1984 European Parliament election in Italy

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1984 European Parliament election in Italy
Flag of Italy.svg
  1979 17 June 1984 1989  

All 81 Italian seats to the European Parliament
Turnout82.47% (Decrease2.svg 2.9 pp)
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
PCI Alessandro Natta 33.3%27+3
DC Ciriaco De Mita 33.0%26−3
PSI Bettino Craxi 11.2%90
MSI Giorgio Almirante 6.5%5+1
PLIPRI V. Zanone & G. Spadolini 6.1%5+2
PSDI Pietro Longo 3.5%3−1
PR Marco Pannella 3.4%30
DP Mario Capanna 1.4%10
SVP Silvius Magnago 0.6%10
PSd'Az – othersSeveral leaders0.6%1+1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
European Election 1984 Italy.png
Major party in each Province.

The 1984 European Parliament election in Italy was held on 17 June 1984. The election took place just six days after the death of Italian Communist Party (PCI) leader Enrico Berlinguer; this fact greatly influenced the vote, producing a historic result. [1] This election was the only time in Italian history that the Communists placed first in a national election, overcoming the dominance of Christian Democracy.

Contents

Electoral system

The pure party-list proportional representation was the traditional electoral system of the Italian Republic since its foundation in 1946, so it had been adopted to elect the Italian representatives to the European Parliament too. Two levels were used: a national level to divide seats between parties, and a constituency level to distribute them between candidates. Italian regions were united in 5 constituencies, each electing a group of deputies. At national level, seats were divided between party lists using the largest remainder method with Hare quota. All seats gained by each party were automatically distributed to their local open lists and their most voted candidates.

Results

The public emotion caused by Berlinguer's tragic death resulted in an extraordinary strength for the PCI; [1] for the first time in Western Europe since the 1956 French legislative election and the first time ever in Italian history, a Communist party received a plurality by a democratic vote.

In opposition, this result reinforced the moderate government ruling the country. The Italian Socialist Party of Prime Minister Bettino Craxi had maintained its vote, and its major ally, the defeated Christian Democracy, did not want to take any chances of a political crisis that could lead to dangerous general election.

Summary of the 17 June 1984 European Parliament election results in Italy
National partyEP groupVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Italian Communist Party (PCI) COM 11,714,42833.333.76 Increase2.svg273 Increase2.svg
Christian Democracy (DC) EPP 11,583,76732.963.49 Decrease2.svg263 Decrease2.svg
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) SOC 3,940,44511.210.18 Increase2.svg90 Steady2.svg
Italian Social Movement (MSI) ER 2,274,5566.471.02 Increase2.svg51 Increase2.svg
Italian Liberal PartyItalian Republican Party (PLI–PRI) LD 2,140,5016.092.46 Increase2.svg52 Increase2.svg
Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) SOC 1,225,4623.490.83 Decrease2.svg31 Decrease2.svg
Radical Party (PR) NI 1,199,8763.410.26 Decrease2.svg30 Steady2.svg
Proletarian Democracy (DP) RBW 506,7531.440.72 Increase2.svg10 Steady2.svg
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) EPP 198,2200.560 Steady2.svg10 Steady2.svg
Federalism (UVPSd'Az–Others) RBW 193,4300.550.08 Increase2.svg11 Increase2.svg
Venetian League – Union for a Federalist Europe (ŁV) (LLAIUP)None164,1150.4700 Steady2.svg
Valid votes35,141,55394.80
Blank and invalid votes1,928,0735.20
Totals37,069,626100.0081
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout44,948,25382.472.91 Decrease2.svg
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
PCI
33.33%
DC
32.96%
PSI
11.21%
MSI
6.47%
PLI-PRI
6.09%
PR
3.67%
PSDI
3.49%
DP
1.44%
Others
1.58%

See also

  1. 1 2 Lomellini, Valentine (2015). "The PCI and the European Integration from Eurocommunism to Berlinguer's Death". In Bonreschi, Lucia; Orsina, Giovanni; Varsori, Antonio (eds.). European Political Cultures and Parties and the European Integration Process, 1945–1992. Bern: Peter Lang. ISBN   978-2-87574-279-7.