Italian general election, 2013

Italian general election, 2013
Italy
24–25 February 2013
All 630 seats to the Chamber of Deputies
and 315 (out of the 319) seats to the Senate of the Republic
Turnout 75.19%[1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Pier Luigi Bersani Silvio Berlusconi Beppe Grillo
Party Democratic Party People of Freedom Five Star Movement
Alliance Italy. Common Good Centre-right coalition
Leader since 25 October 2009 18 January 1994 4 October 2009
Leader's seat Emilia-Romagna Molise none
Seats won 345 C / 123 S 125 C / 117 S 109 C / 54 S
Seat change Increase134 C / Increase7 S Decrease219 C / Decrease57 S new party
Popular vote 10,047,507 9,923,100 8,688,545
Percentage 29.5% 29.1% 25.5%

Legislative election results map. Red denotes provinces with a Democratic plurality, Yellow denotes those with a Five Star plurality, Azure denotes those with a People of Freedom plurality, Green denotes those with a Lega Nord plurality, Light Blue and Gray denotes those with a Regionalist plurality.
Prime Minister before election

Mario Monti
Civic Choice

 Elected Prime Minister

Enrico Letta
Democratic Party

A general election took place on 24–25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 17th Parliament of the Italian Republic.[2][3] The centre-left alliance Italy Common Good led by the Democratic Party obtained a clear majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, thanks to a majority bonus that has effectively trebled the number of seats assigned to the winning force, while in the popular vote it narrowly defeated the centre-right alliance of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Close behind, the new anti-establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo became the third force, clearly ahead of the centrist coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. In the Senate, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.[4][5] Eventually a coalition between the centre-left, centre and centre-right was formed.[6]

Background

Following the European sovereign debt crisis, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned from his position in November 2011. He was replaced as Prime Minister by technocratic Senator for Life Mario Monti.

In December 2012, Berlusconi announced his intention to run for Prime Minister for a sixth time. Shortly after, his party, People of Freedom (PdL), withdrew endorsement for Monti's Cabinet and Monti announced he would resign[7] after sending the annual budget to parliament, which was expected by Christmas. The Constitution of Italy then requires an election to be held within 70 days of the dissolution of parliament by President Giorgio Napolitano. Monti's resignation came after he said that, following the PdL's withdrawal, he "matured [to] the conviction that we could not continue like this any longer,"[8] and that he could not govern with a loss of support for his platform.[9]

During Monti's tenure, Italy had faced tax increases and state spending cuts, as well as reforms intended to improve the competitiveness of the Italian economy.[10] On the other hand, PdL parliamentary party leader Angelino Alfano told parliament on 7 December that Italy's debt, unemployment, and tax rates had risen in contrast to the economy since Monti became prime minister.[8][11] In the approximately one year since Monti took office, unemployment rose by almost two percent.[11] Previously Monti had controversially told the rising tide of youth unemployment to forget about a steady job for life, saying such is "monotonous [anyway and] it's nice to change and take on challenges." He also called for changes to Article 18 of the 1970 Workers Statute that forbids companies with over 15 employees from sacking an employee without "just cause", saying that it "can be pernicious for Italy's growth."[12]

The same reforms and austerity-focused policies which upset many Italians are perceived to have improved international confidence in Italy.[13] Monti was supported by other Eurozone leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.[14] Merkel's spokesman, Georg Streiter, said that she had "always worked well" with Monti and "had a relationship of esteem"; however, when asked about Berlusconi, he said it was not up to him to decide domestic politics of other countries.[15] German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble added that he did not foresee "any destabilisation in the eurozone [but] expect[ed] Italy to keep going forward by respecting its European commitments."[16] In reaction, financial markets fell on speculation of further instability;[17][18] while, specifically, Italian 10-year bond yields rose by 0.4% to reach 4.87% and the Italian stock exchange's flagship index dropped by over 3.5%.[19]

Campaign

Pier Luigi Bersani with the President of Emilia-Romagna, Vasco Errani, during the electoral campaign.

From the summer of 2012, a number of parties and movements from the so-called "Third Pole" of the political spectrum, including Pier Ferdinando Casini's Union of the Centre (UdC), Gianfranco Fini's Future and Freedom (FLI), Luca Cordero di Montezemolo's Toward the Third Republic (VTR), as well as a number of other politicians from both PD and PdL, pushed for direct involvement of Mario Monti in an election. Monti's statement that he would resign after the budget was passed, was suggested by Reuters to be indicative of him seeking to run for office.

Monti also told a press conference in France that "populism" was dangerous, and he further said that a failure to pass the budget "would render more serious the government crisis, also at a European level" and that his resignation would then be "irrevocable." The two largest parties in parliament, the PdL and the Democratic Party (PD) said they would be willing to work together to expedite passage of the budget. PD Secretary Pier Luigi Bersani said: "Faced with the irresponsibility of the right that betrayed a commitment it made a year ago before the whole country...Monti responded with an act of dignity that we profoundly respect." PD Deputy Secretary Enrico Letta said of the PdL's withdrawal from the government that "the financial markets will judge this latest outburst by Berlusconi and they certainly will not judge it positively." Bersani had won the centre-left primary election shortly before the PdL withdrew from the government.[14] Following a defeat in the primary, Mayor of Florence Matteo Renzi ruled out an approach, in writing, from Berlusconi's PdL to join the party during the election. In the following weeks, both PD and Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) announced their intention to hold primary elections for MP candidates on 29 and 30 December.

Beppe Grillo in Trento, during the electoral campaign.

