Parliamentary elections in Italy 2006

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← 2001Parliamentary elections in Italy 20062008 →
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31.20
23.66
12.31
6.75
5.83
4.58
2.58
2.31
2.29
8.49
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Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
a Elective alliance of DS and DL
d 2001: Sum of the results from CCD , CDU and DE
← 2001Parliamentary elections in Italy 20062008 →
by coalition
 %
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49.81
49.74
0.54
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Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
a 2001: L'Ulivo , PRC and smaller parties
b 2001: CdL and smaller parties

Parliamentary elections were held in Italy on April 9 and 10, 2006 . 630 MPs and 315 senators were elected. The competing party alliances were the Casa delle Libertà with Silvio Berlusconi at the head and L'Unione with Romano Prodi .

It was the second time that Italians living abroad have been able to vote in an election or referendum . However, there is no postal vote in Italy ; The election abroad is exercised in the diplomatic missions and is still only available to a few groups of citizens, in particular soldiers and other public workers on missions abroad; Erasmus students or even private travelers still only have the option of choosing to travel to their home town in Italy.

The turnout was very high at 83.6 percent.

According to the official final result, the Unione, under the leadership of Romano Prodi, was able to win majorities in both chambers of parliament with a wafer-thin margin.

Election campaign

The election campaign was characterized by little content and tax promises were made again and again . While Silvio Berlusconi was promising further tax gifts, Prodi had announced that it would take stronger action against tax evasion. Berlusconi, on the other hand, had expressed understanding for tax evaders in the past and accommodated them with amnesties. In the closing words of his second television duel with Prodi, which was followed by half of the Italian population, Berlusconi announced the abolition of the municipal property tax for first homes. Prodi could then no longer reply that this election promise would have to be made by the already deficit municipalities. Many mayors protested against Berlusconi's coup.

Berlusconi's race to catch up through personalization and scandalization

The rigid personalization of the election campaign by Berlusconi almost brought him the election victory after the leading polling institutes had forecast for weeks that the Unione coalition Prodis had a secure lead of five to eight percent. The lead of Romano Prodi's center-left alliance after polls before the elections was all the more impressive because of the daily media presence of the “media mogul” Berlusconi. However, Berlusconi succeeded, as he had done before, by deliberately scandalizing his political opponents from his economic policy failures and from the criminal proceedings against him.

In mid-March, Berlusconi even publicly lost his composure. In front of the cameras, he suddenly stormed out of an afternoon talk show ("In mezz'ora" on the state TV channel RAI 3) after saying goodbye shortly before.

Right from the start, Berlusconi was dissatisfied with the way the moderator, Lucia Annunziata, asked him uncomfortable questions and immediately stopped when he deviated from the topic. Berlusconi asked her to ask him about his program for the next legislative period because it would interest the voters more. After about 25 minutes, the latent tension between the two escalated after Berlusconi had said that he would get up and leave if the presenter did not let him finish. As a result, they insisted that Berlusconi had to withdraw this statement. Berlusconi ignored this request by pointing out that he could say what he wanted because he was a liberalist and she, on the other hand, represented the typical left that was used to always making decisions for others, and continued with his remarks. But when the moderator did not deviate from her request, even after about a minute, her interlocutor made his threat true. He got up, thanked for the interview and accused the moderator of being a "leftist" and that she should be ashamed. She only replied that he did not know how to treat journalists.

As he left the studio he could be heard shouting: “So the RAI is controlled by me?” This episode was rated differently by the neutral media, and Annunziata was informed by the director of the RAI Fabrizio del Noce that her stubbornness was not necessary been. Lucia Annunziata was reprimanded by the media supervisory authority, which monitors compliance with the fairness rules, for violating these rules. Journalists are forbidden to aggressively express their own political opinion, as Annunziata did during the Berlusconi interview.

Berlusconi tried to refute his everyday media dominance for years in a political speech to his supporters by countering a meticulous listing of all election campaign appearances of his political opponents on Italian television (state and private). So be Piero Fassino 25 times, Francesco Rutelli 18 times, Massimo D'Alema 7 times, Romano Prodi 9 times and Fausto Bertinotti appeared 19 times on television, where only three appearances from him, Prime Minister Berlusconi, were faced with.

A spectacular example of Berlusconi's campaign tactics was his insulting all Unione voters two days before the election as coglioni (literally testicles , translated idiots ) because they would vote against their interests if they voted left and that he had too much respect for the Italians to believe they did. Literally he said: "Ho troppa stima dell'intelligenza degli italiani per pensare che ci siano in giro così tanti coglioni che possano votare facendo il proprio disinterest." (Translation: I have too much respect for the intelligence of Italians to believe that there are so many idiots who vote against their own interests).

