Politics of Veneto
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The Politics of Veneto, a Region of Italy takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
The Statute of Veneto was promulgated in 1971 and largely rewritten in 2011. Article 1 defines Veneto as an "autonomous Region", "constituted by the Venetian people and the lands of the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza", while maintaining "bonds with Venetians in the world". Article 2 sets forth the principle of the "self-government of the Venetian people" and mandates the Region to "promote the historical identity of the Venetian people and civilisation".[1]
On 22 October 2017 an autonomy referendum took place in Veneto: 57.2% of Venetians participated and 98.1% voted "yes".
The current president of Veneto is Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, which is the largest party in the Regional Council too.
Political history
Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Veneto were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades, but also the main opposition parties, namely the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party, had a good sway among Venetian voters. In the 1919 general election, the first held with proportional representation, the Catholic-inspired Italian People's Party came first with 42.6% (gaining at least 10% more than in any other region) and the Socialists were in second place with 36.2%. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Veneto was one of the few regions, along with Lombardy and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party.[2]
From World War II to 1994 Veneto was the heartland of Christian Democracy, which polled 60.5% in the 1953 general election and steadily above 50% until the late 1970s, and led the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In the 1990s Veneto became a stronghold of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition, which governed the region from 1995 to 2010 under Giancarlo Galan of Forza Italia. In 2010 Galan was replaced by Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who obtained a hefty and record-breaking 60.2% of the vote and whose coalition included The People of Freedom/Forza Italia and, since 2013, the New Centre-Right;[3] Liga Veneta was the largest party with 35.2% of the vote. Zaia and Liga Veneta were confirmed in 2015, with a reduced but more cohesive majority, due to the split of Tosi List for Veneto and the diminishment of Forza Italia: Zaia won 50.1% of the vote, while Liga Veneta a thumping 40.9%, largely ahead of the opposition Democratic Party's 20.5%.
Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism (or Venetism), a political movement that appeared in the 1970s, demanding political and fiscal autonomy for the region (which is felt by Venetists to be a nation in its own right) and promoting Venetian culture, language and history. This was the background from which Liga Veneta emerged in 1980. In the 1990s and 2000s other Venetist parties (the Union of the Venetian People, the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, Lega Autonomia Veneta, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project, etc.) emerged, but they never touched the popularity of Liga Veneta, which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Some Venetists have campaigned for federal reform and/or autonomy, others (notably including the Venetian National Party, the Party of the Venetians, Veneto State, Venetian Independence, Veneto First, Plebiscito.eu, Venetian Left, Independence We Veneto and We Are Veneto) for outright independence.
Executive branch
The Regional Government is led by the President of Veneto and composed of the President and ten Ministers (Assessori), including a Vice President.
Current composition
The current regional government has been in office from 29 June 2015, under the leadership of President Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.
Office | Name | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
President | Luca Zaia | Liga Veneta | |
Vice President | Gianluca Forcolin (until August 2020) | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Budget and Local Government | Gianluca Forcolin (until August 2020) | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Health and Social Programs | Luca Coletto (until December 2018) | Liga Veneta | |
Manuela Lanzarin (since January 2019) | Liga Veneta | ||
Minister of Economic Development and Energy | Roberto Marcato | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Public Works, Infrastructures and Transports | Elisa De Berti | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing | Giuseppe Pan | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Education and Labour | Elena Donazzan | Forza Italia (until 2018) Brothers of Italy (since 2019) | |
Minister of Social Affairs | Manuela Lanzarin | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of EU Programs, Tourism and International Trade | Federico Caner | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Environment and Civil Protection | Gianpaolo Bottacin | Liga Veneta | |
Minister of Culture, City Planning and Security | Cristiano Corazzari | Liga Veneta |
Source: Veneto Region – Regional Government
List of previous Governments
Source: Region of Veneto
- ^ The PSDI joined the government in 1981.
- ^ The PDS succeeded to the PCI in 1991.
- ^ The PPI succeeded to the DC in 1994.
- ^ Some members of the disbanded DC formed FI in 1994.
- ^ The regional councillors of the CDU were elected from a joint list with FI.
- ^ a b The CDU and the CCD were merged into the UDC in 2002.
- ^ a b FI and AN were merged into the PdL in 2009.
- ^ The PdL was disbanded in 2013; its members joined either FI or the NCD. Vice President Marino Zorzato joined the NCD.
- ^ The party's sole regional minister, Elena Donazzan left in 2018 and joined FdI in 2019.
