A survey carried out by the Open Parliament portal, from Openpolis Foundation, reveals that the four deputies elected in South America to the Italian Parliament were absent from more than half of the parliamentary sessions.
If they were taking a course, for example, the four deputies representing Italians living in South America would fail due to too many absences.
Italy allows citizens living abroad to run for Parliament. In total, there are 12 seats for deputies and six for senators.
Fausto Longo, from Democratic partyHe is the champion of absences. The Italian-Brazilian parliamentarian failed to participate in 67,2% of the votes – 5.240 in total. In only four sessions was the absence justified by the reason "mission".
Luis Roberto Lorenzato, affiliated with Lega and resident of Ribeirão Preto (SP), was the deputy with the lowest percentage of absences among the four. In 7.796 electronic votes, he is absent in 54,01% of them.
Excessive absence cannot lead to revocation of the mandate, if these absences are not justified, as happens – in theory – in Brazil.
The Italian Constitution does not provide for parliamentarians to lose their mandate when they fail to attend sessions in the Chamber or Senate.
See the performance of each deputy elected in South America to the Chamber of Deputies in Italy:
Fausto Longo
Fausto Guilherme Longo, from Piracicaba (SP), is part of the Democratic Party.
Urban architect, Longo received 8.906 votes in the 2018 election.
She is currently part of the Defense Committee, after having worked on the Social Affairs, Justice and Production, Commerce and Tourism Activities committees.
In the current term, Longo presented 11 bills and signed one amendment.
According to the Open Parliament portal, the deputy did not participate in 67,2% of the votes (see here the performance of the parliamentarian).
Eugenio Sangregorio
President of Usei (Unione Sudamericana Emigrati Italiani), Eugenio Sangregorio was born in Cosenza (Calabria), but immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he managed to be elected in 2018 to a seat in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
Sangregorio is part of the house's Finance committee. He is the author of a single project and participated as co-author of four others. The highlight is his absence in the votes – 4.429 out of 7.796 (see here the performance of the parliamentarian)
Mario Borghese
Mario Alejandro Borghese, from Córdoba, Argentina, was elected by Maie.
As a member of the Foreign and Community Affairs committee, he appears as the author of 29 amendments, and as co-author of four.
In 7.796 electronic votes, the Argentine claimed that he was on a “mission” in 1.325 of them. Even so, he appears absent in 54.86% of the votes (see here the performance of the parliamentarian).
Roberto Lorenzato
Luis Roberto di San Martino Lorenzato di Ivrea, born in Orlândia, in the interior of São Paulo, is, according to the website of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, a lawyer, entrepreneur in the wine sector and agricultural producer.
In the 2018 election he received 11.940 votes, representing the Lega party. He sits on the Foreign and Community Affairs committee.
He introduced no bill and was a signatory in '96.
Lorenzato was absent from 54,01% of the 7.796 electronic votes, according to the Open Parliament portal (see here the performance of the parliamentarian).
According to the website, the regulation does not provide for recording the reason for the absence of a parliamentary vote.
Therefore, the unjustified absence of deputies cannot be distinguished from that, for example, for health reasons.