The term coglioni (idiot) was used by the rather populist secretary of the party "Democratici di Sinistra" (left-wing democrats) Piero Fassino on March 29, 2006 in a political debate in order to persuade the undecided voters to go ahead with Berlusconi's statement Change center-left alliance and not be an italiani coglioni .

It is also worth mentioning Prodi's devaluation as mortadella , a fatty sausage from Bologna, Prodi's hometown. The fact that several directors in Europe filmed his government satirically (inter alia in the films Il Caimano ("The Caiman") by Nanni Moretti and Bye Bye Berlusconi! By Jan Henrik Stahlberg ), Berlusconi used strategically for his election campaign by himself henceforth jokingly referred to himself as "caiman" and Coglione at appearances and thus pulled himself through the cocoa.

The violent verbal attacks by the previous Prime Minister Berlusconi reached their lowest point with his accusation that (Chinese) communists were boiling babies and processing them into fertilizer: when a representative of the left (Fausto Bertinotti of the "Rifondazione Comunista") told Berlusconi that his whole intimidation tactic was used Berlusconi replied that the communists were exaggerated in relation to the population that they would bring ruin to the country and that the communists did not eat children: “In China at the time of Mao Tse Tung they did not eat them. But they cooked them to fertilize fields. It's a horrible thing - but it's sadly true to read in the black book of communism! ”This statement sparked widespread controversy, including a protest from the Chinese government.

In the course of the election campaign it was time and again such controversies that a factual discussion about the election program was pushed into the background. The election campaign for the Italian parliamentary elections in 2006 was described by the daily La Repubblica as the lowest level since the end of the Second World War.

Prodi's resistance

Prodi could not fully maintain his reputation as a clean man, for example he described a listener on a state radio program as " matto " (crazy) because he had asked him the following question: "I would like your position regarding the start of work on the TAV in Heard for the first hundred days of their hypothetical term in office. This might be helpful information for undecided voters who believe that after the first budget bill, your government will no longer exist. "

The TAV is a planned rapid transit line between Turin and Lyon , which is very controversial in the center-left alliance of Prodi. Prodi replied: "He's crazy. In the sense - I appreciate honesty - but why does he think that after the first budget law there would be no Prodi government? ..." He said literally: "Boh. [mugugno] Ma questo poi ... questo è matto! Voglio dire ... [mugugno] Noi abbiamo ... [risatina] Nel senso che ... [mugugno lungo] Apprezzo molto l'incitamento e la ... [risatina e mugugno] e la franchezza. Ma che cosa gli fa dire che dopo la finanziaria non ci sarà più un governo Prodi? » A few minutes later, after a commercial break, Prodi apologized for using the term.

In the first television duel on the first state television broadcaster RAI 1, Prodi described his political opponents as “ venditori di tappeti ” (carpet dealers) because they would no longer find employment after the election.

In another address, Prodi accused the center-right alliance of " delinquencea politica " (political crimes).

The only failure in the second duel (also on RAI 1) was made by Prodi claiming that Berlusconi clung to numbers like a drunk on a lamppost, thus provoking a moment of excitement. Berlusconi reacted with a snub and demanded: “ Respect the Prime Minister! " " You can keep the drunk to yourself! " Said an angry Berlusconi. “If someone talks like a drunk, it's you.” Thereupon the moderator Bruno Vespa tried to calm the head of government - but Berlusconi asked the moderator in the tone of command: “You are the moderator! So make sure that Mr. Prodi is moderate! "

Media farce

The election campaign reached another bizarre climax four days before the election, when a well-known Italian television magazine called “TERRA!”, Which is broadcast on “Canale 5” by Berlusconi's Mediaset, Silvio Berlusconi and Romano Prodi in a so-called “free TV duel” invited. Unlike the two TV duels on state television, this broadcast should take place without strict rules and without limited speaking times. Prodi did not make this appearance. Canale 5 was unable to get other party leaders of the center-left alliance or editors-in-chief of important left-wing daily newspapers to participate. The latter were urged by the national press agency not to take part in the program.

In protest at Berlusconi's announced participation, two leading opposition politicians, Piero Fassino and Francesco Rutelli , canceled their participation in another program on Canale 5 called “MATRIX”, which was to be recorded on the afternoon of the same day, because Berlusconi's appearance allegedly violated the so-called par condicio , a relatively recent Italian law that is supposed to protect the equality of parties in the mass media.

