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1996 Italian general election

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Field	Value
election_name	1996 Italian general election
country	Italy
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1994 Italian general election
previous_year	1994
outgoing_members	Legislature XII of Italy
next_election	2001 Italian general election
next_year	2001
elected_members	Legislature XIII of Italy
seats_for_election	All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies316 seats needed for a majority315 seats in the Senate163 seats needed for a majority
election_date	21 April 1996
registered	48,744,846 (C)42,889,825 (S)
turnout	40,401,774 (C)82.9% (3.4 pp)
35,260,803 (S)82.2% (3.6 pp)
1blank	Constituency vote
2blank	% and swing
3blank	Party vote
4blank	% and swing
image1
leader1	Romano Prodi
party1	Independent politician
alliance1	The Olive Tree
color1	EF3E3E
leader_since1	6 March 1995
leaders_seat1	Bologna (C)
seats1	285 (C) / 157 (S)
seat_change1	20 (C) / 4 (S)
1data1	15,747,455 (C)
13,444,978 (S)
2data1	42.0% (C)
42.2% (S)
3data1	13,014,235 (C)
4data1	34.7% (C)
image2
leader2	Silvio Berlusconi
party2	Forza Italia (1994)
alliance2	Pole for Freedoms
color2	0A6BE1
leader_since2	26 January 1994
leaders_seat2	Milan (C)
seats2	246 (C) / 116 (S)
seat_change2	26 (C) / 40 (S)
1data2	15,027,030 (C)
12,185,020 (S)
2data2	40.1% (C)
37.4% (S)
3data2	15,772,203 (C)
4data2	42.1% (C)
image4
leader4	Umberto Bossi
party4	Northern League
alliance4	—
leader_since4	4 December 1989
leaders_seat4	Lombardy (C)
seats4	59 (C) / 27 (S)
seat_change4	58 (C) / 33 (S)
1data4	4,038,239 (C)
3,394,733 (S)
2data4	10.8% (C)
10.4% (S)
3data4	3,776,354 (C)
4data4	10.1% (C)
image5
leader5	Fausto Bertinotti
party5	PRC
alliance5	—
color5
leader_since5	22 January 1994
leaders_seat5	Piedmont (C)
seats5	35 (C) / 10 (S)
seat_change5	3 (C) / 8 (S)
1data5	982,505 (C)
934,974 (S)
2data5	2.6% (C)
2.9% (S)
3data5	3,213,748 (C)
4data5	8.6% (C)
map_image	[[File:1996 Italian general election - Vote Strength.svg	350px]]
map_caption	Results of the single-member constituencies in the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right)
title	Prime Minister
posttitle	Prime Minister after the election
before_election	Lamberto Dini
before_party	Independent politician
after_election	Romano Prodi
after_party	The Olive Tree (Italy)

35,260,803 (S)82.2% (3.6 pp)

13,444,978 (S) 42.2% (S)

12,185,020 (S) 37.4% (S)

3,394,733 (S) 10.4% (S)

934,974 (S) 2.9% (S)

The 1996 Italian general election was held on 21 April 1996 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left The Olive Tree, won the election, narrowly defeating Silvio Berlusconi, who led the centre-right Pole for Freedoms.

For the election, the Northern League of Umberto Bossi ran alone after having left the Berlusconi I Cabinet in 1994, causing a crisis which drove President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro to appoint a technocratic cabinet led by Lamberto Dini, which in turn lost its parliamentary support in 1995, forcing Scalfaro to dissolve the Italian Parliament. The Communist Refoundation Party, led by Fausto Bertinotti, made a pre-electoral alliance with The Olive Tree, presenting its own candidates, supported by Prodi's coalition, mainly in some safe leftist constituencies, in exchange for supporting Olive Tree candidates on the other ones, and ensuring external support for a Prodi government.

Electoral system

The intricate electoral system of Italy, nicknamed as Mattarellum after Sergio Mattarella, who was the official proponent, provided a 75% of the seats on the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) as elected by a plurality voting system, whereas the remaining 25% was assigned by proportional representation with a minimum threshold of 4%. If possible, the method associate on the Senate was even more complicated: 75% of seats by uninominal method, and 25% by a special proportional method that actually assigned the remaining seats to minority parties.