Legislative branch
The Regional Council of Veneto (Consiglio Regionale del Veneto) is composed of 51 members. 49 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the remaining two are the elected President and the candidate for President who comes second. The winning coalition wins a bonus of seats in order to make sure the elected President has a majority in the Council.[4][5][6]
The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent (literally: "they will stand together or they will fall together") clause introduced in 1999, also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.[7]
Current composition
Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Political Group | Leader | 2015 | 2020 | |
Liga Veneta–Lega Nord | Nicola Finco | 11 | 12 | |
Zaia for President[a][b] | Silvia Rizzotto | 13 | 10 | |
Democratic Party | Alessandra Moretti / Stefano Fracasso | 9 | 7 | |
Five Star Movement | rotational leadership | 5 | 4 | |
Brothers of Italy[c] | Sergio Berlato / Andrea Bassi | 1 | 3 | |
Forza Italia / More Italy!–I Love Veneto[d] | Massimiliano Barison / Massimo Giorgetti | 3 | 2 | |
Civic Veneto / United Venetians | Pietro Dalla Libera[e] | 1 | 2 | |
Tosi List for Veneto / Veneto for Autonomy–Forza Italia | Stefano Casali / Maurizio Conte[f] | 3 | 1 | |
Moretti President / Civic List for Veneto | Franco Ferrari | 2 | 1 | |
NCD–UdC–Popular Area / Popular Area–Forza Italia | Marino Zorzato[g] | 1 | 1 | |
Independence We Veneto / We Are Veneto / Party of Venetians | Antonio Guadagnini | 1 | 1 | |
Veneto of Acting / Veneto Autonomous Heart | Giovanna Negro | 1 | 1 | |
Venetian Centre-Right[h] | Stefano Casali / Andrea Bassi | 0 | 0 | |
Mixed Group[i] | Piero Ruzzante | 0 | 6 |
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members
Local government
Provinces
Veneto is subdivided into seven provinces, including Venice which has functioned as a metropolitan city since 2015.
All the seven provinces, but especially Vicenza, Verona and Padua, were long Christian Democratic heartlands. In the early 1990s, when the Venetian and Italian party systems experienced huge realignments, Treviso, Vicenza and Verona became strongholds of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, while in Padua, the region's most populated, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia was the dominant political force; only two provinces, Venice and Rovigo, have traditionally been the powerbases of the centre-left and, more recently, the Democratic Party, while Belluno is a swing province. In the 2015 regional election Liga Veneta came largely first in each and every province.
Since 2014 provinces have lost many powers to the region and the municipalities, and, contextually, provincial presidents have been elected by mayors and municipal councillors, whose votes are weighted according to the population of their municipalities. In some cases, elected Presidents represent bipartisan or trans-party coalitions. For instance, Enoch Soranzo was elected in Padua thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party, while the majority of his party, Liga Veneta, had endorsed another candidate,[8] and Achille Variati was endorsed both by the Democrats and Forza Italia in Vicenza.[9] In 2015 the Province of Venice was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Venice and the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, was sworn in as metropolitan mayor too.
Province | Inhabitants | President | Party | Election | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Province of Padua | 936,887
#EF1C27 |
Fabio Bui | Democratic Party | 2018 | |
Province of Verona | 922,383
#008000 |
Manuel Scalzotto | Liga Veneta | 2018 | |
Province of Treviso | 885,447
#008000 |
Stefano Marcon | Liga Veneta | 2016 | |
Province of Vicenza | 867,314
#03386A |
Fabio Rucco | Independent (Brothers of Italy) | 2018 | |
Province of Venice Metropolitan City of Venice |
855,696
#0087DC |
Luigi Brugnaro (metropolitan mayor) |
Independent (Forza Italia) | 2015 | |
Province of Rovigo | 240,540
#0087DC |
Ivan Dall'Ara | Independent (Forza Italia) | 2018 | |
Province of Belluno | 206,856
#EF1C27 |
Roberto Padrin | Independent (Democratic Party) | 2018 |
Municipalities
Twenty-seven comuni of Veneto have more than 25,000 inhabitants.
Eleven are controlled by Liga Veneta, five by the Democratic Party, four by Forza Italia and one by the Five Star Movement. Six mayors are formally non-party independents: three of these are supported by Liga Veneta and Forza Italia, another by the Democratic Party and the remaining two by local independent coalitions.