When, after waiting for hours, the opposition politicians did not arrive, the representatives of the opposing side, Gianfranco Fini and Pier-Ferdinando Casini (both center-right alliance) also canceled their participation. Berlusconi finally decided not to take part in "TERRA!", Whereupon Fassino and Rutelli decided to take part in "MATRIX" again, as the actual impetus for their protest no longer existed, and the representatives of the government coalition described them as "arrogant" because they did are no longer ready for a confrontation. The broadcast was then carried out the following evening as a kind of phantom broadcast with four empty chairs and no studio guests. Instead, a film was shown of the day's events that had led to this situation.

Alliances and parties

Senate electoral list in the Campania region

Supported by: Alternativa Sociale ( Azione Sociale - Forza Nuova - Fronte Sociale Nazionale ) - Movimento per l'Autonomia - Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore - No Euro - Partito Liberale Italiano - Riformatori Liberali - Verdi Verdi - regional: Nuova Sicilia - Patto per la Sicilia

supported by: Consumatori Uniti - Democratici Cristiani Uniti - I Socialisti - Lista Consumatori - Partito della Democrazia Cristiana - Partito Pensionati - Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano - Radicali di Sinistra - Repubblicani Democratici - regional: Lega per l'Autonomia - Alleanza Lombarda - Liga Fronte Veneto - Progetto Sardegna - South Tyrolean People's Party

Exit polls

According to exit polls by the state television station RAI immediately after the vote, opposition leader Romano Prodi was in front of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . The center-left L'Unione got 50 to 54 percent of the vote in both chambers and got 159 to 170 seats in the Senate. In contrast, the center-right alliance Berlusconi's Casa delle Libertà had only achieved between 45 and 49 percent and therefore only received 139–150 mandates. These predictions should prove wrong in the next few hours.

Projections

After the polling stations closed at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 10, the first projections were published around 6 p.m. Contrary to the exit polls, the exit suddenly seemed much tighter than initially assumed. At least there was still a lead of around 1%. As the evening progressed, new projections were submitted, and the lead of the center-left coalition continued to shrink. Around midnight there was an absolute tie, due to the complicated voting mode, the distribution of seats changed constantly, one side had the majority, once the other. At around 3 a.m., the leaders of the center-left alliance appeared in front of the still-waiting audience in a public square in Rome and announced their victory. At this point, all votes for the Chamber of Deputies had been counted, but it was still unclear who would have the majority in the Senate. It was only several hours later that it was clear that the center-left coalition would also have a majority in the Senate due to the allocation of the 6 Senate seats, which were reserved for Italians living abroad.

Bottom line

The final result of the parliamentary elections turned out to be remarkably close and therefore sparked discussions for weeks after the election. In terms of votes, the center-left alliance was able to achieve 0.07% (24,755 votes) more for the Chamber of Deputies, but after sitting there is a comfortable majority because the electoral law provides for a majority bonus. For the Senate, however, the center-right alliance achieved almost 1% more votes overall; Due to the right to vote, however, the Senate result translates into a majority of 2 seats for the center-left alliance.

Chamber of Deputies

House of Representatives
   
A total of 630 seats

Official final result in Germany :

Casa delle Libertà be right % Seats L'Unione be right % Seats
Forza Italia 9,048,976 23.72 137 L'Ulivo ( DS and La Margherita ) 11,930,983 31.27 220
Alleanza Nazionale 4,707,126 12.34 71 Rifondazione Comunista 2,229,464 5.84 41
Unione di Centro 2,580,190 6.76 39 La Rosa nel Pugno ( SDI and Radicali Italiani ) 990,690 2.60 18th
Lega Nord and MPA 1,747,730 4.58 26th Comunisti Italiani 884.127 2.32 16
Democrazia Cristiana and Nuovo PSI 285.474 0.75 4th Italia dei Valori 877.052 2.30 16
Other 608,347 1.59 0 Federazione dei Verdi 783,803 2.06 15th
Popolari UDEUR 534.088 1.40 10
South Tyrolean People's Party 182.704 0.48 4th
Other 547,368 1.43 0
All in all 18,977,843 49.74 277 All in all 19,002,598 49.81 340

The seat of the Aosta Valley region was given to the Autonomie Liberté Democratie party , which has allied itself with the Union.