General election

Background

In December 1994, following the communication of a new investigation from Milan magistrates that was leaked to the press, Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League, left the coalition claiming that the electoral pact had not been respected, forcing Berlusconi to resign from office and shifting the majority's weight to the centre-left side. The Northern League also resented the fact that many of its MPs had switched to Forza Italia, allegedly lured by promises of more prestigious portfolios.

Berlusconi remained as caretaker prime minister for a little over a month until his replacement by a technocratic government headed by Lamberto Dini. Dini had been a key minister in the Berlusconi cabinet, and Berlusconi said the only way he would support a technocratic government would be if Dini headed it. In the end, Dini was only supported by most opposition parties and not by Forza Italia and Northern League.

In December 1995, Dini resigned as Prime Minister and President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro decided to begin consultations to form a government, supported by all the parties in the Italian Parliament to make constitutional reforms. In a TV debate on 19 January 1996, both Silvio Berlusconi and Democratic Party of the Left leader Massimo D'Alema supported constitutional reforms; however, there were many problems on this theme in both coalition, as Gianfranco Fini and Romano Prodi wanted a snap election, not sure that the reforms would be helpful for the country. On 16 February 1996, a snap election was called.

Campaign

On 19 February 1996, the outgoing Prime Minister Lamberto Dini announced that he would run in the election with a new party allied with The Olive Tree rather than Berlusconi's Pole of Freedoms. Shortly after, Berlusconi claimed that Dini "copied our electoral programme".

Another important declaration was that of Umberto Bossi, the leader of the regionalist Northern League, which was very important in 1994 to help Berlusconi winning the election. Bossi said that his party would not support Berlusconi anymore and run alone in the election. At the same time, Prodi's coalition made a pre-electoral agreement with Communist Refoundation Party in which Fausto Bertinotti's party undertook to support Prodi's government after the election in case of no parliamentary majority.

On 25 March 1996, Berlusconi organised a manifestation in Milan against taxes (The Tax Day) attended by many Milanese artisans; on the same day in Turin, Prodi was heavily contested during his electoral speech and accused of not wanting to lower taxes.

Main coalitions and parties

Coalition	Party	Main ideology	Party leader	Coalition leader
The Olive Tree (Italy)}}"		The Olive Tree	Democratic Party of the Left}}"		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	Democratic socialism
Italian People's Party (1994)}}"		Populars for Prodi (PPI–UD–PRI–SVP)	Christian democracy	Franco Marini
Italian Renewal}}"		Italian Renewal (RI)	Liberalism	Lamberto Dini
Federation of the Greens}}"		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	Green politics	Franco Corleone
Italian Socialist Party}}"		Labour Federation (FL)	Social democracy	Valdo Spini
Italian Socialist Party}}"		Italian Socialists (SI)	Social democracy	Enrico Boselli
	The Network (LR)	Anti-corruption politics	Leoluca Orlando
Patto Segni}}		Segni Pact (PS)	Christian liberalism	Mario Segni
House of Freedoms}}"		Pole for Freedoms	Forza Italia}}"		Forza Italia (FI)	Liberal conservatism
National Alliance (Italy)}}"		National Alliance (AN)	National conservatism	Gianfranco Fini
	Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)	Christian democracy	Pier Ferdinando Casini
	United Christian Democrats (CDU)	Christian democracy	Rocco Buttiglione
Lega Nord}};"		Northern League (LN)	Regionalism	Umberto Bossi
Communist Refoundation Party}};"		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	Communism	Fausto Bertinotti
	Pannella–Sgarbi List (LPS)	Liberalism	Marco Pannella
Tricolour Flame}};"		Tricolour Flame (FT)	Neo-fascism	Pino Rauti

