2013 Italian general election
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All 630 seats to the Italian Chamber of Deputies and 315 seats to the Italian Senate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A general election took place on 24–25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate for the 17th Parliament of the Italian Republic.[1][2] According to exit polls, the centre-left alliance Italy. Common Good led by the Democratic Party obtained the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a slight plurality in the Senate, narrowly defeating 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, neither political force won an outright majority, resulting effectively in a hung parliament.
Background
Following the European sovereign debt crisis, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned from his position in November of 2011; he was also facing criminal charges, including allegations of sex with an underage prostitute. He was replaced as Prime Minister by technocratic Senator for Life Mario Monti.
In December of 2012, Berlusconi announced his intention to run for Prime Minister for a fourth time. Shortly after, his party, People of Freedom (PdL), withdrew endorsement for Monti's Cabinet and Monti announced he would resign[3] 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,"[4] and that he could not govern with a loss of support for his platform.[5]
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.[6] 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.[4][7] In the approximately one year since Monti took office, unemployment rose by almost two percent.[7] 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 Statue that forbids companies with over 15 employees from sacking an employee without "just cause", saying that it "can be pernicious for Italy's growth."[8]
Monti was supported by other Eurozone leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.[9] 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.[10] 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."[11] In reaction, financial markets fell on speculation of further instability;[12][13] 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%.[14]
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.[9] 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.
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.[15]
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."[16]
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 December 19 2012, the name "FARE per Fermare il Declinio" ("ACT to Stop The Decline") was chosen, and a list was presented with Oscar Giannino as PM candidate. The party's programme[17] 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), Federation of the Left (FdS), 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.[18] 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."[19]
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.[20] 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.[21]
Electoral system
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 D'Hondt method.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Coalitions and electoral lists
The coalitions and main electoral lists are:
- Coalitions consisting of several lists
- Italy. Common Good (centre-left;[22] Democratic Party, Left Ecology Freedom, Italian Socialist Party, Democratic Centre, South Tyrolean People's Party, Moderates for Piedmont, The Megaphone of Rosario Crocetta)[23]
- Centre-right coalition (centre-right; The People of Freedom, Lega Nord, The Right, Brothers of Italy, Great South–MpA, Italian Moderates in Revolution, Popular Agreement, Pensioners' Party)[24]
- With Monti for Italy (centrist;[25][26] Civic Choice, Union of the Centre, Future and Freedom)
- Unitary electoral lists
- Five Star Movement (anti-establishment populist)[27]
- Civil Revolution[28] (left-wing; Italy of Values, Federation of the Left (PRC+PdCI), Federation of the Greens, Orange Movement)[29]
- Stop the Decline (economic liberal)
- Amnesty, Justice and Freedom[23][30] (radical liberal, libertarian)
- I Love Italy[23] (social conservative)
- Italian Reformists[23] (social-democratic, former centre-right)
- Workers' Communist Party[23] (Trotskyist)
- New Force[23] (neo-fascist)
- Tricolour Flame[23] (neo-fascist)
- CasaPound[23] (neo-fascist)
Opinion polls
Results
Chamber of Deputies
Template:Italian general election, 2013-Deputies
Senate
Results in the Senate are more unpredictable as there are 20 regional elections in which the winning coalition is secured of more than half of the seats even if they had a much lower proportion of votes. Moreover, the electoral thresholds are set much higher. A list should belong to a coalition that reached 20% in order to have a threshold set at 3%, otherwise, it should reach 8%. Unitary lists should also reach 8%.
Indeed, the political landscape was so divided that no coalition naturally won a majority in a region, thus giving the bonus seats more importance.
Regions from North to South. Provisional results otherwise in blue.