Municipality | Inhabitants | Mayor | Party | Election | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venice (list) | 263,352
#0087DC |
Luigi Brugnaro | Independent (Forza Italia) | 2015 | |
Verona (list) | 258,765
#0087DC |
Federico Sboarina | Independent (Forza Italia) | 2017 | |
Padua (list) | 210,401
#EF1C27 |
Sergio Giordani | Independent (Democratic Party) | 2017 | |
Vicenza (list) | 112,953
#03386A |
Francesco Rucco | Independent (Brothers of Italy) | 2018 | |
Treviso (list) | 83,731
#008000 |
Mario Conte | Liga Veneta | 2018 | |
Rovigo (list) | 51,867
#EF1C27 |
Edoardo Gaffeo | Democratic Party | 2019 | |
Chioggia | 49,706
#FFEB3B |
Alessandro Ferro | Five Star Movement | 2016 | |
Bassano del Grappa | 43,372
#008000 |
Elena Pavan | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
San Donà di Piave | 41,778
#EF1C27 |
Andrea Cereser | Democratic Party | 2018 | |
Schio | 39,355
#DCDCDC |
Valter Orsi | Independent (ex-Liga Veneta) | 2019 | |
Belluno (list) | 35,870
#DCDCDC |
Jacopo Massaro | Independent (ex-Democratic Party) | 2017 | |
Mira | 38,575
#EF1C27 |
Marco Dori | Democratic Party | 2017 | |
Conegliano | 34,891
#0087DC |
Fabio Chies | Forza Italia | 2017 | |
Villafranca di Verona | 33,246
#0087DC |
Roberto Dall'Oca | Forza Italia | 2018 | |
Castelfranco Veneto | 33,234
#008000 |
Stefano Marcon | Liga Veneta | 2015 | |
Montebelluna | 33,194
#008000 |
Marzio Favero | Liga Veneta | 2016 | |
Vittorio Veneto | 28,232
#008000 |
Antonio Miatto | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
Spinea | 27,927
#008000 |
Martina Vesnaver | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
Mogliano Veneto | 27,659
#008000 |
Davide Bortolato | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
Mirano | 27,045
#EF1C27 |
Maria Rosa Pavanello | Democratic Party | 2017 | |
Valdagno | 26,234
#EF1C27 |
Giancarlo Acerbi | Democratic Party | 2019 | |
Jesolo | 26,122
#0087DC |
Valerio Zoggia | Forza Italia | 2017 | |
Arzignano | 25,844
#008000 |
Alessia Bevilacqua | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
Albignasego | 25,577
#0087DC |
Filippo Giacinti | Forza Italia | 2016 | |
Legnago | 25,351
#008000 |
Graziano Lorenzetti | Liga Veneta | 2019 | |
Portogruaro | 25,142
#008000 |
Maria Teresa Senatore | Liga Veneta | 2015 | |
San Giovanni Lupatoto | 25,066
#008000 |
Attilio Gastaldello | Liga Veneta | 2016 |
Political parties and elections
Latest regional election
The latest regional election took place on 31 May 2015.
Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord was re-elected President by a landslide 50.1% of the vote. Liga Veneta, which ran an official party list and a list named after Zaia, was confirmed the largest in the region with 40.9%. The Democratic Party came second with 20.5% (combined result of official party list and Alessandra Moretti's personal list) and the Five Star Movement third with 10.4%. The total score of Venetist parties was 54.3%, the highest ever.
Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Votes | % | Seat | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luca Zaia | 1,108,065 | 50.09 | 1 | ||||||
Zaia for President | 427,363 | 23.09 | 13 | ||||||
Northern League – Venetian League | 329,966 | 17.83 | 10 | ||||||
Forza Italia | 110,573 | 5.97 | 3 | ||||||
Independence We Veneto | 49,929 | 2.70 | 1 | ||||||
Brothers of Italy | 48,163 | 2.60 | 1 | ||||||
Total | 965,994 | 52.19 | 28 | ||||||
Alessandra Moretti | 503,147 | 22.74 | 1 | ||||||
Democratic Party | 308,438 | 16.66 | 8 | ||||||
Moretti for President | 70,764 | 3.82 | 2 | ||||||
Civic Veneto | 26,903 | 1.45 | 1 | ||||||
New Veneto (SEL – European Greens – SV) | 20,282 | 1.10 | – | ||||||
Autonomous Veneto Project | 6,242 | 0.34 | – | ||||||
Total | 432,629 | 23.37 | 11 | ||||||
Jacopo Berti | 262,749 | 11.88 | – | Five Star Movement | 192,630 | 10.41 | 5 | ||
Flavio Tosi | 262,569 | 11.87 | – | ||||||
Tosi List for Veneto | 105,836 | 5.72 | 3 | ||||||
Popular Area (NCD – UDC) | 37,937 | 2.05 | 1 | ||||||
Veneto of Acting | 26,119 | 1.41 | 1 | ||||||
Pensioners' Family | 14,625 | 0.79 | – | ||||||
North-East Union | 11,173 | 0.60 | – | ||||||
Breed Piave – Veneto Confederal State | 3,487 | 0.19 | – | ||||||
Total | 199,177 | 10.76 | 5 | ||||||
Alessio Morosin | 55,760 | 2.52 | – | Venetian Independence | 46,578 | 2.52 | – | ||
Laura Coletti | 19,914 | 0.90 | – | The Other Veneto | 13,997 | 0.76 | – | ||
Total candidates | 2,212,204 | 100.00 | 2 | Total parties | 1,851,005 | 100.00 | 49 | ||
Source: Ministry of the Interior |
Latest general election in Veneto
The centre-right coalition (48.1%), dominated by the Lega (Liga Veneta), obtained a resounding victory, being largely ahead of the Five Star Movement (24.4%) and the centre-left coalition (20.3%). The Lega (32.2%) was largely the largest party, followed by the Five Star Movement (24.4%), the Democratic Party (16.7%) and Forza Italia (10.6%). Under the new electoral system, which re-introduced single-seat constituencies, the centre-right won all such constituencies.
- Chamber of Deputies
Coalition | Party | Proportional | First-past-the-post | Total seats | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
Centre-right coalition | Lega (incl. Liga Veneta) | 918,985 | 32.2 | 11 | 1,373,372 | 48.1 | 12 | 23 | ||
Forza Italia (incl. VpA) | 302,879 | 10.6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | |||||
Brothers of Italy | 119,770 | 4.2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||
Us with Italy | 31,738 | 1.1 | - | - | - | |||||
16 | 19 | 35 | ||||||||
Five Star Movement | 696,741 | 24.4 | 8 | 696,741 | 24.4 | - | 8 | |||
Centre-left coalition | Democratic Party | 477,025 | 16.7 | 7 | 579,897 | 20.3 | - | 7 | ||
More Europe | 77,344 | 2.7 | - | - | - | |||||
Together | 14,234 | 0.5 | - | - | - | |||||
Popular Civic List | 11,294 | 0.4 | - | - | - | |||||
7 | - | 7 | ||||||||
Free and Equal | 77,623 | 2.7 | - | 77,623 | 2.7 | - | - | |||
The People of Family | 30,233 | 1.1 | - | 30,233 | 1.1 | - | - | |||
Casa Pound Italy | 28,078 | 1.0 | - | 28,078 | 1.0 | - | - | |||
Others | 71,646 | 2.5 | - | 71,646 | 2.5 | - | - | |||
Total | 2,856,590 | 100.0 | 31 | 2,856,590 | 100.0 | 19 | 50 |
Sources: Ministry of the Interior, Corriere del Veneto
- Senate
Coalition | Party | Proportional | First-past-the-post | Total seats | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
Centre-right coalition | Lega (incl. Liga Veneta) | 839,586 | 31.8 | 5 | 1,272,555 | 48.2 | 4 | 9 | ||
Forza Italia (incl. VpA) | 286,906 | 10.9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||
Brothers of Italy | 113,108 | 4.3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
Us with Italy | 32,955 | 1.2 | - | 1 | 1 | |||||
8 | 9 | 17 | ||||||||
Five Star Movement | 647,960 | 24.5 | 4 | 647,960 | 24.5 | - | 4 | |||
Centre-left coalition | Democratic Party | 450,230 | 17.0 | 3 | 539,398 | 20.4 | - | 3 | ||
More Europe | 66,970 | 2.5 | - | - | - | |||||
Together | 12,709 | 0.5 | - | - | - | |||||
Popular Civic List | 9,489 | 0.4 | - | - | - | |||||
3 | - | 3 | ||||||||
Free and Equal | 66,813 | 2.5 | - | 66,813 | 2.5 | - | - | |||
The People of Family | 28,593 | 1.1 | - | 28,593 | 1.1 | - | - | |||
Casa Pound Italy | 22,619 | 0.9 | - | 22,619 | 0.9 | - | - | |||
Others | 63,525 | 2.4 | - | 63,525 | 2.4 | - | - | |||
Total | 2,641,463 | 100.0 | 15 | 2,641,463 | 100.0 | 9 | 24 |
Sources: Ministry of the Interior, Corriere della Sera
Notes
- ^ All the group members were affiliated to Liga Veneta–Lega Nord. See http://www.larena.it/territori/citt%C3%A0/valdegamberipassa-nel-gruppo-misto-1.5531130.