Results

Main article: Results of the 1996 Italian general election

Chamber of Deputies

Overall results

Coalition	Party	Proportional	First-past-the-post	**Total
seats**	+/–	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
The Olive Tree (Italy)}};"		The Olive Tree	Democratic Party of the Left}}"		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,894,118	21.06	26	15,747,455	42.01	146	172	+48
Italian People's Party (1994)}}"		Populars for Prodi (PPI–UD–PRI–SVP)	2,554,072	6.81	4	65	69	+18
Italian Renewal}}"		Italian Renewal (RI)	1,627,380	4.34	8	18	26	New
Federation of the Greens}}"		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	938,665	2.50	0	14	14	+3
	The Network (LR)			0	3	3	−5
	Ladin Autonomist Union (UAL)			0	1	1	+1
Total seats	38		247	285	–
Pole of Freedoms}}"		Pole for Freedoms	Forza Italia}}"		Forza Italia (FI)	7,712,149	20.57	37	15,027,030	40.08	86	123	−9
National Alliance (Italy)}}"		National Alliance (AN)	5,870,491	15.66	28	65	93	−17
Christian Democratic Centre}}"		CCD – CDU	2,189,563	5.84	12	28	30	+3
Total seats	77		169	246	–
Lega Nord}};"		Northern League (LN)	3,776,354	10.07	20	4,038,239	10.77	39	59	−59
Communist Refoundation Party}};"		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	3,213,748	8.57	20	982,505	2.62	15	35	−3
South Tyrolean People's Party}};"		South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)			0	156,708	0.42	3	3	±0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	72,062	0.19	0	82,373	0.22	1	1	±0
Valdostan Union}};"		Aosta Valley (VdA)			0	37,431	0.10	1	1	±0
Others}};"		Others	1,635,796	4.39	0	1,223,368	3.78	0	0	±0
Total	37,484,398	100.00	155	37,295,109	100.00	475	630