| Province | Seats | Bonus to the first coalition | List apportionment | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Percentage | ||||||||||||||||||
| IBC | IDX | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|M5S | IBC | IDX | style="background-color:Template:With Monti for Italy/meta/color"|Monti | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|M5S | Other | IBC | IDX | style="background-color:Template:With Monti for Italy/meta/color"|Monti | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|M5S | Other | |||||||
| Piedmont | 22 | IDX and IBC toe-to-toe for 13 seats | |||||||||||||||||
| Valle d'Aosta | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lombardy | 49 | – | 27 | – | 11 | 27 | 4 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Veneto | 24 | – | 14 | – | 4 | 14 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 7 | 4 | – | – | |||||||||||||||
| Ligury | 8 | 5 | – | – | 33.0 | 24.1 | 9.4 | 30.3 | 3.1 | Pd 5 | Pdl 1 | Monti 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Emilia-Romagna | 22 | 13 | – | – | 42.1 | 23.1 | 8.9 | 21.3 | 4.6 | Pd 13 | Pdl 3 | Monti 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Tuscany | 18 | 10 | – | – | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Umbria | 7 | 4 | – | – | 37.6 | 25.2 | 8.3 | 25.3 | 3.4 | Pd 4 | Pdl 1 | Monti 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Marche | 8 | 5 | – | – | 33.2 | 22.2 | 10.0 | 30.3 | 4.2 | Pd 5 | Pdl 1 | Monti 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Lazio | 28 | 16 | – | – | |||||||||||||||
| Abruzzo | 7 | – | 4 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Molise | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Campania | 29 | – | 16 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Puglia | 20 | – | 11 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Basilicata | 7 | 4 | – | – | 36.7 | 25.3 | 8.4 | 22.9 | 6.8 | Pd 3 Sel 1 | Pdl 1 | Monti 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Calabria | 10 | – | 6 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Sicilia | 25 | – | 14 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Sardegna | 8 | 5 | – | – | |||||||||||||||
| Expats | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 315 | 66 | 92 | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|0 | . | . | style="background-color:Template:With Monti for Italy/meta/color"|. | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|. | . | IBC | IDX | style="background-color:Template:With Monti for Italy/meta/color"|Monti | style="background-color:Template:Five Star Movement/meta/color"|M5S | Other | |||||
References
- ^ "Italy election campaign begins as parliament dissolved". BBC News. 22 December 2012.
- ^ Gavin Jones; James Mackenzie (22 December 2012). "Italy dissolves parliament, Monti mulls future". Reuters.
- ^ Frye, Andrew (9 December 2012). "Monti Says Markets Shouldn't Fear Political Turmoil". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ a b "Monti to quit post-budget , polls in Italy likely by February". Times of India. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.[dead link]
- ^ "Monti 'worried', says had to announce resignation". La Gazzetta. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Scherer, Steve (10 December 2012). "Monti to resign once budget is passed". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ a b "Why Is the Failed Monti a 'Technocrat' and the Successful Correa a 'Left-Leaning Economist'?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Monti tells young Italians to forget 'steady job for life'". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ a b "Italy: Last days of Mario Monti". BBC. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Berlin praises Monti, no comment on Berlusconi". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Berlin expects Italy to respect commitments". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ Nazareth, Rita (10 December 2012). "U.S. Stocks Rise on China Amid American Budget Talks". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "European markets spooked by Monti resignation announcement". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Italian spread soars, markets slump on Monti announcement". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Mario Monti to lead Italy centrist coalition". BBC News. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ Scherer, Steve (9 December 2012). "Italy PM Monti says he will resign when budget passed". Reuters. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "FARE per Fermare il Declino programme (PDF)" (PDF). FARE per Farmare il Declino. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "RIVOLUZIONE CIVILE" RACCOGLIE OGGI L'APPOGGIO DI RIFONDAZIONE COMUNISTA IN UMBRIA". TO. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Italy: Berlusconi and Northern League in election pact". BBC News. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Silvio Berlusconi 'won't stand for PM'". BBC News. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Primaries. Italian Democratic Party: How, When to Vote in NY", i-Italy, 15 November 2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Liste, i simboli presentati sono 215: è record. Domani le esclusioni". Il Messaggero. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Liste, depositato il simbolo Pdl con la scritta "Berlusconi presidente"". Il Messaggero. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Mario Monti to lead Italy centrist coalition, BBC News, 28 December 2012
- ^ Dinmore, Guy (28 December 2012), "Monti to lead centrist group into election", Financial Times
- ^ Jones, Gavin (12 December 2012), Italy's populist 5-Star Movement hits trouble, expels members, Reuters, MSNBC
- ^ "Verso le elezioni". Il SecoloXIX. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "E Cambiare si può dice Sì a Ingroia". Globalist. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Elezioni, Marco Pannella Presenta Il Simbolo Della Lista Amnistia, Giustizia E Liberta' – Foto". Clandestinoweb. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Dalle Agenzie Di Stampa. Nencini: I Socialisti Forti Come Alle Origini. E' Nuovo Inizio". Partito Socialista. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Patto per l'autonomia Svp-Pd-Patt". ANSA. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Patto per l'Autonomia: «Impegni che Monti ci ha negato»". PATT. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ 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.
External links
2013 Italian Parliamentary Election Pre-Election Report, The Monkey Cage, 19 February 2013
