Italian regional elections, 2005
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The Italian Regional elections of April 3 and 4, 2005 were a major victory (11-2) for the centre-left coalition L'Unione, led by Romano Prodi. The centre-right coalition, governing in the national government, was defeated in all the regions it held, except for its strongholds in Lombardy and Veneto.
Before the elections, there were allegations of centre-left parties helping the fascist coalition Alternativa Sociale to gather signatures to present their list, as their presence would have been thought to draw votes from the centre-right; some right-wing commentators pointed to grotesque episodes of communists helping fascists to present their list. These allegations remained since unproven. In any case, in no region could the votes from Alternativa Sociale have been enough to change the result, if they had been given to the centre-right candidate.
Due to a series of bureaucratic issues involving the presentation of the list of Alternativa Sociale in Basilicata, the election there would have been held two weeks later. There, the victory of the centre-left coalition brought the tally to 12-2.
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[edit] Veneto
[edit] Lazio
The defeat in Lazio for House of Freedoms, where journalist Piero Marrazzo, candidate of the Union, won the election, was especially important, as the centre-right expected to maintain control of the region. Former president Francesco Storace was subsequently granted the status of Minister of Public Health in the new Berlusconi III government, relieving famed doctor Girolamo Sirchia from Berlusconi II, with criticism from the opposition because his lack of previous experience.
During the electoral campaign, Francesco Storace came out with factual evidence that Alessandra Mussolini's Alternativa Sociale had added fake signatures to real ones to reach the minimum number needed to present a list. However, to demonstrate this, he had someone "hack" into the database of the municipality of Rome in order to verify the signatures: he was therefore nicknamed "Storhacker" by Alessandra Mussolini. It also appeared that someone spied on the left-wing candidate, Piero Marrazzo. [1]
[edit] Apulia
In Apulia, the success of Nichi Vendola came somewhat unexpected. In a southern-Italian region (expected to be morally conservative), Vendola, a communist and a homosexual, defeated the moderate and traditional incumbent Raffaele Fitto. Vendola was the first candidate ever to be appointed by its coalition through a primary election instead of agreements between parties. A defeat of Vendola might have resulted in the cancellation of the primary elections for the national elections of 2006 in the left-wing coalition L'Unione.
[edit] Consequences on national basis
The elections resulted in the national government, led by Silvio Berlusconi, to acknowledge defeat and open a crisis, which resulted in the formation of the Berlusconi III cabinet, with some ministers being substituted.
[edit] Results
Region | Candidates | Incumbent | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Union L'Unione |
House of Freedoms Casa delle Libertà |
Social Alternative Alternativa Sociale |
Other | ||
Piedmont Piemonte |
Mercedes Bresso 1,234,354 (50.9%) |
Enzo Ghigo 1,143,993 (47.1%) |
Ludovico Ellena 24,650 (1.0%) |
Gianfranco Rotondi (Christian Democracy) 25,017 (1.0%) |
Enzo Ghigo |
Lombardy Lombardia |
Riccardo Sarfatti 2,126,189 (43.6%) |
Roberto Formigoni 2,606,687 (53.4%) |
Gianmario Invernizzi 134,596 (2.7%) |
Marco Marsili (Liberal Democrats) 13,099 (0.3%) |
Roberto Formigoni |
Veneto Veneto |
Massimo Carraro 1,143,935 (42.4%) |
Giancarlo Galan 1,364,839 (50.5%) |
Roberto Bussinello 29,083 (1.1%) |
Giorgio Panto (North-Eastern Project) 162,009 (6.0%) |
Giancarlo Galan |
Liguria Liguria |
Claudio Burlando 492,352 (52.6%) |
Sandro Biasotti 435,601 (46.6%) |
Angelo Riccobaldi 7,328 (0.8%) |
Sandro Biasotti | |
Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna |
Vasco Errani 1,585,714 (62.7%) |
Carlo Monaco 889,231 (35.2%) |
Gianni Correggiari 25,394 (1.0%) |
Bruno Barbieri (Consumers) 27,220 (1.1%) |
Vasco Errani |
Tuscany Toscana |
Claudio Martini 1,185,264 (57.4%) |
Alessandro Antichi 678,254 (32.8%) |
Marzio Gozzoli 20,853 (1.0%) |
Luca Ciabatti (Communist Refoundation) 151,657 (7.3%) Renzo Macelloni |
Claudio Martini |
Umbria Umbria |
Maria Rita Lorenzetti 319,109 (63.0%) |
Pietro Laffranco 170,357 (33.6%) |
Luca Romagnoli 7,410 (1.5%) |
Marcello Ramadori (Socialist Party New PSI) 9,561 (1.9%) |
Maria Rita Lorenzetti |
Marche Marche |
Gian Mario Spacca 499,793 (57.7%) |
Francesco Massi 333,635 (38.6%) |
Vincenzo Rosini 12,273 (1.4%) |
Angelo Tiraboschi (Democratic Pact) 19,802 (2.3%) |
Vito D'Ambrosio |
Lazio Lazio |
Piero Marrazzo 1,628,486 (50.7%) |
Francesco Storace 1,522,198 (47.4%) |
Alessandra Mussolini 62,352 (1.9%) |
Francesco Storace | |
Abruzzo Abruzzo |
Ottaviano Del Turco 455,307 (58.1%) |
Giovanni Pace 317,976 (40.6%) |
Fabrizio Bosio 10,221 (1.3%) |
Giovanni Pace | |
Campania Campania |
Antonio Bassolino 1,896,664 (61.6%) |
Italo Bocchino 1,057,523 (34.4%) |
Alessandra Mussolini 59,652 (1.9%) |
Gianfranco Rotondi (Christian Democracy) 64,483 (2.1%) |
Antonio Bassolino |
Apulia Puglia |
Nichi Vendola 1,165,536 (49.8%) |
Raffaele Fitto 1,151,405 (49.2%) |
Gianfelice Galassi 10,973 (0.5%) |
Laura Scalabrini (Christian Democracy) 10,477 (0.5%) |
Raffaele Fitto |
Calabria Calabria |
Agazio Loiero 662,722 (59.0%) |
Sergio Abramo 446,634 (39.7%) |
Fortunato Aloi 12,577 (1.1%) |
Giuseppe Bilello (Green Democrats) 2,593 (0.2%) |
Giuseppe Chiaravalloti |
Note: The Communist Refoundation Party presented its own candidate in Tuscany, even though it is full member of left-wing coalition The Union, as well as what Socialist Party New PSI, member of right-wing House of Freedoms, did in Umbria.