this PDL’, I say: why didn’t the Democratic Party have the courage to vote for three laws that increased the leave allowance from 30% to 80%?”.