Proportional and FPTP results

Parties and coalitions	Vote	%	Seats
Pole for Freedoms}}"		Pole for Freedoms (PpL)	15,027,030	40.09
The Olive Tree (Italy)}}"		The Olive Tree (Ulivo)	14,447,548	38.54
Lega Nord}}"		Northern League (LN)	4,038,239	10.77
The Olive Tree (Italy)}}"		The Olive Tree – Venetian Autonomy League (Ulivo–LAV)	997,534	2.66
Progressives (Italy)}}"		Progressives	982,505	2.62
Tricolour Flame}}"		Tricolour Flame (FT)	624,558	1.67
The Olive Tree (Italy)}}"		The Olive Tree – Sardinian Action Party (Ulivo–PSd'Az)	269,047	0.72
South Tyrolean People's Party}}"		South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	156,708	0.42
	Southern Action League (LAM)	82,373	0.22
Pannella List}}"		Pannella-Sgarbi List (LPS)	69,406	0.19
Others}}"		Clean Hands (MP)	68,443	0.18
Italian Socialist Party}}"		Socialist Party (PS)	44,786	0.12
	Sardigna Natzione (SN)	42,246	0.11
Valdostan Union}}"		Aosta Valley (VdA)	37,431	0.10
	Democracy and Freedom (DL)	33,326	0.09
Others}}"		Renovation	28,988	0.08
	Humanist Party (PU)	27,694	0.07
Others}}"		Italian Renaissance Movement (MRI)	24,074	0.06
	Union for South Tyrol (UfS)	23,032	0.06
	We Sicilians – Sicilian National Front (NS–FNS)	20,102	0.05
Others}}"		Pact for the Agro	18,836	0.05
Communist Refoundation Party}}"		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	17,996	0.05
	Greens Greens	12,905	0.03
Others}}"		Environmentalists	12,299	0.03
Others}}"		Liberal Federalists (FL)	11,563	0.03
The Olive Tree (Italy)}}"		Aosta Valley for the Olive Tree	11,526	0.03
Others}}"		Social Democracy (DS)	9,760	0.03
	North-East Union (UNE)	9,669	0.03
Others}}"		Independent Group Freedom (GIL)	8,805	0.02
Natural Law Party}}"		Natural Law Party (PLN)	7,708	0.02
Others}}"		Moderates	6,208	0.02
Others}}"		New Energies	5,627	0.02
Others}}"		New Democracy (ND)	5,333	0.01
Others}}"		Development and Legality	5,275	0.01
Others}}"		For Marche	4,317	0.01
Others}}"		Resurgence of the South	4,291	0.01
Others}}"		Free North Autonomy	4,013	0.01
Others}}"		New Ways	3,904	0.01
Others}}"		State of Friuli	3,345	0.01
Others}}"		Liberist Solidary Alliance	3,219	0.01
Others}}"		Ingenuity and Audacity	2,805	0.01
Others}}"		Venetian Solidarity	2,655	0.01
Others}}"		South Pole Movement	2,310	0.01
	Federalist Italian League (LIF)	2,268	0.01
Others}}"		Trieste Women's Pact	2,121	0.01
Others}}"		Others	71,281	0.19
Total	37,295,109	100.00	475
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Democratic Party of the Left}}"		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,894,118	21.06
Forza Italia}}"		Forza Italia (FI)	7,712,149	20.57
National Alliance (Italy)}}"		National Alliance (AN)	5,870,491	15.66
Lega Nord}}"		Northern League (LN)	3,776,354	10.07
Communist Refoundation Party}}"		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	3,213,748	8.57
Italian People's Party (1994)}}"		Populars for Prodi (PPI–UD–PRI–SVP)	2,554,072	6.81
Christian Democratic Centre}}"		CCD – CDU	2,189,563	5.84
Italian Renewal}}"		Italian Renewal (RI)	1,627,380	4.34
Federation of the Greens}}"		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	938,665	2.50
Pannella List}}"		Pannella-Sgarbi List (LPS)	702,988	1.88
Tricolour Flame}}"		Tricolour Flame (FT)	339,351	0.91
Italian Socialist Party}}"		Socialist Party (PS)	149,441	0.40
	Southern Action League (LAM)	72,062	0.19
	North-East Union (UNE)	63,934	0.17
	Union for South Tyrol (UfS)	55,548	0.15
Others}}"		Clean Hands (MP)	44,935	0.12
	We Sicilians – Sicilian National Front (NS–FNS)	41,001	0.11
Sardinian Action Party}}"		Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az)	38,002	0.10
	Greens Greens	25,788	0.07
	Sardigna Natzione (SN)	23,355	0.06
Others}}"		Independent Group Freedom	17,451	0.05
Others}}"		Environmentalists	15,560	0.04
	Humanist Party (PU)	14,601	0.04
Others}}"		Renovation	13,677	0.04
Others}}"		Pact for the Agro	12,297	0.03
Others}}"		Social Democracy	9,319	0.02
Others}}"		Italian Renaissance Movement (MRI)	8,886	0.02
	Tuscan Autonomist Movement (MAT)	8,627	0.02
Natural Law Party}}"		Natural Law Party (PLN)	8,298	0.02
Others}}"		New Democracy	8,185	0.02
Others}}"		Liberal Federalists (FL)	6,475	0.02
Others}}"		For Marche	5,545	0.01
Others}}"		New Energies	5,393	0.01
Others}}"		Development and Legality	5,347	0.01
Others}}"		Free North Autonomy	4,965	0.01
	Federalist Party (PF)	3,743	0.01
Others}}"		Resurgence of the South	3,084	0.01
Total	100.00	37,484,398	155
Invalid/blank/unassigned votes	–	2,917,376	–
Total	–	40,401,774	–
Registered voters/turnout	82.88%	48,744,846	–
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Senate of the Republic

