Italian general election, 2008

Italian general election, 2008

2006 ← April 13 – 14, 2008 → Next

All 630 seats to the Italian Chamber of Deputies 316 seats were needed for a majority in the Chamber 315 (of the 322) seats in the Italian Senate   Majority party Minority party   Leader Silvio Berlusconi Walter Veltroni Party The People of Freedom Democratic Party Alliance PdL & Lega Nord PD & Italy of Values Leader's seat XVIII - Molise XV - Rome Last election 242 & 145 seats, 43.0%, total 49.7% 243 & 113 seats, 33.5%, total 49.8% Seats won 344 (H) 174 (S) 246 (H) 134 (S) Seat change 141 24 Popular vote 17,063,874 13,686,673 Percentage 46.8% 37.5% Swing 3.8% 4.0%

Prime Minister before election Romano Prodi Democratic Party Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi The People of Freedom

A snap general election was held in Italy on 13–14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative appointment of Franco Marini with the aim to change the current electoral law. Under Italian law, elections must be held within 70 days of the dissolution. The voting determined the leader of Italy's 62nd government since the end of World War II. The coalition led by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from The People of Freedom party defeated that of former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni of the Democratic Party.

Electoral system

Italians voted in this election with the same electoral system used in 2006, based on party-list representation. This electoral systems allow parties to formally define coalitions. The coalition with a plurality of votes nationwide then obtains an absolute majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies. This is not in Senate's case, as absolute majorities of seats are awarded regionally.

Parties

Major competitors in the election were expected to be Silvio Berlusconi, as leader of the centre-right opposition coalition, and Walter Veltroni, leader of the Democratic Party. Berlusconi's right coalition was leading by a significant margin in opinion polls. The 71-year-old Berlusconi, who was twice prime minister—from May 1994 to January 1995 and again from May 2001 to May 2006—was not considered too old for the job although he had heart surgery since leaving office.

Veltroni's campaign has been compared to Barack Obama's presidential run in the United States. The most apparent of the similarities is his slogan, "Si può fare" (literally: "it can be done").

Following the calling of the election, Veltroni stated his party will not make any alliance in either Chamber, choosing instead to run alone with its own platform, and challenged Berlusconi to do likewise with his Forza Italia party. The main four left-wing parties not part of the PD decided to contest the election together under the banner of The Left – The Rainbow. On February 8, Berlusconi announced Forza Italia and Gianfranco Fini's National Alliance will run together under the common symbol of The People of Freedom party, being regionally allied with Lega Nord.

On February 13, Veltroni announced to have reached an agreement with the Italy of Values, led by Antonio Di Pietro, which agreed for an electoral alliance with the Democratic Party, accepting also to join the Democratic Party parliamentary groups after the election. On February 21 the Italian Radicals announced an agreement with the Democratic Party, accepting to present themselves in list with the latter, under the agreement they will have nine MPs elected in the Parliament, and appointment of Emma Bonino as Minister in case of victory.

Though Berlusconi and Veltroni were in opposite parties, they allegedly represent such similar policies that they were dubbed "Veltrusconi". Both candidates supported big tax cuts and generous spending programs.

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats was invited to support Berlusconi, but refused and decided to run on its own instead. White Rose originally planned to run alone with Bruno Tabacci as their PM candidate, but shortly before the filing deadline, they decided to form joint lists with the UDC.^{citation needed}

Result

Chamber of Deputies

 Summary of the 13–14 April 2008 Chamber of Deputies election results

Candidates	Votes	%	Seats	Parties inside coalitions	Votes	%	Seats
Silvio Berlusconi	17,064,314	46.8	344	The People of Freedom	13,629,069	37.4	272
							abroad: 4
				Lega Nord	3,024,758	8.3	60
				Movement for Autonomy	410,487	1.1	4
Walter Veltroni	13,686,501	37.5	246	Democratic Party	12,092,969	33.2	211
							abroad: 6
				Italy of Values	1,593,532	4.4	28
							abroad: 1
Pier Ferdinando Casini	2,050,229	5.6	36	Union of the Centre	2,050,229	5.6	36
Fausto Bertinotti	1,124,298	3.1	-	The Left – The Rainbow	1,124,298	3.1	-
Daniela Santanché	885,226	2.4	-	The Right–Tricolour Flame	885,226	2.4	-
Others			4
Total			630				630

Senate

 Summary of the 13–14 April 2008 Senate election results

Candidates	Votes	%	Seats	Parties inside coalitions	Votes	%	Seats
Silvio Berlusconi	15,507,548	47.3	168	The People of Freedom	12,510,306	38.2	141
							abroad: 3
				Lega Nord	2,642,166	8.1	25
				Movement for Autonomy	355,076	1.1	2
Walter Veltroni	12,456,444	38.0	130	Democratic Party	11,042,263	33.7	116
							abroad: 2
				Italy of Values	1,414,118	4.3	14
Pier Ferdinando Casini	1,866,338	5.7	11	Union of the Centre	1,866,338	5.7	11
Fausto Bertinotti	1,053,154	3.2	-	The Left – The Rainbow	1,053,154	3.2	-
Daniela Santanché	687,211	2.1	-	The Right–Tricolour Flame	687,211	2.1	-
Others			4
Total			315				315

Overall

Composition of the elected Chamber of Deputies. The Berlusconi-led coalition won the nationwide majority bonus with a 9 point lead over the nearest coalition.

Composition of the elected Senate.

Parliamentary groups in the Italian Parliament at the inauguration of the 16th Republican Legislature.

  Parliamentary groups after 2008 Italian general election

Parties		House	Senate
	The People of Freedom	275 seats	146 seats
	Democratic Party	217 seats	119 seats
	Lega Nord	60 seats	26 seats
	Italy of Values	29 seats	14 seats
	Union of the Centre	35 seats	11 seats with SVP
	Mixed group * Movement for Autonomies * South Tyrolean People's Party * Valdotanian Union * Independents and Senators for life	14 seats	6 seats
Parties		630 seats	322 seats

See also

• 2008 Italian Senate election, North and Central American division

External links

• NSD: European Election Database - Italy publishes regional level election data