Focusing on Ius Soli to reform the citizenship law. This would be, according to parliamentary sources of the Democratic Party, the orientation that is emerging among the elected members of the Democratic Party and that the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein somehow presented at the Unity Festival in Terni. “In our classes there are no Italians and foreigners, but girls and boys who have the same right to a quality education. Of course we need to change the citizenship law the Democratic Party is there, but not to disappoint expectations. For us, anyone born and raised in Italy is Italian and this right should not be denied”, were the words of the Democratic leader. A step forward compared to the proposal formulated, for now in words, by the leader of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani and ‘translated’ into an amendment to the Security bill by the Action group in the Chamber. A proposal, the Ius Scholae, which is a historic workhorse of the Five Star Movement, which re-presents it in every legislature, preferring it to the Ius Soli. The Movement, in the last legislature, had presented a bill signed by Giuseppe Brescia and, after the vote, it was the deputy Baldino who re-presented a similar proposal. If a proposal in this sense were to be scheduled, the Five Star Movement would accept it without particular problems, also because the Ius Scholae is considered by Conte’s party to be the best point of arrival for a reform of the citizenship law. Italia Viva is banking on the Ius Scholae/Ius Culturae in the form approved by the Chamber and then stranded in the Senate in 2017. Maria Elena Boschi re-presented the exact same text, asking that Forza Italia also vote for it.
Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra has already explained that it prefers Ius Soli, but does not exclude the possibility of converging with the rest of the opposition on Ius Scholae, if this allows “overcoming the discrimination” of the current law, as already explained by Marco Grimaldi, deputy group leader in the Chamber. In any case, Avs has already presented a bill to the Chamber that provides for “the recognition of Italian citizenship for young men and women with a migrant background born in Italy or arrived before the age of twelve who reside legally and who have regularly attended at least five years of study in our country, in one or more school cycles“.
At the moment, there have been no formal meetings within the Democratic Party groups or at the level of statutory bodies. The discussion has, however, developed on the internal chats of the groups and the secretariat, bringing out, as explained by a PD leader, a clear orientation towards Ius Soli. An Ius Soli that, however, would not only provide for birth on Italian soil as a requirement for obtaining citizenship, but would be integrated with some ‘limits’ still to be discussed. Limits that could respond to the doubts raised, among others, by the M5S leader Giuseppe Conte in a recent speech: “Not even a reform based on the ius soli as proposed by the left-wing parties appears convincing. Such a reform would have the effect of granting citizenship to those who, even occasionally, are born on Italian soil, without any consideration for the necessary integration processes”.
The Democrats have time to develop the proposal: next week some committees will start meeting again, but the first group leaders meeting of the Chamber is scheduled for the week beginning September 9. And Schlein intends to continue the discussion by involving social forces and associations involved in this issue. “We want to discuss with networks and associations to change the citizenship law. Therefore, starting from our proposals, we are available for discussion and not available to disappoint the expectations of those who have been waiting for this law for decades”, Schlein underlined in the last few hours.