The 2007 Democratic Party leadership election was held on 14 October 2007 in order to elect the first leader of the Democratic Party, the largest political party in Italy at the time. The election was conducted as an open primary, with all Italian citizens aged at least 16 and non-Italian legal residents being eligible to vote. A minimum fee of one euro (initially chosen as five euros, lowered to one euro following direct requests by almost all leadership candidates) was requested to voters in order to taker part in the election.
The election, attended by over three and a half million voters, ended in a landslide victory for Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome and former leader of the Democrats of the Left, who gained 75.8% of the vote, being thus elected as first Democratic Party leader.[1]
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Following the national conventions of the Democrats of the Left and Democracy is Freedom – Daisy, Romano Prodi announced a list of 45 politicians which would have composed the Organizing Committee of the Democratic Party. All members successively met on June 18, 2007 in order to decide the rules regarding the election of the first leader and the 2,400 members of the Constituting Assembly. A method was chosen in order to associate lists with leadership candidates. In order to run into the election, a number of 100 signatures were needed, whereas at least 2,000 approved signatures were requested to run into the leadership race.
July 30, 2007 was the deadline for presenting leadership candidacies. All candidates were requested to be clearly associated with the Democratic Party project, as either members of the political subjects forming it or with no party association at all.
On the July 30 deadline, a total of ten candidates officially registered their candidacy: Walter Veltroni, Rosy Bindi, Enrico Letta, Furio Colombo, Marco Pannella, Antonio Di Pietro, Mario Adinolfi, Pier Giorgio Gawronski, Jacopo G. Schettini, Lucio Cangini and Amerigo Rutigliano. Of these, Pannella and Di Pietro were stopped because of their involvement in external parties, whereas Cangini and Rutigliano did not manage to present the necessary 2,000 valid signatures for the 9pm deadline, and Colombo's candidacy was instead made into hiatus in order to give him 48 additional hours to integrate the required documentation; Colombo later decided to retire his candidacy citing his impossibility to fit with all the requirements.[2] All rejected candidates had the chance against the decision in 48 hours' time,[3] with Pannella and Rutigliano being the only two candidates to appeal against it.[4] Both were rejected on 3 August.[5]
All polls predict a clear victory for Veltroni in the election, with results ranging from 65% to 75% circa.[6][7][8]
On September 26, 2007, Gavazzoli Schettini retired from the race due to his failure in building enough support for presenting a minimum of 25 supporting nationwide lists, and announced he was moving his support to Gawronski, running alongside him for the party leadership.[9]
Walter Veltroni is the incumbent Mayor of Rome and a former Democrats of the Left leader.[10] His candidacy was publicly asked on June 20 by incumbent Democrats of the Left leader Piero Fassino publicly asked Walter Veltroni,[11] being suggested by several opinion polls suggesting Veltroni could potentially win hands down the leadership race.[12]
Veltroni officially announced his intention to run at a widely publicized rally in Turin on June 27.[13] He will run in a joint ticket with deputy-leadership candidate Dario Franceschini, Olive Tree speaker at the Chamber of Deputies.
Rosaria "Rosy" Bindi is currently part of the Prodi II Cabinet as Minister of Family (a minister without portfolio) for Democracy is Freedom – Daisy.[10] She announced her candidacy on July 16.[14]
Enrico Letta is the incumbent undersecretary in the Prodi II Cabinet, and a Democracy is Freedom – Daisy leading member. 40-year-old Letta announced his candidacy via a video posted online on his personal website on July 24.[15]
Marco Pannella is a historical leader of the Italian Radicals.[10] He announced his intention to run for the party leadership on July 21, but this was refused by the Presidency Office. Despite this, Pannella kept on campaigning for his candidacy and received support from Minister of International Commerce and fellow Radical Emma Bonino, who offered herself to campaign as potential deputy leader.
On the night of July 30, a few minutes shy of the deadline, incumbent Minister of Infrastructures and Italy of Values leader Antonio Di Pietro was officially unveiled as entering the race. His candidacy was however refused due to his commitments to Italy of Values.[18][19]
Furio Colombo is an elected Senator for Democrats of the Left, and former editor-in-law for left-leaning newspaper L'Unità.[10] He announced his candidacy on July 15 with an article published on L'Unità itself.[20] His candidacy was initially made into hiatus by the Organizing Committee due to his failure in presenting the original copy of many of the requested 2,000 signatures. Colombo then announced his withdrawal from the competition, citing his impossibility to leave Rome in the days to come due to his Senate commitments.[2]
Official results[22]
| Candidate | Total | Lists | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Name | Votes | % | Seats | |
| Walter Veltroni | 2,694,721 | 75.82 | 2322 | Democratici con Veltroni | 1,553,946 | 43.72 | 1493 |
| Con Veltroni. Ambiente, innovazione, lavoro | 286,811 | 8.07 | 172 | ||||
| A Sinistra con Veltroni | 272,111 | 7.66 | 226 | ||||
| Other lists | 581,853 | 16.37 | 430 | ||||
| Rosy Bindi | 459,398 | 12.93 | 312 | Con Rosy Bindi. Democratici, davvero | 459,398 | 12.93 | 312 |
| Enrico Letta | 391,775 | 11.02 | 220 | I democratici per Enrico Letta | 391,775 | 11.02 | 220 |
| Mario Adinolfi | 5,924 | 0.17 | 0 | Generazione U | 5,924 | 0.17 | 0 |
| Pier Giorgio Gawronski (and Jacopo G. Schettini) | 2,351 | 0.07 | 0 | Gawronski. Il coraggio di cambiare and Noi per il Partito Democratico | 2,351 | 0.08 | 0 |
| Total | 3,554,169 | 100.0 | 2853 | Total | 3,554,169 | 100.0 | 2853 |
| Polling Firm | Date | Candidates | Link | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veltroni | Bindi | Letta | Adinolfi | Schettini | Gawronski | |||
| IPSOS | October 12, 2007 | 70.0–73.0 | 17.0–19.0 | 7.0–9.0 | 0.7–1.4 | – | 0.3–0.6 | [23] |
| EKMA Srl | October 10 | 74.0 | 14.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | [24] |
| IPSOS | October 9 | 73.0–76.0 | 12.0–15.0 | 8.0–11.0 | 0.4–1.2 | 0.1–0.4 | 0.5–1.4 | [25] |
| Gipieffe SpA | October 5 | 78.2 | 10.4 | 9.5 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | [26] |
| EKMA Srl | October 2 | 73.0 | 15.0 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | [27] |
| IPSOS | September 28 | 75.0–78.0 | 11.0–14.0 | 7.0–10.0 | 0.9–1.7 | 0.2–0.5 | 0.9–1.8 | [28] |
| EKMA Srl | September 26 | 73.0 | 16.0 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | [29] |
| ISPO | September 24 | 69.0 | 12.0 | 5.0 | – | – | – | [30] |
| EKMA Srl | September 19 | 70.0 | 18.0 | 7.5 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | [31] |
| EKMA Srl | September 11 | 70.0 | 17.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | [32] |
| EKMA Srl | September 5 | 68.0 | 15.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 | – | – | [33] |
| SWG | August 26 | 75.0 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | [34] |