The possibility of Monti directly involving himself in the election was seen as increasingly likely after the government crisis in December later that year, as Monti was invited to a European People's Party meeting at which Berlusconi was present too. A few days later, Monti published a political agenda for Italy, dubbed the "Monti agenda", and offered it to all political parties. After the Third Pole promptly agreed to use it as their own platform for the upcoming elections, talks started regarding a direct involvement of Monti as premiership candidate. On 28 December 2012, following a 4-hour meeting and after being publicly backed by the Vatican regarding a potential bid, Monti publicly announced his candidacy as head of the Third Pole, which ran in the Senate as a unique component provisionally named "Monti's Agenda for Italy", and in the Lower House as a coalition of several components.[20]

Berlusconi said the platform his party would run on includes opposition to Monti's economic performance, which he said put Italy into a "recessive spiral without end." He also told the media, on the sidelines of AC Milan's practice session (the football club he owns along with Mediaset, the largest media outlet in the country): ""I race to win. To win, everyone said there had to be a tested leader. It's not that we did not look for one. We did, and how! But there isn't one...I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility." Berlusconi and Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo criticised the eurozone and Germany's influence on European policy. Grillo wrote that the average Italian "is literally terrified about the prospects of five more years of Monti-like rule."[21]

Silvio Berlusconi in 2012.

On 8 December 2012, a new political party formed around a think tank named "Fermare il Declino" (Stop the Decline), on an initiative by the economic journalist Oscar Giannino and supported by various economists. On 19 December 2012, the name "FARE per Fermare il Declino" ("ACT to Stop The Decline") was chosen, and a list was presented with Oscar Giannino as PM candidate. The party's programme[22] was also introduced, roughly inspiring to reduce the role of the State in the economy, reduce the national debt through disposing redundant assets, and to propose market liberalizations and privatizations.

On 29 December 2012, a new coalition, Civil Revolution (RC), was formed with the support of Italy of Values (IdV), Orange Movement (MA), Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and Federation of the Greens (FdV). It is led by celebrity magistrate Antonio Ingroia and Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris. FdS co-leader Paolo Ferrero said it would be a "Fourth Pole" that would bring new hope for the left.[23] Civil Revolution attempted to solicit M5S to join them, saying "the door is open." Grillo, however, turned them down, writing on his blog "... the door is open for M5S? Well, thank you, but close the door again, please."[24]

On 7 January 2013, Berlusconi announced he had penned a coalition agreement with Lega Nord (LN); as part of it, PdL will support Roberto Maroni's bid for the presidency of Lombardy, and he will run as "leader of the coalition", but suggested he could accept a role as Minister of Economy under a cabinet headed by another People of Freedom member, such as Angelino Alfano.[25] Later that day, LN leader Maroni confirmed his party will not support a new candidacy of Berlusconi as Prime Minister in the case of an electoral win.[26]

Electoral system

When Fascism ended, Italy started to use the proportional representation based on multi-member electoral to include both men and women. That was from 1948-1993, the proportional representation was the cause of many of the reasons why the Italian government was constantly crumbling. The electoral was based on majority vote and was still a compulsory voting system until 1993. In 1993, the law was changed to Mattarellum law, or a mixed electoral system. In 2005, Silvio Berlusconi, changed the system from the Mattarellum law to the newly reformed electoral system, Porcellum law. Porcellum law was still a proportional representation, but now the system is based on coalitions, with blocked lists that have the candidates appointed by the parties and the voters cannot express who they want for their candidate. The candidates are appointed by the party leaders. [27]

The current election system is a form of party-list proportional representation with a series of thresholds to encourage parties to form coalitions. Italy is divided into 26 districts for the Chamber of Deputies and 20 regions for the Senate. Each district is assigned a number of seats in proportion to its share of the population. To guarantee a working majority, the coalition or party that obtains a plurality of the vote, but fewer than 340 seats, is assigned additional seats to reach that number, which roughly is about 54 percent of all seats. Inside each coalition, seats are divided between parties by the largest remainder method.[28]

The coalition or party that wins a plurality in a region is guaranteed 55 percent of the region's Senate seats. As this mechanism is region-based, opposing parties or coalitions may benefit from it in different regions. It therefore does not guarantee any party or coalition a majority in the Senate.[28]

At the end of 2013, Italy's Constitutional Court declared that this electoral law failed to meet a number of Constitutional requirements.[29][30]

Main parties and leaders

Party Ideology Leader
Democratic Party (PD) Social democracy Pier Luigi Bersani
The People of Freedom (PdL) Liberal conservatism Silvio Berlusconi
Five Star Movement (M5S) Populism Beppe Grillo
Civic Choice (SC) Liberalism Mario Monti
Lega Nord (LN) Regionalism Roberto Maroni
Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) Democratic socialism Nichi Vendola
Civil Revolution (RC) Anti-corruption Antonio Ingroia
Brothers of Italy (FdI) National conservatism Giorgia Meloni
Union of the Centre (UdC) Christian democracy Pier Ferdinando Casini
Act to Stop the Decline (FiD) Economic liberalism Oscar Giannino

Coalitions and electoral lists

The coalitions and main electoral lists are:

Coalitions consisting of several lists
Unitary electoral lists
Political force or alliance Constituent lists Leader
 
Italy. Common Good
(Italia. Bene Comune)
 Democratic Party (Partito Democratico)
Pier Luigi Bersani
Left Ecology Freedom (Sinistra Ecologia Libertà)
Democratic Centre (Centro Democratico)
Italian Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano) – only for Senate in: Lazio, Campania and Calabria[40]
South Tyrolean People's Party (Südtiroler Volkspartei: SVP)[41][42] – only in: Trentino-Alto Adige
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese: PATT)[41][42] – only for Senate in: Trentino-Alto Adige
Union for Trentino (Unione Per il Trentino: UPT)[43] – only for Senate in: Trentino-Alto Adige
(Please note that the party instead opted to be part of the Monti-coalition in the "Chamber of Deputies election")[44][45]
Moderates (Moderati) – only for Senate in: Sicily and Lombardia
The Megaphone – Crocetta List (Il Megafono – Lista Crocetta) – only for Senate in Sicily[46]
 