Official final result abroad (coalition alliance in brackets):

  • L'Unione 6 seats
  • Forza Italia (Casa delle Libertà) 3 seats
  • Associazioni Italiane in Sud America (independent) 1 seat
  • Per l'Italia nel Mondo (Casa delle Libertà) 1 seat
  • Italia dei Valori (L'Unione) 1 seat

senate

senate
   
A total of 315 seats

Official final result (inland except South Tyrol and Aosta Valley):

Casa delle Libertà be right % Seats L'Unione be right % Seats
Forza Italia 8,202,890 24.01 78 Democratici di Sinistra 5,977,347 17.50 62
Alleanza Nazionale 4,235,208 12.40 41 DL - La Margherita 3,664,903 10.73 39
Unione di Centro 2,309,442 6.76 21st Rifondazione Comunista 2,518,361 7.37 27
Lega Nord and MPA 1,530,667 4.48 13 Insieme con L'Unione 1,423,003 4.17 11
Other 875.771 2.56 - Italia dei Valori 986.191 2.89 4th
Rosa nel Pugno 851.604 2.49 0
Popolari UDEUR 477.226 1.40 3
Partito Pensionati 340,565 1.00 0
Socialisti Uniti 126,431 0.37 0
Lega Autonomia Lombarda 90,855 0.27 0
Lista Consumatori – Doveri Civici – Democrazia Cristiana 72.199 0.21 1
L'Ulivo 59,498 0.17 1
Other 137.218 0.40 0
All in all 17.153.978 50.21 153 All in all 16.725.401 48.96 148

The seat of the Aosta Valley region was given to the Autonomie Liberté Democratie party , which has allied itself with the Union. In South Tyrol the South Tyrolean People's Party won 5 seats together with L'Unione and Casa delle Libertà 2 seats.

Official final result abroad (coalition alliance in brackets):

  • L'Unione 4 seats
  • Forza Italia (Casa delle Libertà) 1 seats
  • Associazioni Italiane in Sud America (independent) 1 seat

Foreign reactions

While EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso officially congratulated his predecessor Prodi on April 11, despite the counting quarrels, the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel conveyed her congratulations on Prodi's election victory on April 13, 2006. US President George W. Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not congratulate Prodi until April 21 and April 22, 2006, respectively.

Ambiguity and controversy about the election count

The extremely small gap of 24,464 votes prompted Berlusconi's "Casa della Libertà" to demand a recount of the votes on the day after the election and, if necessary, to contest the result.

After Berlusconi had called for a legal review of the election results because of "numerous irregularities" (at times he had also spoken of "election fraud", but withdrew it), the counting of allegedly over 80,000 controversial ballot papers started on Wednesday. These were votes that could not be clearly assigned during the first count, but were not declared invalid either.

However, according to a statement by the Italian Interior Ministry on the Friday after the election, only around 2,131 ballot papers were in dispute. Romano Prodi's election victory is therefore certain.

On April 19, the Court of Cassation gave the result of the checks. Accordingly, the final result in the chamber is 19,002,598 votes for center-left and 18,977,843 for center-right, which is a difference of 24,755 votes. The difference has thus decreased by around 500 votes.

The first reactions from the center-right block to this news were divided. While some congratulated Prodi on their victory, others still refused to acknowledge the result.

Furthermore, a total of over 1.1 million votes have been canceled across the country.

Further development

After it was initially unclear whether Prodi in the following days by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi would tasked with forming a government, it came first at the 10. May 2006 the election Giorgio Napolitano as the new President of Italy. Ciampi, who was already 85 years old, had refused the request made by all political forces to run again.

The formation of a new government took place shortly after Napolitano's appointment as president on May 15, 2006 . In the local elections in Italy following the parliamentary elections, Romano Prodi's government alliance was confirmed. It won in most cities including Rome , Naples and Turin . Only in Milan and the Sicily region were representatives of Berlusconi's opposition camp able to hold their own.

See also

literature

  • Stefan Köppl: Change of power by a hair's breadth - the parliamentary elections in Italy from April 9-10 , 2006 , in: ZParl 37 (2006), issue 4
  • Stefan Köppl: The political system of Italy. An introduction , VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2007, ISBN 978-3-531-14068-1
  • Peter Weber: The agony of an autocrat, regional elections and government crisis in Italy , in: Das Parlament , a.55 n.17, Berlin, April 25, 2005.
  • Peter Weber: The longing for the strong man. In the center-right alliance of Italy there is also room for neo-fascists , in: Das Parlament, a.55 n.45, Berlin, November 7, 2005, p. 9.
  • Peter Weber: Berlusconi against the world. The election campaign in Italy is entering the decisive phase , in: Das Parlament, a.56 n.14, Berlin, April 3, 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ spiegel.de
  2. ↑ corriere.it
  3. ↑ repubblica.it .
  4. ↑ Italy threatens American conditions , spiegel.de of April 12, 2006
  5. ^ Chaos in Rome , spiegel.de of April 12, 2006
  6. ↑ Prodi cheers, Berlusconi wants to count , spiegel.de of April 12, 2006