Italian general election, 1953

Italian general election, 1953

1948 ← 7 June 1953 → 1958

All 590 seats in the Italian Chamber of Deputies 296 seats were needed for a majority in the Chamber 237 (of the 243) seats in the Italian Senate   Majority party Minority party   Leader Alcide De Gasperi Palmiro Togliatti Party DC PCI Leader since 1944 1938 Leader's seat Whole Italy Whole Italy Last election 305 & 131 seats, 48.5% 130 & 50 seats, inside FDP Seats won 263 (H) 116 (S) 143 (H) 56 (S) Seat change -57 +19 Popular vote 10,862,073 6,120,809 Percentage 40.1% 22.6% Swing -8.4% +0.6%

Legislative election results map. White denotes provinces with a Christian Democratic plurality, Red denotes those with a Communist plurality, Gray denotes those with an Autonomist plurality.

Prime Minister before election Alcide De Gasperi DC New Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi DC

General elections were held in Italy on 7 June 1953. They were a test for leading centrist coalition ruled by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi. Italian electors chose the second Parliament of the Italian Republic.

The Scam Law

The election was characterized by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted, the government introduced a superbonus of two thirds of seats in the House for the coalition which would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was hugely opposed by the opposition parties as well as the smaller DC coalition partners, which had no realistic chances of success. The new law was called Scam Law by its detractors, including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny the artificial landslide to the Christian Democracy.

Results

Regional pluralities in Senate

The complaint campaign of the oppositions against the Scam Law reached its goal. The government coalition (DC, PSDI, PLI, PRI, SVP, PSAZ) was stopped at an incredible 49.9% of national vote, resulting in the ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Minor dissident parties resulted determinant for the final result, especially the short-lived National Democratic Alliance. Leading party Christian Democracy did not repeat the extraordinary result of five years before, which had been obtained under special conditions linked to the Cold War, and lost a lot of votes to the right wing, which included resurgent fascist politicians particularly in Southern Italy.

Technically, the government won the election, reaching the majority of seats in both houses. But the frustration for the lack of the expected result caused big problems to the leading coalition. De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Parliament on August 2: the Trentin statesman consequently retired and died twelve months later. The legislature continued with weak governments, with minor parties refusing institutional responsibilities. Giuseppe Pella rose to power, but fell after five months only, following strong disputes about the status of the Free Territory of Trieste which Pella was claiming. Amintore Fanfani not receiving a vote of confidence, Mario Scelba and Antonio Segni followed with more traditional centrist coalitions supported by PSDI and PLI: under the administration of the first one, the problem of Trieste was closed ceding Koper to Yugoslavia. The parliamentary term was closed by the minority government chaired by Adone Zoli, finishing a legislature which hugely weakened the office of the Prime Minister, held by six different rulers.

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian Democracy	10,864,282	40.1	263	–41
Italian Communist Party	6,121,922	22.6	143	–
Italian Socialist Party	3,441,305	12.7	75	–
Monarchist National Party	1,855,842	6.9	40	+26
Italian Social Movement	1,582,567	5.8	29	+23
Italian Democratic Socialist Party	1,223,251	4.5	19	–14
Italian Liberal Party	816,267	3.0	13	–6
Italian Republican Party	437,988	1.6	5	–4
South Tyrolean People's Party	122,792	0.5	3	0
Others	626,527	2.3	0	–3
Invalid/blank votes	1,317,583	–	–	–
Total	28,410,326	100	590	+16
Registered voters/turnout	30,280,342	93.8	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian Democracy	9,692,584	39.9	113	–18
Italian Communist Party	4,912,093	20.2	51	–
Italian Socialist Party	2,893,148	11.9	27	–
Monarchist National Party	1,732,793	7.1	16	+12
Italian Social Movement	1,473,596	6.1	9	+8
Italian Democratic Socialist Party	1,046,659	4.3	4	–4
Italian Liberal Party	695,985	2.9	3	–4
Italian Republican Party	262,484	1.1	0	–4
South Tyrolean People's Party	107,139	0.4	2	0
DC-PRI	634,400	2.6	3	–
Communists			3	–
PCI-PSI-IS			2	–
PCI-PSI			2	–
National Democratic Alliance			1	New
Others	858,470	3.5	1	–
Invalid/blank votes	1,173,850	–	–	–
Total	25,483,201	100	237	0
Registered voters/turnout	27,172,871	93.8	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

External links

• Chronology of Italian elections results (Italian)