Centre-right coalition
(Coalizione del centrodestra)
 The People of Freedom (Il Popolo della Libertà)
Silvio Berlusconi
Lega Nord incl. Labour and Freedom List (Lista Lavoro e Libertà)
Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia)
The Right (La Destra)
Great South – Movement for the Autonomies (Grande Sud–MpA)
Moderates in Revolution (Moderati in Rivoluzione)
Popular Agreement (Intesa Popolare)
Pensioners' Party (Partito Pensionati)
 
Five Star Movement
(Movimento 5 Stelle)
 Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle)
Beppe Grillo
(not candidate)
 
With Monti for Italy
(Con Monti per l'Italia)
 Civic Choice (Scelta Civica)
Mario Monti
(not candidate)
Union of the Centre (Unione di Centro)
Future and Freedom (Futuro e Libertà)
Union for Trentino (Unione Per il Trentino: UPT) – only for Chamber of Deputies in: Trentino-Alto Adige
(Please note that the party leader Lorenzo Dellai – who became elected to the Chambers of Deputies – did not run the election with his own party list but was elected through the Civic Choice list,[44][45] and that the UPT party was part of the Bersani-coalition in the election for the Senate)[43]
 
Civil Revolution
(Rivoluzione Civile)
 Italy of Values (Italia dei Valori)
Antonio Ingroia
Communist Refoundation Party (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista)
Party of Italian Communists (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani)
Orange Movement (Movimento Arancione)
Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi)
 
Act to Stop the Decline
(Fare per Fermare il Declino)
 Act to Stop the Decline (Fare per Fermare il Declino)
Oscar Giannino

Main leaders

Coalition Portrait Name Most recent position
Italy. Common Good Pier Luigi Bersani Secretary of the Democratic Party
(2009–incumbent)
Minister of Economic Development
(2006–2008)
Centre-right coalition Silvio Berlusconi Prime Minister of Italy
(2008–2011)
President of the People of Freedom
(2008–incumbent)
Five Star Movement Beppe Grillo Leader of the Five Star Movement
(2009–incumbent)
With Monti for Italy Mario Monti Prime Minister of Italy
(2011–incumbent)
Leader of Civic Choice
(2013–incumbent)
Civil Revolution Antonio Ingroia Leader of Civil Revolution
(2012–incumbent)
Act to Stop the Decline Oscar Giannino Leader of Act to Stop the Decline
(2012–incumbent)

Opinion polls

Results for Chamber of Deputies

Italy (19 regions out of 20)

← Summary of the 24–25 February 2013 Chamber of Deputies election results
Coalition Party Votes % Seats
Italy. Common Good Democratic Party8,644,18725.42292
Left Ecology Freedom1,089,4423.2037
Democratic Centre167,1700.496
South Tyrolean People's Party146,8040.435
Total10,047,60329.54340
Centre-right coalition The People of Freedom7,332,66721.5697
Lega Nord1,390,1564.0818
Brothers of Italy666,0351.959
The Right219,8160.640
Great South – MPA148,5340.430
Moderates in Revolution81,9820.240
Pensioners' Party55,0500.160
Popular Agreement25,6310.070
Free for a Fair Italy3,2380.000
Total9,923,10929.18124
Five Star Movement8,689,16825.55108
With Monti for Italy Civic Choice2,824,0018.3037[lower-alpha 1]
Union of the Centre608,1991.788
Future and Freedom159,4290.460
Total3,591,62910.5645
Civil Revolution765,1722.250
Act to Stop the Decline380,9371.120
Workers' Communist Party89,9950.260
New Force89,8260.260
Amnesty Justice Freedom List64,7320.190
Die Freiheitlichen48,3170.140
CasaPound47,6910.140
Tricolour Flame44,7530.130
I Love Italy42,5290.120
Venetian Independence33,2740.090
Italian Liberal Party28,0260.080
Sardinian Action Party18,5850.050
Venetian Republic League15,8380.040
Protest Vote12,7440.030
Veneto State11,3780.030
Italian Reformists8,2230.020
Independence for Sardinia7,5980.020
Italian Republican Party7,1430.020
MERIS5,9010.010
Communist Alternative Party5,1590.010
The Pirates4,5570.010
Project Italy Movement3,9670.010
Italian Missinian Refoundation3,1780.000
United Populars2,9920.000
National Project2,8650.000
Thought Action Party1,5260.000
People's Union1,5150.000
All Together for Italy1,4520,000
Stems of Italy5850,000
Atheist Democracy5560,000
Invalid/blank/unassigned votes1,269,018––
Total35,271,540100.00617
Registered voters/turnout46,906,34375.19–
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Notes
  1. ↑ Incl. the Union for Trentino (UPT) party leader Lorenzo Dellai, who decided not to submit his own party list for the Monti-coalition, but opted to be a direct part of the Civic Choice list.[44][45]