- ^ Three members left the group for technical reasons: Nicola Finco in order to lead the group of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, Stefano Valdegamberi to balance the composition of the Mixed Group, and Fabiano Barbisan to help the formation of the Venetian Centre-Right group.
- ^ The group was originally composed of just one member, Sergio Berlato, who left in February 2020 in order to become an MEP. He was replaced by Joe Formaggio. Contextually, the group was joined by Andrea Bassi and Stefano Casali, splinters of Tosi List for Veneto and, later, founding members of Venetian Centre-Right. The party counts two more councillors, Elena Donazzan and Massimo Giorgetti, who were splinters from Forza Italia and continue to sit in their original group. Af sixth coincillor, Massimiliano Barison, was a member of Brothers of Italy and the group from January 2018 to June 2019.
- ^ The remaining two members of the group, Massimo Giorgetti and Elena Donazzan, were no longer affiliated to Forza Italia by mid 2018, both citing disagreements with the party's regional leadership. In December 2018 Donazzan launched I Love Veneto. In February 2019 Giorgetti joined Brothers of Italy, but chose not to join that party's group and to maintain his affiliation with Donazzan. In March 2019 the name of the group was finally changed. In June 2019 also Donazzan joined Brothers of Italy.
- ^ Founding member Piero Dalla Libera was elected as part of the centre-left coalition and then switched its allegiance to the majority led by President Luca Zaia. In June 2019 he was joined by Massimiliano Barison, a former member of Forza Italia and Brothers of Italy.
- ^ Maurizio Conte joined Forza Italia in August 2017, but was not able to add the party's name to that of the group until March 2019.
- ^ Marino Zorzato joined Forza Italia in November 2018, but was not able to add the party's name to that of the group until March 2019.
- ^ The group was formed in May 2017 by Fabiano Barbisan of Liga Veneta, who joined the group for technical purposes, and two splinters of the Tosi List for Veneto, Andrea Bassi and Stefano Casali. In February 2020 the latter two joined Brothers of Italy and the group was thus dissolved.
- ^ Final members: Piero Ruzzante, splinter of the Democratic Party and member of Article One; Stefano Valdegamberi, a former member of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats and elect of the Zaia President list in 2015 (he officially joined Liga Veneta in June 2020); Patrizia Bartelle, splinter of the Five Star Movement and member of Italia in Comune; Fabiano Barbisan, a member of Liga Veneta who had been a member of Venetian Centre-Right from May 2017 to February 2020; Cristina Guarda, a member of the Federation of Greens; and Orietta Salemi, a member of Italia Viva. Ruzzante's latest affiliation was with "The Veneto We Want" (a grouping formed by Arturo Lorenzoni; Valdegamberi's Tzimbar Earde, "Cimbrian Land", due to his Cimbrian roots; Bertelle's "Veneto Ecology Solidarity".
References
- ^ "Consiglio Regionale Veneto – Leggi Regionali".
- ^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
- ^ In 2009 Forza Italia was merged into The People of Freedom, which was transformed into the new Forza Italia in 2013, causing the split of the New Centre-Right.
- ^ "Elezioni Regione Veneto 2015".
- ^ "COME SI VOTA/ Video, Elezioni Regionali Veneto 2015: fac-simile scheda, seggi speciali e i documenti necessari (oggi, domenica 31 maggio)".
- ^ "Sette leggi per sette regioni. Le differenze fra i sistemi elettorali". 25 May 2015.
- ^ "Home – Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia" (PDF).
- ^ "Enoch Soranzo eletto presidente della Provincia di Padova – Cronaca – Il Mattino di Padova". 13 October 2014.
- ^ "Province: Soranzo, Pastorello, Variati, Trombini i nuovi presidenti".
Sources
- Veneto Region – Legislatures
- Regional Council of Veneto – Elections
- Cattaneo Institute – Archive of Election Data
- Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections