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December and January are crucial months for the Italian government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi which faces rush of promised institutional reforms amid pressing economic stagnancy.
On this weeks' agenda there is the approval of a streamlined electoral law and a constitutional reform which would transform the Senate, or upper chamber, into a leaner assembly of local-government representatives with limited law-making powers.
Last Thursday, Renzi restated that his center-left government will make it to the natural end of its mandate in 2018 as long as parliament keeps working hard on the reform agenda.
"At present Italy has a stable government which, however, is entering a decisive phase of its life," Marco Damilano, a political columnist of l'Espresso news weekly and frequent commentator, summed up these latest developments.
"The electoral and constitutional reforms, on which Renzi has committed to leadership, the choice of a successor to aging President Giorgio Napolitano, who is expected to end his mandate between the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, and the difficult economic scenario make next weeks decisive," Damilano explained to Xinhua.
Confrontation with European institutions on the Italian economic performance will especially play a role in the future of the government, whose moves to re-launch growth have often been slowed down by opposition forces in parliament since it took power in February. Renzi amid worsening economic situation may be tempted to call early elections in May, Damilano highlighted.
"His first budget framework had put economic growth at 0.8 percent in 2014, but gross domestic product (GDP) is now expected to contract by some 0.3 percent this year," he noted.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has called on the Italian government to respect the European fiscal and debt regulations, a day after European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker said the country would face "not pleasant" consequences if it fails to meet demands.
The EC has given temporary approval to the Italian government's 2015 budget law, which envisages 18 billion euros (22 billion U.S. dollars) in tax cuts to stimulate consumption and investment.
An average of 80 euros (99 U.S. dollars) a month given to low wage earners and a new labor law adopted to fight unemployment were also part of Renzi's plan to revive the economy. But the 39-year-old prime minister was not able to fulfill part of the many promises he had made creating a sentiment of high expectations, Damilano said.
"Italians have one big worry: their country, thus their families, have lost some 10 percent of GDP over the last seven years," Nicola Piepoli, CEO and founder of Istituto Piepoli, a leader company in Italy for marketing and consulting based on targeted market surveys, told Xinhua.
However, they do not appear to blame this government for the current economic difficulties, Piepoli said citing Renzi's approval rating which currently is at 51 percent, according to Istituto Piepoli. Though being lower than the peak of 67 percent reached in June, "Renzi's approval is still high," the CEO stressed. Matteo Salvini, the rising leader of rightwing regional party Northern League, has an approval rating of 25 percent, Piepoli noted. "The Renzi government has a solid majority in parliament. It is a young, active and able to make things free from the pressure of public opinion. Such a stability can last as long as the government wants to maintain it," Piepoli said. Enditem