Results by Regions

Region Italy. Common Good Centre-right Coalition Five Star Movement With Monti for Italy Civil Revolution Others
Abruzzo 26.2 29.5 29.9 8.9 3.3 2.2
Apulia 26.5 33.0 25.5 10.5 2.4 2.1
Basilicata 34.2 24.6 24.3 11.3 2.4 3.2
Calabria 28.3 30.2 24.9 10.5 2.9 3.2
Campania 26.0 35.6 22.2 11.3 2.6 2.3
Emilia-Romagna 40.2 20.9 24.7 9.3 1.9 3.0
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 27.5 28.0 27.2 12.9 2.1 2.3
Lazio 29.9 27.9 28.1 8.8 2.6 2.7
Liguria 31.1 23.0 32.1 9.9 2.1 1.8
Lombardy 28.2 35.7 19.6 12.1 1.6 2.8
Marche 31.1 21.2 32.1 10.7 2.2 2.7
Molise 28.8 28.4 27.7 10.7 3.4 1.0
Piedmont 28.3 28.1 27.5 12.1 2.1 1.9
Sardinia 29.5 23.7 29.7 9.4 2.8 4.9
Sicily 21.4 31.3 33.6 8.6 3.4 1.7
Trentino-Alto Adige 35.6 15.9 14.6 13.9 1.4 18.6
Tuscany 41.6 20.7 24.0 8.4 2.7 2.6
Umbria 35.6 24.3 27.2 9.6 2.5 0.8
Veneto 23.3 31.8 26.3 11.9 1.3 5.4

Aosta Valley

The semi-autonomous region of Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Chamber of Deputies through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region.

Candidate[47] Party (or a unified coalition list) Total votes % Seats
Rudi Marguerettaz (SA) Aosta Valley coalition (UV-SA-FA) 18,376 25.36 1
Laurent Viérin Progressive Valdostan Union 18,191 25.11 0
Jean Pierre Guichardaz Autonomy Liberty Democracy 14,340 19.79 0
Roberto Ugo Massimo Cognetta Five Star Movement 13,403 18.50 0
Giorgia Meloni Brothers of Italy 3,051 4.21 0
Nicoletta Spelgatti Lega Nord 2,384 3.29 0
Lucia Bringhen Union of the Centre 1,355 1.87 0
Fabrizio Buillet Act to Stop the Decline 748 1.03 0
Andrea Ladu CasaPound 443 0.61 0
Eros Campion Nation Val d'Outa 145 0.20 0
Total valid votes 72,436 – –
Blank/void/unassigned votes 4,733 – –
Total votes 77,169 100.00 1
Registered voters/turnout 100,277 76.95 –
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Italians abroad

Electoral package sent to an Italian voter at South America.

Twelve members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by Italians abroad. Two members are elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean), four members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago), five members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation.

The election law allow for parties to form other electoral coalitions on the lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 election, this freedom was used by Left Ecology Freedom to provide a list as an independent party, instead of making themselves available as part of the mainlands coalition with Democratic Party.

Party (or a unified coalition list) Votes % Seats
Democratic Party288,09229.325[lower-alpha 1]
With Monti for Italy180,67418.392[lower-alpha 2]
The People of Freedom145,82414.841[lower-alpha 3]
Associative Movement Italians Abroad140,47314.302[lower-alpha 4]
Five Star Movement95,0419.671[lower-alpha 5]
South American Union Italian Emigrants44,0244.481[lower-alpha 6]
Italians for Freedom22,3212.270
Left Ecology Freedom17,3751.760
Civil Revolution15,9101.610
Union of Italians for South America11,4701.160
Act to Stop the Decline10,1601.030
Communist Party7,0730.720
Together for the Italians3,8900.390
Invalid/blank/unassigned votes115,145––
Total1,039,725100.0012
Registered voters/turnout3,494,68729.75–
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Notes
  1. ↑ The 5 deputies from Democratic Party were elected by the following regions: Europe (2), North- and Central America (1), South America (1), remaining world (1).[48]
  2. ↑ The 2 deputies from the Monti-coalition were elected by the following regions: Europe (1), North- and Central America (1).[48]
  3. ↑ The deputy from the Berlusconi-coalition was elected by the following region: Europe (1).[48]
  4. ↑ The 2 deputies from MAIE were elected by the following region: South America (2).[48]
  5. ↑ The deputy from the Five Star Movement was elected by the following region: Europe (1).[48]
  6. ↑ The deputy from USEI was elected by the following region: South America (1).[48]

Seat totals

Coalition Party Seats
Pier Luigi Bersani:
Italy. Common Good		 Democratic Party (PD)297
Left Ecology Freedom (SEL)37
Democratic Centre (CD)6
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)5
Total345
Silvio Berlusconi:
Centre-right coalition		 The People of Freedom (PdL)98
Lega Nord (LN)18
Brothers of Italy (FdI)9
Total125
Beppe Grillo: Five Star Movement (M5S)109
Mario Monti:
With Monti for Italy		 Civic Choice (SC)37[lower-alpha 1]
Union of the Centre (UDC)8
With Monti for Italy (SC abroad)2
Total47
Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE)2
South American Union Italian Emigrants (USEI)1
Aosta Valley coalition (VA) Edelweiss (SA)1
Total630
Notes
  1. ↑ Incl. the Union for Trentino (UPT) party leader Lorenzo Dellai, who decided not to submit his own party list for the Monti-coalition, but opted to be a direct part of the Civic Choice list.[44][45]

Overall result

Popular vote and parliamentary seats in the Chamber of deputies.

