Senate of the Republic (Italy)

Senate of the Republic Senato della Repubblica
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
President of the Senate	Renato Schifani, PdL since April 29, 2008
Structure
Seats	315 7 lifetime senators
Political groups	Pdl 146 PD 119 Lega Nord 26 Idv 14 UDC SVP and autonomists 11 Mixed group 6
Elections
Last election	April 13-14, 2008
Meeting place
File:Aula senato.jpg
Palazzo Madama, Rome
Website
http://www.senato.it

The Senate of the Republic (Italian: Senato della Repubblica) is the upper house of the Parliament of Italy. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but it existed during the monarchy as Senato del Regno, (the "Senate of the Kingdom"), continuing from the Subalpine Parliament of Piedmont established on 8 May 1848.

The Senate consists of 315 elected members (senatori), elected for a maximum of 5 years, of whom six represent Italians residing overseas. Senators must be 40 years of age or older, and are elected by citizens 25 years of age or over. According to special constitutional provisions, 'life senators' may exist, either former presidents, as ex officio life senators, or those appointed by the president "for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". As of 2006, there are seven life senators: Francesco Cossiga (former President), Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (former President), Giulio Andreotti (former Prime Minister), Rita Levi Montalcini (Nobel Prize winner for Medicine 1986), Emilio Colombo (former Prime Minister), Sergio Pininfarina (Designer), Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (former President). Giorgio Napolitano (former President of the Chamber of Deputies and former leader of the Communist Party), currently President of the Republic, is no longer a member of the Senate, and will be able to resume his duties as a senator in 2013 at the earliest. The Italian Senate is unusual among Upper Houses in that it has almost the same power as its Lower counterpart: other than the budget, any law can be initiated in either house, and must be approved in the same form by both houses; additionally the Government must have the consent of both to remain in office (this situation is called "perfect bicameralism").

The seat of the senate is Palazzo Madama in Rome.

The Senate may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term by the President of the Republic, when no government can obtain a majority.

Presidents

Under the current Constitution, the Senate must hold its first sitting no later than 20 days after a general election. That session, presided by the oldest senator, proceeds to elect the President of the Senate for the following parliamentary period. On the first two attempts at voting, an absolute majority of all senators is needed; if a third round is needed, a candidate can be elected by an absolute majority of the senators present and voting. If this third round fails to produce a winner, a final ballot is held between the two senators with the highest votes in the previous ballot. In the case of a tie, the elder senator is deemed the winner.

In addition to overseeing the business of the chamber, chairing and regulating debates, deciding whether motions and bills are admissible, representing the Senate, etc., the President of the Senate stands in for the President of the Republic when the president is unable to perform the duties of the office. The current President of the Senate (since 29 April 2008) is Renato Schifani.

Kingdom of Sardinia (1848-1860)

President	From	To	Notes
1st Legislature
Gaspare Coller	1848	1848
2nd Legislature
Giuseppe Manno	1849	1849
3rd Legislature
Giuseppe Manno	1849	1849
4th Legislature
Giuseppe Manno	1849	1853
5th Legislature
Giuseppe Manno	1853	1855
Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno	1855	1857
6th Legislature
Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno	1857	1860
7th Legislature
Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno	1860	1860

Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)