Coalition	Party	First-past-the-post	Proportional
Seats	Total
seats	+/–	Votes	%	Seats
The Olive Tree (Italy)}};"		The Olive Tree	Democratic Party of the Left}}"		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	13,444,978	41.21	134	23	102
Italian People's Party (1994)}}"		Italian People's Party (PPI)	27	−4
Federation of the Greens}}"		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	14	+7
Italian Renewal}}"		Italian Renewal (RI)	11	New
	The Network (LR)	1	−5
	Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)	1	+1
	Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az)	1	+1
Total seats	157	–
Pole for Freedoms}}"		Pole for Freedoms	Forza Italia}}"		Forza Italia (FI)	12,185,020	37.35	67	49	48
National Alliance (Italy)}}"		National Alliance (AN)	43	−4
Christian Democratic Centre}}"		Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)	15	+3
United Christian Democrats}}"		United Christian Democrats (CDU)	10	New
Total seats	116	–
Lega Nord}};"		Northern League (LN)	3,394,733	10.41	18	9	27	−33
Progressives (Italy)}};"		Progressives	934,974	2.87	10	0	10	−8
Tricolour Flame}};"		Tricolour Flame (FT)	747,487	2.29	0	1	1	New
Pannella List}};"		Pannella-Sgarbi List (LPS)	509,826	1.56	0	1	1	±0
Italian Socialist Party}};"		Socialist Party (PS)	286,426	0.88	0	0	0	New
South Tyrolean People's Party}};"		The Fir – South Tyrolean People's Party – PATT	178,425	0.55	2	0	2	−1
	Clean Hands	109,113	0.33	0	0	0	New
	League for Autonomy – Lombard Alliance	106,313	0.33	0	0	0	New
	North-East Union (UNE)	72,541	0.22	0	0	0	New
	We Sicilians – Sicilian National Front (NS–FNS)	71,841	0.22	0	0	0	New
	Southern Action League (LAM)	66,750	0.20	0	0	0	±0
	Greens Greens	61,434	0.19	0	0	0	±0
Pensioners' Party (Italy)}};"		Pensioners' Party (PP)	60,640	0.19	0	0	0	±0
	Social Democracy	60,016	0.18	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Federation of Italian Civic Lists	55,793	0.17	0	0	0	New
	Sardigna Natzione (SN)	44,713	0.14	0	0	0	New
Valdostan Union}};"		Aosta Valley (VdA)	27,493	0.08	1	0	1	±0
	Piedmont Nation of Europe	26,951	0.08	0	0	0	±0
Others}};"		Environmentalists	26,756	0.08	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Independent Group Freedom (GIL)	23,301	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Union for South Tyrol (UfS)	19,330	0.06	0	0	0	New
	Tuscan Autonomist Movement (MAT)	18,691	0.06	0	0	0	±0
Others}};"		Pact for the Agro	17,980	0.06	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Renovation	16,216	0.05	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Right of the People	6,710	0.02	0	0	0	New
Natural Law Party}};"		Natural Law Party (PLN)	10,371	0.03	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Democrats for Progress	5,688	0.02	0	0	0	New
Communist Refoundation Party}};"		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	5,681	0.02	0	0	0
Others}};"		Popular Movement of Moralization (MPM)	5,297	0.02	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Azure Alps	5,144	0.02	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Democratic Alternative for the Roman Castles	4,524	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Progressive People's Party (PPP)	4,450	0.01	0	0	0	±0
Others}};"		For a Normal Country	3,976	0.01	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		European Dolomite Region	2,898	0.01	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Free North Autonomy	2,411	0.01	0	0	0	New
Others}};"		Hit the Center	2,178	0.01	0	0	0	New
Total	32,624,584	100.00	232	83	315
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Leaders' races

1996 Italian general election (C): Bologna – Mazzini	Candidate	Coalition	Party	Votes	%
Centre-left coalition}}"		Romano Prodi	The Olive Tree	Ind	55,830	60.82
Centre-right coalition}}"		Filippo Berselli	Pole	AN	35,972	39.18
Total	91,802	100.0
Turnout	95,948	92.26
Centre-left coalition}}"		The Olive Tree hold
Source: Ministry of the Interior

1996 Italian general election (C): Milan 1	Candidate	Coalition	Party	Votes	%
Centre-right coalition}}"		Silvio Berlusconi	Pole	FI	46,098	51.50
The Olive Tree (political coalition)}}"		Michele Salvati	The Olive Tree	PDS	32,464	36.27
Lega Nord}}"		Umberto Bossi	None	LN	10,179	11.37
Other}}"		Others		766	0.86
Total	89,507	100.0
Turnout	92,969	82.64
Centre-right coalition}}"		Pole hold
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Notes

References

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