Popular vote (C)
PD
  
 25.42%
M5S
  
 25.52%
PdL
  
 21.37%
SC
  
 8.58%
LN
  
 3.98%
SEL
  
 3.16%
RC
  
 2.19%
FdI
  
 1.91%
UdC
  
 1.74%
FiD
  
 1.09%
Others
  
 5.31%
Popular vote for coalitions (C)
IBC
  
 29.54%
CDX
  
 29.18%
M5S
  
 25.55%
Monti
  
 10.56%
RC
  
 2.25%
FiD
  
 1.12%
Others
  
 2.92%
Distribution of the 630 parliamentary seats (C)
IBC
  
 54.8%
CDX
  
 19.8%
M5S
  
 17.3%
Monti
  
 7.5%
Others
  
 0.6%

Results for the Senate of the Republic

Italy (18 regions out of 20)

← Summary of the 24–25 February 2013 Senate of the Republic election results
Coalition Party Votes % Seats
Italy. Common Good Democratic Party8,400,25527.43105
Left Ecology Freedom912,3742.977
Democratic Centre163,4270.530
The Megaphone – Crocetta List138,5810.451
Italian Socialist Party57,6880.180
Moderates14,3580.040
Total9,686,68331.63113
Centre-right coalition The People of Freedom6,829,37322.3098
Lega Nord1,328,5554.3317
Brothers of Italy590,0831.920
The Right221,1120.720
Pensioners' Party123,4580.400
Great South122,1000.391
Moderates in Revolution69,6490.220
Party of Sicilians–MPA48,6180.150
Popular Agreement24,9790.080
Popular Construction21,6850.070
Stop Taxes19,2980.060
Free for a Fair Italy6,7690.020
Total9,405,67930.71116
Five Star Movement7,285,85023.7954
With Monti for Italy2,797,4869.1318
Civil Revolution549,9871.790
Act to Stop the Decline278,3960.900
Workers' Communist Party113,9350.370
New Force81,5190.260
Amnesty Justice Freedom List63,1490.200
Tricolour Flame52,1060.170
I Love Italy40,7810.130
CasaPound40,5400.130
Venetian Independence29,6960.090
Liga Veneta Repubblica20,3810.060
Ottavio Pasqualucci's
coalition		 Halve the pay of politicians7,9680.020
No to closing of hospitals7,5470.020
Viva l'Italia4,7590.010
Total20,2740.060
Sardinian Action Party18,6020.060
Rural Civility Development13,9450.040
Stand Up Abruzzo!11,8170.030
Marxist–Leninist Italian Communist Party9,6040.030
Veneto State8,9500.020
Italian Republican Party8,4760.020
Women for Italy7,6100.020
Independence for Sardinia7,4940.020
Padanian Union7,3240.020
United Populars6,5830.020
The Pirates6,2650.020
Italian Reformists5,9520.010
MERIS5,5800.010
Communist Alternative Party5,1760.010
Action Party for Development4,5220.010
National Project3,8220.010
The Base Sardinia3,3860.010
All Together for Italy3,1550.010
Italian Missinian Refoundation2,7170.000
EuWoman Movement2,6890.000
To Build Democracy2,6350.000
Project Italy Movement - Disabilities Italian Movement1,4510.000
Party of the South1,2760.000
Italian Naturalist Movement1,1700.000
Lucanian Community8820.000
Invalid/blank votes1,133,805––
Total31,751,350100.00301
Registered voters/turnout42,271,96775.11–
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol

The semi-autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige in north Italy, including South Tyrol, elects seven members to the Italian Senate through its six constituencies. Each constituency elects one senator by first-past-the post, except for the Pergine Valsugana constituency in which two senate seats are filled proportionally. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region.

Party (or a unified coalition list) Total votes % Seats
SVP – PATT – PD – UPT (only Trentino) 127,656 23.43 3[49]
SVP (only Brixen and Merano constituencies) 97,141 17.82 2[50]
The People of Freedom – Lega Nord 85,298 15.65 1[51]
Five Star Movement 82,499 15.14 0
PD – SVP (only Bolzano constituency) 47,623 8.74 1[52]
Die Freiheitlichen (only South Tyrol) 42,094 7.72 0
Greens (only Brixen and Merano constituencies) 12,808 2.34 0
Civil Revolution 11,262 2.06 0
Democratic Party (only Brixen and Merano constituencies) 8,797 1.61 0
Act to Stop the Decline (only Bolzano constituency and Trentino) 8,796 1.61 0
With Monti for Italy (only Brixen and Merano constituencies) 6,646 1.39 0
Alto Adige in the Heart 4,672 0.85 0
Moderates in Revolution (only Trentino) 3,414 0.62 0
Brothers of Italy (only Bolzano constituency) 3,414 0.62 0
The Right (only South Tyrol) 1,181 0.21 0
CasaPound (only Bolzano constituency) 1,160 0.21 0
Party for All (only Bolzano constituency) 426 0.07 0
Total valid votes 544,838 – –
Blank/void/unassigned votes 30,437 – –
Total votes 575,275 100.00 7
Registered voters/turnout 707,666 81.29 –
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aosta Valley

The semi-autonomous region of Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Senate through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region.

Candidate[53] Party (or a unified coalition list) Total votes % Seats
Albert Lanièce (UV) Aosta Valley coalition (UV-SA-FA) 24,609 37.03 1
Patrizia Morelli Autonomy Liberty Democracy 20,430 30.75 0
Stefano Ferrero Five Star Movement 13,760 20.71 0
Sandra Maria Cane Lega Nord 2,608 3.92 0
Paolo Dalbard The Right 2,014 3.03 0
Luigi Bracci Union of the Centre 1,594 2.39 0
Enrico Martial Act to Stop the Decline 814 1.22 0
Vilma Margaria CasaPound 424 0.63 0
Giovanni Battista Mascia Nation Val d'Outa 186 0.27 0
Total valid votes 66,439 – –
Blank/void/unassigned votes 5,280 – –
Total votes 71,719 100.00 1
Registered voters/turnout 93,040 77.08 –

Source: Ministry of the Interior

Italians abroad

Six members of the Senate are elected by Italians abroad. One member is elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean), two members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago), two members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation.

The election law allow for parties to form other electoral coalitions on the lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 electional list for the Senate all parties were listed independently without any coalitions formed. None of the parties were neither in internal coalitions at the mainland; so in 2013 the electoral situation abroad actually was not different compared to the electoral situation at the mainland.

Party (or a unified coalition list) Votes % Seats
Democratic Party 274,732 30.7 4[lower-alpha 1]
With Monti for Italy (FLI) 177,402 19.8 1[lower-alpha 2]
The People of Freedom 136,052 15.2 0
Associative Movement Italians Abroad 120,290 13.4 1[lower-alpha 3]
Five Star Movement 89,562 10.0 0
South American Union Italian Emigrants 38,223 4.3 0
Italians for Freedom 15,260 1.7 0
Civil Revolution 14,134 1.6 0
Union of Italians for South America 10,881 1.2 0
Act to Stop the Decline 7,892 0.9 0
Communist Party 7,578 0.8 0
Together for the Italians 3,223 0.4 0
Invalid/blank/unassigned votes 108,150––
Total948,067100.006
Registered voters/turnout 3,149,501 30.1 –
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Notes
  1. ↑ The 4 senators from Democratic Party were elected by the following regions: Europe (1), North- and Central America (1), South America (1), remaining world (1).[54]
  2. ↑ Aldo Di Biagio, The senator from the Monti-coalition (FLI) was elected by the following region: Europe (1).[54]
  3. ↑ The senator from MAIE was elected by the following region: South America (1).[54]

Seat totals

Coalition Party Seats
Pier Luigi Bersani:
Italy. Common Good		 Democratic Party (PD)111
Left Ecology Freedom (SEL)7
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)2
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT) 1
Union for Trentino (UPT) 1
The Megaphone – Crocetta List (IM-LC)1
Total123
Silvio Berlusconi:
Centre-right coalition		 The People of Freedom (PdL)98
Lega Nord (LN)18
Great South (GS)1
Total117
Beppe Grillo: Five Star Movement (M5S)54
Mario Monti: With Monti for Italy19
Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE)1
Aosta Valley coalition (VdA) Valdostan Union (UV)1
Total315

Overall result

Popular vote and parliamentary seats in the Senate of the Republic.

Popular vote (C)
PD
  
 27.4%
M5S
  
 23.7%
PdL
  
 22.3%
SC
  
 9.1%
LN
  
 4.3%
SEL
  
 2.9%
FdI
  
 1.9%
RC
  
 1.8%
Others
  
 6.6%
Popular vote (S)
IBC
  
 31.6%
CDX
  
 30.7%
M5S
  
 23.8%
Monti
  
 9.1%
Others
  
 5.4%
Distribution of the 315 parliamentary seats (S)
IBC
  
 39.1%
CDX
  
 37.1%
M5S
  
 17.1%
Monti
  
 6.0%
Others
  
 0.6%

By region

Vote result for the Senate in each Italian region.

Region Total
seats 		Coalition results List apportionment
Coalition seatsPercentageParty seats
IBCCDMontiM5SOther IBCCDMontiM5SOtherIBCCDMontiM5SOther
Piedmont 22 13 4 2 3 0 29.8 29.3 11.6 25.7 3.5 PD 13 PdL 3 LN 1 Monti 2 M5S 3 0
Aosta Valley 1 0 0 0 0 VdA 1 – 7.0 2.4 20.7 69.9 0 0 0 0 UV 1
Lombardy 49 11 27 4 7 0 29.7 37.6 10.7 17.4 4.4 PD 11 PdL 16 LN 11 Monti 4 M5S 7 0
Trentino-Alto Adige 7 6 1 0 0 0 50.6 16.3 1.4 15.1 13.7 PD 2 SVP 2
PATT 1 UPT 1 		LN 1 0 0 0
Veneto 24 4 14 2 4 0 25.0 32.9 11.0 24.6 6.2 PD 4 PdL 9 LN 5 Monti 2 M5S 4 0
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 7 4 1 1 1 0 29.3 28.8 12.3 25.5 4.2 PD 4 PdL 1 Monti 1 M5S 1 0
Liguria 8 5 1 1 1 0 33.0 24.1 9.4 30.3 3.1 PD 5 PdL 1 Monti 1 M5S 1 0
Emilia-Romagna 22 13 4 1 4 0 42.1 21.3 8.9 23.1 4.5 PD 13 PdL 4 Monti 1 M5S 4 0
Tuscany 18 10 3 1 4 0 43.5 21.3 8.1 22.7 4.4 PD 9 SEL 1 PdL 3 Monti 1 M5S 4 0
Umbria 7 4 1 1 1 0 37.6 25.2 8.3 25.3 3.4 PD 4 PdL 1 Monti 1 M5S 1 0
Marche 8 5 1 1 1 0 33.2 22.2 10.0 30.3 4.2 PD 5 PdL 1 Monti 1 M5S 1 0
Lazio 28 16 6 0 6 0 32.3 28.9 7.5 25.9 5.4 PD 14 SEL 2 PdL 6 0 M5S 6 0
Abruzzo 7 1 4 0 2 0 28.1 29.6 7.5 28.4 6.4 PD 1 PdL 4 0 M5S 2 0
Molise 2 1 1 0 0 0 30.3 30.1 8.4 26.6 4.6 PD 1 PdL 1 0 0 0
Campania 29 6 16 2 5 0 29.0 38.4 8.2 20.7 4.6 PD 5 SEL 1 PdL 16 Monti 2 M5S 5 0
Apulia 20 4 11 1 4 0 28.5 34.4 9.1 24.1 3.9 PD 3 SEL 1 PdL 11 Monti 1 M5S 4 0
Basilicata 7 4 1 1 1 0 36.7 25.3 8.4 22.9 6.8 PD 3 SEL 1 PdL 1 Monti 1 M5S 1 0
Calabria 10 2 6 0 2 0 31.7 33.3 7.6 22.2 5.2 PD 2 PdL 5 GS 1 0 M5S 2 -
Sicily 25 5 14 0 6 0 27.3 33.4 5.9 29.5 3.9 PD 4 IM-LC 1 PdL 14 0 M5S 6 0
Sardinia 8 5 1 0 2 0 31.7 25.5 6.6 28.7 7.5 PD 4 SEL 1 PdL 1 0 M5S 2 0
Expats 6 4 0 1 0 MAIE 1 30.69 15.2 19.8 10.0 26.0 PD 4 0 Monti 1 0 MAIE 1
Total 315 123 117 19 54 2 – – – – – PD 111, SEL 7
SVP 2, PATT 1
UPT 1, IM-LC 1		PdL 98,
LN 18, GS 1		Monti 19M5S 54 UV 1
MAIE 1

Source: Ministry of Interior[55]

Reactions

States

United States The President of the United States Barack Obama congratulated Letta for his election as Prime Minister.[56]

Media

Media analysis of the result was one of political stalemate. Unlike most parliamentary democracies, a government must maintain a majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in order to pass legislation, since both houses have equal power. While Italy Common Good has a solid majority in the Chamber of Deputies, it could not form a government on its own since it lacked a majority in the Senate. Bersani said that Italy was in a "dramatic situation". Italian and global shares fell as the result became clear, with the value of the euro also dropping.[57] Strong results for anti-austerity parties were interpreted as showing popular opposition to the austerity measures of the Monti government,[58] with the populist Five Star Movement considered to have had a strong election.[59] Analysts were uncertain as to how this new party would behave in the legislature.[59]

On 26 February La Repubblica ran the headline "Boost for Grillo: Italy ungovernable",[60] whilst Il Giornale described Berlusconi's result as a miracle.[61] Il Messaggero declared that "The winner is ungovernability".[61]

Government formation

Main article: Letta Cabinet
Enrico Letta in 2013.

Formal talks to form a new government were expected to start on 10 March with the official confirmation of the results and the convening of parliament.[59] The formation task immediately turned out to be tough due to the absence of a clear majority in the Senate, with Giorgio Napolitano being unable to dissolve the Parliament due to constitutional constraints forbidding a president from doing so during the last six months of his term.

On 22 March, after the election of house speakers Laura Boldrini and Piero Grasso, and after two days of consultations with all the parliamentary groups, Napolitano designated Pier Luigi Bersani with the task of forming a new government. Bersani immediately ruled out the possibility of a grand coalition with Berlusconi's right-wing coalition, and instead tried to form a minority government supported by the Five Star Movement. On 28 March, after formal talks with Napolitano, Bersani admitted there was no chance to form such a government. Given the troubles in forming a majority coalition, Napolitano then decided to directly form two informal bipartisan commissions with the task of agreeing on a number of shared reforms[62]

At the same time, a new presidential election was called for 18 April. However, the lack of a clear majority turned out to be problematic also in this scenario, as the first five ballots failed to elect a candidate. The Democratic Party split into several factions due to internal conflicts involving the support of party candidates Franco Marini and Romano Prodi, leading to Bersani's resignation as party leader. On the sixth ballot, in an unprecedented move, Napolitano was elected for a second term as Italian president.

Successively, Napolitano started talks again and on 24 April appointed the Democratic Party's deputy secretary Enrico Letta as designated prime minister[63] on 28 April, he announced that he had managed to form a grand coalition of his Democratic Party, the People of Freedom, Civic Choice, the Union of the Centre and the Radicals that would take office and seek a vote of confidence the next day.[6] The same day as the swearing-in a gunman opened fire at the prime minister's office, Palazzo Chigi, injuring two police officers.[64] Letta told parliament in his inaugural speech "Italy is dying from austerity alone. Growth policies cannot wait." He added that there would not be a property tax imposed and that a "fairer" system for the less affluent was being worked.[65] He also won the vote of confidence by 453 votes to 153.[66]