President	From	To	Notes
8th Legislature
Ruggero Settimo	1861	1863	Died during mandate
Federico Sclopis	1863	1864
Giuseppe Manno	1864	1865
9th Legislature
Gabrio Casati	1865	1867
10th Legislature
Gabrio Casati	1867	1870
11th Legislature
Vincenzo Fardella di Torrearsa	1870	1874
12th Legislature
Luigi Des Ambrois	1874	1874	Died during mandate
Giuseppe Pasolini	1874	1876
13th Legislature
Sebastiano Tecchio	1876	1880
14th Legislature
Sebastiano Tecchio	1880	1882
15th Legislature
Sebastiano Tecchio	1882	1884
Giacomo Durando	1884	1886
16th Legislature
Giacomo Durando	1886	1887
Domenico Farini	1887	1890
17th Legislature
Domenico Farini	1890	1892
18th Legislature
Domenico Farini	1892	1895
19th Legislature
Domenico Farini	1895	1897
20th Legislature
Domenico Farini	1897	1898
Giuseppe Saracco	1898	1900
21st Legislature
Giuseppe Saracco	1900	1904
22nd Legislature
Tancredi Canonico	1904	1908	Died during mandate
Giuseppe Manfredi	1908	1909
23rd Legislature
Giuseppe Manfredi	1909	1913
24th Legislature
Giuseppe Manfredi	1913	1918	Died during mandate
Adeodato Bonasi	1918	1919
25th Legislature
Tommaso Tittoni	1919	1921
26th Legislature
Tommaso Tittoni	1921	1924
27th Legislature
Tommaso Tittoni	1924	1929
28th Legislature
Luigi Federzoni	1929	1934
29th Legislature
Luigi Federzoni	1934	1939
30th Legislature
Giacomo Suardo	1939	1943
Paolo Thaon di Revel	1943	1944
Pietro Tomasi Della Torretta	1944	1946

Italian Republic (1948-)

President	From	To	Notes
1st Legislature
Ivanoe Bonomi	8 May 1948	20 April 1951	died during mandate
Enrico De Nicola	28 April 1951	24 June 1952	resigned
Giuseppe Paratore	26 June 1952	23 March 1953	resigned
Luigi Gasparotto	24 March 1953	25 March 1953	renounced
Meuccio Ruini	25 March 1953	24 June 1953
2nd Legislature
Cesare Merzagora	25 June 1953	11 June 1958
3rd Legislature
Cesare Merzagora	12 June 1958	15 May 1963
4th Legislature
Cesare Merzagora	16 May 1963	7 November 1967	resigned
Ennio Zelioli-Lanzini	8 November 1967	4 June 1968
5th Legislature
Amintore Fanfani	5 June 1968	24 May 1972
6th Legislature
Amintore Fanfani	25 May 1972	26 June 1973	resigned
Giovanni Spagnolli	27 June 1973	4 July 1976
7th Legislature
Amintore Fanfani	5 July 1976	19 June 1979
8th Legislature
Amintore Fanfani	20 June 1979	1 December 1982	resigned once elected Prime Minister
Tommaso Morlino	9 December 1982	6 May 1983	died during mandate
Vittorino Colombo	12 May 1983	11 July 1983
9th Legislature
Francesco Cossiga	12 July 1983	24 June 1985	elected President of the Italian Republic
Amintore Fanfani	9 July 1985	17 April 1987	resigned once elected Prime Minister
Giovanni Francesco Malagodi	22 April 1987	1 July 1987
10th Legislature
Giovanni Spadolini	2 July 1987	22 April 1992
11th Legislature
Giovanni Spadolini	24 April 1992	14 April 1994
12th Legislature
Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini	16 April 1994	8 May 1996
13th Legislature
Nicola Mancino	9 May 1996	29 May 2001
14th Legislature
Marcello Pera	30 May 2001	27 April 2006
15th Legislature
Franco Marini	29 April 2006	28 April 2008
16th Legislature
Renato Schifani	29 April 2008

Presidency Office

President

• Renato Schifani

Vice Presidents

• Emma Bonino
• Vannino Chiti
• Rosi Mauro
• Domenico Nania

Quaestors

• Benedetto Adragna
• Romano Comincioli
• Paolo Franco

Secretaries

• Silvana Amati
• Emanuela Baio
• Cinzia Bonfrisco
• Alessio Butti
• Lucio Malan
• Colomba Mongiello
• Piergiorgio Stiffoni
• Marco Stradiotto

See also

• Parliament of Italy
• Italian Chamber of Deputies
• Senate
• Roman Senate
• Senato Italiano (TV channel)

External links

• Template:It Official website
• Official website