Meloni suffers parliamentary defeat ahead of Italy's general elections

The Italian Parliament rejected Prime Minister Georgia Meloni's proposal to amend voting rules, which aimed to adopt a full proportional representation system that would grant additional seats to the winning coalition. The vote, conducted secretly, ended with the proposal's defeat by a majority of 188 votes to 187, indicating a split within the ruling majority between the "Brothers of Italy" party and the "Lega" and "Forza Italia" parties. The opposition, accusing Meloni of attempting to redraw electoral rules to maintain power ahead of next year's scheduled elections, welcomed the outcome and pointed to a waning parliamentary control by Meloni, calling for her resignation.