Primary elections in Italy
Encyclopedia
The mechanism of primary elections was used for the first time in Italy
by Lega Nord in 1995, but was scarcely used until before the 2005 regional elections
, for which the centre-left The Union
coalition delegated its potential electors to select candidates for office as President of the Regions of Apulia
and Calabria
. Another kind of primary election was held at the same time by the Democrats of the Left
for deciding instead which candidates to present for the Regional Council of Tuscany
.
A more politically significant primary election was held on 16 October 2005, when The Union asked its electors to decide the candidate as Prime Minister for the next general election
to be held next year. After the great success of this primary election of October, with over 4,300,000 voters, it is likely to imagine a larger use of this mechanism by the coalition for deciding its own candidates, even for the lowest political levels. Two years later, on October 14, 2007, the potential electors of the Democratic Party
were called to choose the party leader among a list of six, their representatives to the Constituent Assembly and the local reps. The primary elections was a success, involving more than 3,000,000 people across Italy, and gave to the winner Walter Veltroni
momentum in a difficult period for the government and the centre-left coalition. The voters were symbolically asked to give 1€ contribution for the organisation. It showed up to be the biggest open primary held to select a major party leader in Europe, and it attracted big curiosity from abroad.
The centre-right House of Freedoms
has never held a primary election to decide its candidates in the national stage and held some experiments only at the very local level.
. For this reason, people in Italy usually do not consider the primary election in Calabria as a "real primary", and thus define the Apulia one as the first primary election ever held in the country.
For the October national primary election, the Union allowed even official immigrants with at least 3 years of stay in the country to participate the voting, as well as Italian citizens abroad.
On December 17, 2004, the Tuscany region approved a law (known as legge 70) which formally allows the parties to hold primary elections for deciding their candidates, proposing also a common regulation for how to manage them. As of today, the Democrats of the Left represents the only party which resorted these laws, on the occasion of the regional election of April 2005. The Tuscany region is the only one to have made up a kind of regulation for primary elections in Italy.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
by Lega Nord in 1995, but was scarcely used until before the 2005 regional elections
Italian regional elections, 2005
The Italian regional elections of 3–4 April 2005 were a major victory for the centre-left The Union coalition, 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, whose...
, for which the centre-left The Union
The Union (political coalition)
The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:...
coalition delegated its potential electors to select candidates for office as President of the Regions of Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
and Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
. Another kind of primary election was held at the same time by the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
for deciding instead which candidates to present for the Regional Council of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
.
A more politically significant primary election was held on 16 October 2005, when The Union asked its electors to decide the candidate as Prime Minister for the next general election
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...
to be held next year. After the great success of this primary election of October, with over 4,300,000 voters, it is likely to imagine a larger use of this mechanism by the coalition for deciding its own candidates, even for the lowest political levels. Two years later, on October 14, 2007, the potential electors of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
were called to choose the party leader among a list of six, their representatives to the Constituent Assembly and the local reps. The primary elections was a success, involving more than 3,000,000 people across Italy, and gave to the winner Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni, Knight Grand Cross, is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He served as Mayor of Rome from 2001 to 2008.-Biography:Walter Veltroni was...
momentum in a difficult period for the government and the centre-left coalition. The voters were symbolically asked to give 1€ contribution for the organisation. It showed up to be the biggest open primary held to select a major party leader in Europe, and it attracted big curiosity from abroad.
The centre-right House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...
has never held a primary election to decide its candidates in the national stage and held some experiments only at the very local level.
Legislative rules
There are no laws at the national level to govern the conduct of any primary election. The Union itself determines the functioning of its primaries; the October national primary and the Apulia one have been ruled in an open form, with any potential elector allowed to vote, whereas the Calabria one was in form of political conventionPolitical convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
. For this reason, people in Italy usually do not consider the primary election in Calabria as a "real primary", and thus define the Apulia one as the first primary election ever held in the country.
For the October national primary election, the Union allowed even official immigrants with at least 3 years of stay in the country to participate the voting, as well as Italian citizens abroad.
On December 17, 2004, the Tuscany region approved a law (known as legge 70) which formally allows the parties to hold primary elections for deciding their candidates, proposing also a common regulation for how to manage them. As of today, the Democrats of the Left represents the only party which resorted these laws, on the occasion of the regional election of April 2005. The Tuscany region is the only one to have made up a kind of regulation for primary elections in Italy.