Literature

References

  1. ↑ "Ministry of the Interior" (in Italian). Elezioni.interno.it. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Italy election campaign begins as parliament dissolved". BBC News. 22 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Gavin Jones; James Mackenzie (22 December 2012). "Italy dissolves parliament, Monti mulls future". Reuters.
  4. ↑ "Italian election results: gridlock likely – as it happened". Guardian. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Italy struggles with 'nightmare' election result". BBC News. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Deal reached on new Italian government". Al Jazeera English. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Frye, Andrew (9 December 2012). "Monti Says Markets Shouldn't Fear Political Turmoil". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Monti to quit post-budget , polls in Italy likely by February". Times of India. 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Monti 'worried', says had to announce resignation". La Gazzetta. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  10. ↑ Scherer, Steve (10 December 2012). "Monti to resign once budget is passed". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  11. 1 2 "Why Is the Failed Monti a 'Technocrat' and the Successful Correa a 'Left-Leaning Economist'?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Monti tells young Italians to forget 'steady job for life'". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "What Italy's Election Result May Mean for the Markets" (PDF). Thomaswhite.com. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Italy: Last days of Mario Monti". BBC. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Berlin praises Monti, no comment on Berlusconi". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Berlin expects Italy to respect commitments". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  17. ↑ Nazareth, Rita (10 December 2012). "U.S. Stocks Rise on China Amid American Budget Talks". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "European markets spooked by Monti resignation announcement". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "Italian spread soars, markets slump on Monti announcement". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  20. ↑ "Mario Monti to lead Italy centrist coalition". BBC News. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  21. ↑ Scherer, Steve (9 December 2012). "Italy PM Monti says he will resign when budget passed". Reuters. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  22. ↑ "FARE per Fermare il Declino programme (PDF)" (PDF). FARE per Farmare il Declino. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  23. ↑ "RIVOLUZIONE CIVILE" RACCOGLIE OGGI L'APPOGGIO DI RIFONDAZIONE COMUNISTA IN UMBRIA". TO. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  24. ↑ "Elezioni 2013, Beppe Grillo risponde all'apertura di Antonio Ingroia: "Chiuda pure la porta, suo movimento è una foglia di fico"". Huffington Post. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  25. ↑ "Italy: Berlusconi and Northern League in election pact". BBC News. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  26. ↑ "Silvio Berlusconi 'won't stand for PM'". BBC News. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  27. ↑ |title=Italy Heritage |publisher= italyheritage.com |accessdate=1 May 2016
  28. 1 2 "Italian and Cypriot Elections". europeanmovement.ie. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  29. ↑ "Italy's top court rules electoral law breaches constitution". Reuters.
  30. ↑ "Giudizio di legittimità costituzionale in via incidentale". Corte Costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana.
  31. ↑ "Primaries. Italian Democratic Party: How, When to Vote in NY". i-Italy. 15 November 2012
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Liste, i simboli presentati sono 215: è record. Domani le esclusioni". Il Messaggero. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  33. ↑ "Liste, depositato il simbolo Pdl con la scritta "Berlusconi presidente"". Il Messaggero. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  34. ↑ "Mario Monti to lead Italy centrist coalition". BBC News. 28 December 2012
  35. ↑ Dinmore, Guy (28 December 2012). "Monti to lead centrist group into election". Financial Times
  36. ↑ Jones, Gavin (12 December 2012). "Italy's populist 5-Star Movement hits trouble, expels members". Reuters, MSNBC
  37. ↑ "Verso le elezioni". Il SecoloXIX. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  38. ↑ "E Cambiare si può dice Sì a Ingroia". Globalist. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  39. ↑ "Elezioni, Marco Pannella Presenta Il Simbolo Della Lista Amnistia, Giustizia E Liberta' – Foto". Clandestinoweb. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  40. ↑ "Dalle Agenzie Di Stampa. Nencini: I Socialisti Forti Come Alle Origini. E' Nuovo Inizio". Partito Socialista. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  41. 1 2 "Patto per l'autonomia Svp-Pd-Patt". ANSA. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  42. 1 2 "Patto per l'Autonomia: "Impegni che Monti ci ha negato"". PATT. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  43. 1 2 "Senate in Trentino, with PD-UPT-PATT (coalition candidates common, such as in local government)" (in Italian). l'Adige. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  44. 1 2 3 4 "List Monti in Trentino: Lorenzo Dellai and candidates from Societa' Civile" (in Italian). l'Adige. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  45. 1 2 3 4 "Regional elections, the idea of coalition wins" (in Italian). l'Adige. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  46. ↑ Di Emanuele Lauria (13 January 2013). "Senato in bilico, boom di liste in Sicilia otto con Berlusconi, quattro con Bersani". Repubblica. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  47. ↑ Ministry of the Interior: Candidate list in Aosta for election to the Chambre of Deputies
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Elections 2013: Elected candidates abroad for the Chamber of Deputies". Ministry of the Interior. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  49. ↑ Franco Panizza (PATT), Giorgio Tonini (PD), Vittorio Fravezzi (UPT)
  50. ↑ Karl Johann Berger (Brixen) and Karl Zeller (Merano)
  51. ↑ Sergio Divina (LN)
  52. ↑ Francesco Palermo (PD)
  53. ↑ Ministry of the Interior: Candidate list in Aosta for election to the Senate
  54. 1 2 3 "Elections 2013: Elected candidates for the senate (abroad)". Ministry of the Interior. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  55. ↑ "Italian Ministry of Interior: Official result of the 2013 election for the Senate" (in Italian). Elezioni.interno.it. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  56. ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/28/statement-press-secretary-swearing-prime-minister-enrico-letta-italy
  57. ↑ "Italy election: Nation in dramatic situation – Bersani". BBC. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  58. ↑ Cassidy, Nigel (26 February 2013). "Italian voters declare opposition to austerity". BBC. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  59. 1 2 3 "Italy faces political deadlock after vote". Al Jazeera. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  60. ↑ "'Boost for Grillo: Italy ungovernable'". La Repubblica. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  61. 1 2 "Italian media see instability following poll deadlock". BBC. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  62. ↑ Amend Article 66 of the Constitution so as to give to an independent and impartial tribunal the decision on the electoral procedure, on ineligibility and incompatibility, taking it from Parliament: this is one of the proposals the ‘sages’ suggested in their report to the Head of State Buonomo, Giampiero (2013). "Elezioni (ed eletti) sub iudice". Golem informazione.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  63. ↑ "Letta Named Italian Prime Minister as Impasse Ends". Bloomberg L.P. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  64. ↑ "Gunshots fired as Italy cabinet sworn in". Al Jazeera English. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  65. ↑ "Italy government braces for confidence vote". Al Jazeera English. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  66. ↑ "UPDATE 4-Italy's Letta wins confidence vote after pledging growth drive". Reuters. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.

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