Italy's Senate voted today to relinquish most of its power in a revolutionary move aimed at ending decades of political instability, to the delight of a triumphant Premier Matteo Renzi.
"The long history of inconclusive politics is over. Reforms are being carried out, Italy is changing. Onwards!" the prime minister said on Facebook, as senators greenlit the biggest change to the constitution since its inception.
Senators voted 179 in favour and 16 against the reform which will cut their numbers from 315 to 100 and effectively end their ability to bring down governments -- a safeguard put in place after World War II to prevent the return of Fascism.
"Thank you to all those who continue to persue the dream of a simpler and stronger Italy," Renzi said on Twitter.
The youthful Renzi has made streamlining the country's governance by taming parliament's second chamber -- which currently has the powers to delay and block legislation -- a keystone of his mandate.
The reform still has to go before the lower house and back to the Senate once more before being put to a general referendum expected in mid-2016 -- but it is expected to pass all hurdles easily.
"It's a great victory for Matteo Renzi... It will show Italy and Europe that he is able to reform an irreformable country," Roberto D'Alimonte, political science professor at Rome's Luiss University, told AFP.
"The reform will simplify the formation of governments, the passing of laws, reduce the power of lobbies and make parliament more accountable," he said, as Italy's newspapers dubbed the day "Super Tuesday".
