Meloni government surpasses duration record, celebrates in Bari
As of September 4, the executive has reached 1,413 consecutive days, one more than the second Berlusconi government. On the same day, the Senate committee gave initial approval to the majority's amendment reintroducing preference voting.
The count is arithmetic and admits no interpretation: on September 4, 2026, the government led by Giorgia Meloni reached 1,413 consecutive days in office, one more than the 1,412 days of the second Berlusconi government. The executive took office on October 22, 2022; the benchmark government remained in office from June 11, 2001 to April 23, 2005. The political celebration was held in Bari, in a city under heightened security measures and with a protest march called at the same time, as reported by La Milano.
The prime minister commented on the milestone on her own channels: “Today our Government becomes the longest-lasting in the history of the Italian Republic,” quoted by Today.it. From the majority, Senator Michaela Biancofiore, chair of the Civici d’Italia-UDC-Noi Moderati-MAIE-Centro Popolare group in the Senate, stated that “the Meloni government’s record for duration represents a turning point,” as reported by Il Corriere Nazionale.
The figures contested by the two sides
Longevity is an objective fact; the record is not. An analysis by Sky TG24 based on Istat, Borsa Italiana and Palazzo Chigi data lines up several series for the period.
| Indicator | Change over the period |
|---|---|
| Employed persons (Q3 2022 – Q1 2026) | +1.1 million |
| Unemployed persons | −670 thousand |
| FTSE MIB | +140% |
| Btp-Bund spread | −63% |
| Italian GDP | +1.9% |
The international comparison is the least favorable part of the picture: the 1.9% GDP increase is higher than Germany’s (+0.1%) but lower than the European Union average (+3.3%). Fratelli d’Italia simultaneously released a counter indicating 1,305,000 new stable jobs, with the slogan “The most stable government, a stronger Italy”: this is partisan material, not a public statistic, and should be read as such. The opposition disputes the executive’s record, while the majority claims credit for the coalition’s stability.
The parliamentary front: yes to preference voting, nothing else settled
On the same day, the Political Parliamentary Newscast of the DIRE agency reported the first committee approval in the Senate of the center-right amendment reintroducing preference voting in the electoral law. The step comes after internal divisions within the majority in the preceding days and after a contrary vote in the Chamber of Deputies: it is therefore less a routine step than a recomposition.
Two points that truly determine the effect of an electoral law on the composition of Parliament remain open: the threshold and the possible runoff. On both, the available material shows no agreement. The opposition accuses the government of rushing the reform’s timeline.
A note on sources: the news of the committee vote traces back to a single origin, the Political Parliamentary Newscast of the DIRE agency, also picked up by Ragionieri e Previdenza; no independent confirmation is currently available.
What we don’t know
We do not know the text of the approved amendment nor the number of votes. We do not know how many or which seats would be affected by the return of preference voting, nor how it would combine with a possible threshold. No voting schedules for the floor session appear in the available material.
On the economic front, the figures reported above are a journalistic analysis of public data series: they cover the period from the third quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2026 and do not isolate the effect of government action from that of the international cycle. The next verifiable development is the continuation of the committee review on the two points that remain open.
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