List of most relevant primary elections in Italy
| Primary date(s) | Party/Coalition | Type of primary | Position(s) | Winner |
| 28 November 2004 | The Union The Union (political coalition) The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:... |
Convention Political convention In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions... |
President of Calabria Calabria Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro.... Region |
Agazio Loiero |
| 16 January 2005 | The Union | Open primary Open primary An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted... |
President of Apulia Apulia Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and... Region |
Nichi Vendola Nichi Vendola Nicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about... |
| 16 October 2005 | The Union | Open primary | Prime Minister of Italy Prime minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic... |
Romano Prodi Romano Prodi Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008... |
| 4 December 2005 | The Union | Open primary | President of Sicily Sicily Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,... |
Rita Borsellino Rita Borsellino Rita Borsellino is an anti-Mafia activist, Sicilian politician, and sister of the late judge Paolo Borsellino, killed by the Corleonesi in 1992 by a car bomb... |
| 29 January 2005 | The Union | Open primary | Mayor of Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... |
Bruno Ferrante Bruno Ferrante Bruno Ferrante was Milan prefect from 8 June 2000 to November 2005. He ran in 2006 as a mayoral candidate in Milan for the centre-left coalition The Union, after having won a primary election with around 67.85% of votes.... |
| 4 February 2007 | The Union | Open primary | Mayor of Genoa Genoa Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria.... |
Marta Vincenzi Marta Vincenzi Marta Vincenzi is an Italian politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament for the North-West of Italy with the Democrats of the Left , part of the Socialist Group from 2004 until she resigned on 29 June 2007.... |
| 4 February 2007 | The Union | Open primary | Mayor of Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old... |
Leoluca Orlando Leoluca Orlando Leoluca Orlando , is an Italian politician, who was mayor of Palermo in 1985-1990 and 1993-2000. He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia.-Biography:Orlando was born in Palermo... |
| 24 October 2007 | Democratic Party Democratic Party (Italy) The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election.... |
Open primary | Party leader | Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni, Knight Grand Cross, is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He served as Mayor of Rome from 2001 to 2008.-Biography:Walter Veltroni was... |
| 14 October 2007 | Democratic Party | Open primary | Party regional leaders | several winners |
| 14 October 2007 | Democratic Party | Open primary | Members of the Constituent Assembly | several winners |
| 14 December 2008 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Bologna Bologna Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,... |
Flavio Delbono Flavio Delbono Flavio Delbono is an Italian politician and economist. He served as the mayor of Bologna from 25 June 2009 until 28 January 2010, when he was forced to resign as he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and aggravated abuse of office following allegations made by his former... |
| 14 February 2009 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Florence Florence Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.... |
Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi is an Italian politician. He was elected as Mayor of Florence on June 22, 2009 with 59.96% of the vote. In February 2011 he publicly called on all the Italian politicians of the Berlusconi era to retire, citing the fact that Berlusconi is only six years younger than Renzi's... |
| 25 October 2009 | Democratic Party | Open primary | Party leader | Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani is an Italian politician and the current Secretary of the Democratic Party of Italy, the main center-left political party in Italy . He was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 to 1999, Minister of Transports from 1999 to 2001, and Minister of Economic... |
| 25 October 2009 | Democratic Party | Open primary | Party regional leaders | several winners |
| 25 October 2009 | Democratic Party | Open primary | Members of the National Assembly | several winners |
| 24 January 2010 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | President of Apulia Apulia Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and... Region |
Nichi Vendola Nichi Vendola Nicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about... |
| 24 January 2010 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Venice Venice Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region... |
Giorgio Orsoni Giorgio Orsoni Giorgio Orsoni is an Italian lawyer, politician, and the current mayor of Venice.-Biography:Orsoni is a lawyer by profession, and since 1972 has been Professor of administrative law at the University Ca 'Foscari of Venice... |
| 7 February 2010 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | President of Umbria Umbria Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St... Region |
Catiuscia Marini Catiuscia Marini Catiuscia Marini is an Italian politician and the current President of the Italian region of Umbria. In 2010 she was elected President of Umbria.- References :... |
| 14 February 2010 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | President of Calabria Calabria Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro.... Region |
Agazio Loiero |
| 15 February 2010 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... |
Giuliano Pisapia Giuliano Pisapia Giuliano Pisapia is an Italian lawyer and politician, twice member of the Parliament and Mayor of Milan since 1 June 2011... |
| 23 January 2011 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Bologna Bologna Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,... |
Virginio Merola |
| 23 January 2011 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... |
Andrea Cozzolino |
| 30 January 2011 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Cagliari Cagliari Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu... |
Massimo Zedda |
| 27 February 2011 | Democratic Party and allies | Open primary | Mayor of Turin Turin Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat... |
Piero Fassino Piero Fassino Pietro Franco "Piero" Fassino is an Italian politician with the Democratic Party, the current Mayor of Turin and a former national secretary of the Democrats of the Left party.-Biography:... |
See also
- The Union primary election, 2005
- Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2007Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2007The 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...
- Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2009Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2009The 2009 Democratic Party leadership election was held in July–November 2009 following the resignation of Walter Veltroni in February 2009, after 16 months as secretary of the Democratic Party , the second-largest political party in Italy....