Italian presidential election, 2013

Italian presidential election, 2013
1007 voters: 315 Senators, 4 Senators for life,; 630 Deputies and 58 regional representatives; 672 or 504 votes needed to win
	Composition Napolitano 738 Rodotà 217 Others 20 Invalids, blanks 32
President before election; Giorgio Napolitano ; Independent	Elected President; Giorgio Napolitano ; Independent

Last updated April 10, 2019

Indirect presidential elections were held in Italy between 18 and 20 April 2013. The result was the re-election of Giorgio Napolitano,^[1] the first time a President had been elected for a second term.^[2]

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

Giorgio Napolitano, is an Italian politician who served as the 11th President of the Republic from 2006 to 2015, and the only Italian President to be reelected to the Presidency. Due to his monarchical style and his dominant position in Italian politics, critics often refer to him as Re Giorgio. He is the longest serving President in the history of the modern Italian Republic, which has been in existence since 1946.

The President of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy and in that role represents national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The President's term of office lasts for seven years. The 11th President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, was elected on 10 May 2006 and elected to a second term for the first time in Italian Republic history on 20 April 2013. Following Napolitano's resignation, the incumbent President, former Constitutional judge Sergio Mattarella, was elected at the fourth ballot with 665 votes out of 1,009 on 31 January 2015.

Only members of Parliament and regional delegates were entitled to vote, most of these electors having been elected in the 2013 general election. As head of state of the Italian Republic, the President has a role of representation of national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Italian Constitution, in the framework of a parliamentary system.

The Italian Parliament is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. The Parliament is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861) and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946). It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members and a small number of unelected members (parlamentari). It is composed of the Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members (deputati) elected on a national basis, and the Senate of the Republic, with 315 members (senatori) elected on a regional basis, plus a small number of senators for life, either appointed or ex officio. The two houses are independent from one another and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the Constitution.

A head of state is the public persona who officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. Depending on the country's form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government. In a parliamentary system the head of state is the de jure leader of the nation, and there is a separate de facto leader, often with the title of prime minister. In contrast, a semi-presidential system has both heads of state and government as the leaders de facto of the nation.

Procedure

In accordance to the Italian Constitution, the election was held in the form of a secret ballot, with the Senators, the Deputies and 58 regional representatives entitled to vote. The election was held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, with the capacity of the building expanded for the purpose. The first three ballots required a two-thirds majority of the 1,007 voters in order to elect a president, or 672 votes. Starting from the fourth ballot, an absolute majority was required for candidates to be elected, or 504 votes. The presidential mandate lasts seven years. The term of the incumbent president, Giorgio Napolitano, was due to end on 15 May 2013.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 15 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947. The Constituent Assembly was elected by universal suffrage on 2 June 1946, at the same time as a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy. The Constitution came into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the Statuto Albertino had been enacted. Although the latter remained in force after Benito Mussolini's March on Rome in 1922, it had become devoid of substantive value.

The Palazzo Montecitorio is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

The Chamber of Deputies is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 of the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 12 from Italian citizens living abroad. Deputies are styled The Honourable and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio. The Chamber and the parliamentary system of the Italian Republic and under the previous Kingdom of Italy is a continuation of the traditions and procedures of the Parliament and Chamber of Deputies as established under King Charles Albert (1798–1849), during the Revolutions of 1848, and his son Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878) of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont which led in the "Italian unification Risorgimento movement" of the 1850s and 1860s, under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Count Camillo Benso of Cavour.

The election was presided over by the President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini, who proceeded to the public counting of the votes, and by the President of the Senate Pietro Grasso.

Laura Boldrini, is an Italian journalist and politician, former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Previously she was a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Pietro Grasso, also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018.

Chronology

On 16 April 2013 the Five Star Movement (M5S) announced its support for investigative journalist Milena Gabanelli, and the party's leader Beppe Grillo indicated that the party might be willing to form a coalition government with the centre-left coalition if she were elected president with the coalition's support.^[3] On 17 April, after Gabanelli and Gino Strada withdrew from consideration, the M5S announced its support for Stefano Rodotà, a former President of the Data Protection Authority,^[4] member of the Chamber of Deputies, Member of the European Parliament, and president of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).^[5]

The Five Star Movement is a political party in Italy. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian and blogger, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. After Casaleggio's death in April 2016, Grillo appointed a directorate composed of five leading MPs, which lasted until the following October when he dissolved it and proclaimed himself the "political head" of the M5S. Grillo is also formally president of the association named the Five Star Movement; his nephew, Enrico Grillo, serves as vice president; and his accountant, Enrico Maria Nadasi, as secretary. Davide Casaleggio, Gianroberto's son, has an increasingly important albeit unofficial role.

Milena Gabanelli is an Italian journalist and television host, better known in Italy for being the author and anchorwoman in the independent investigative journalism Television program Report. The program is currently broadcast by the Italian public TV channel Rai 3.

Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger and political activist. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder of the Italian Five Star Movement political party.

On 17 April Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the Democratic Party (PD), put forward Franco Marini, a former leader of the Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (CISL), leader of the Italian People's Party (PPI) and President of the Italian Senate, as his party's candidate for president. Marini was selected having received the support of centre-right parties, notably The People of Freedom (PdL), Civic Choice (SC), Lega Nord (LN) and the Union of the Centre (UdC). However, Matteo Renzi, mayor of Florence and leader of a party minority, several Democratic Party lawmakers and Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) stated that they would not support Marini.^[6]

Pier Luigi Bersani is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (DP), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 to 1999, Minister of Transport from 1999 to 2001, and Minister of Economic Development from 2006 to 2008.

The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party's secretary is Nicola Zingaretti, who was elected in March 2019, while Paolo Gentiloni serves as president.

Franco Marini is an Italian politician and a prominent member of the centre-left Democratic Party. From 2006 to 2008 he was the president of the Italian Senate.

On 18 April Marini received just 521 votes in the first ballot, short of the 672 needed, as more than 200 centre-left delegates rebelled. In the run-up of the second ballot Marini's candidacy was retired. The first two rounds' inconclusive results were interpreted as showing turmoil within the centre-left.^[7] As results of apparent jokes by electors, a number of implausible candidates, such as football manager Roberto Mancini and porn star Rocco Siffredi, received individual votes.^[7]

On 19 April the PD and SEL selected Romano Prodi, a former Prime Minister and President of the European Commission, to be their candidate in the fourth ballot.^[8] Despite the fact that his candidacy had received unanimous support among the two parties' delegates, Prodi obtained only 395 votes in the fourth ballot as more than 100 centre-left electors did not vote for him. After the vote, Bersani announced his resignation from party secretary and Prodi pulled out of the race.^[9]

On 20 April incumbent President Giorgio Napolitano, holder of the post since 2006, agreed to run for another term in an attempt to break the parliamentary deadlock with the aim of safeguarding the continuity of the country's institutions.^[10]

Parties' voters

The number of seats per party was as follows:

Party	Members (total)	Members		Share
Party	Members (total)	MPs (Chamber and Senate)	Regional delegates	Share
PD	423	399	24	42.0%
PdL	211	188	23	20.9%
M5S	163	163	0	16.2%
SC/UDC	71	69	2	7.0%
SEL	44	43	1	4.4%
Lega Nord	38	34	4	3.8%
Others (center-left)	28	25	3	2.8%
Others (center-right)	18	18	0	1.8%
Others	11	9	2	1.1%
Total	1,007	949	58	100%

Results

In the first three ballots the required majority was 672 votes. Further ballots require a simple majority of electors, in this case 504 votes.

Berlusconi and his coalition refused to support the PD's Fourth Round choice of Romano Prodi, claiming he was unacceptable as a compromise candidate. As a result, leaders from all political parties except for Beppe Grillo turned to Napolitano and held discussions with him in order to convince him to run again.^[2] Even though he had openly stated his refusal to consider running again in an interview a week before, Napolitano reluctantly agreed,^[2] and the party leaders subsequently urged electors to back him as a show of unity.^[11]

Napolitano was comfortably re-elected, having garnered the support of centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, former Prime Minister and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, and interim PM and centrist Mario Monti.^[12]

Candidate	First round	Second round	Third round	Fourth round	Fifth round	Sixth round
Franco Marini	521	15	6	3	2	–
Stefano Rodotà	240	230	250	213	210	217
Sergio Chiamparino	41	90	4	–	–	–
Romano Prodi	14	13	22	395	–	2
Emma Bonino	13	10	4	–	9	–
Massimo D'Alema	12	38	34	15	2	4
Giorgio Napolitano	10	4	12	2	20	738
Anna Finocchiaro	7	4	–	–	–	–
Anna Maria Cancellieri	2	–	9	78	3	–
Mario Monti	2	–	–	–	–	–
Alessandra Mussolini	–	15	5	–	–	–
Sergio De Caprio	–	9	7	–	–	8
Cosimo Sibilia	–	7	–	–	–	–
Rosy Bindi	–	6	–	–	–	–
Paola Severino	–	5	–	–	–	–
Silvio Berlusconi	–	4	–	–	–	–
Pier Luigi Bersani	–	4	–	–	–	–
Ricardo Antonio Merlo	–	3	4	–	–	–
Pierluigi Castagnetti	–	2	2	–	–	–
Michele Cucuzza	–	2	–	–	–	–
Arnaldo Forlani	–	2	–	–	–	–
Pietro Grasso	–	2	–	–	–	–
Maria Grazia Maniscalco	–	2	–	–	–	–
Antonio Palmieri	–	2	5	–	–	–
Claudio Sabelli Fioretti	–	2	8	–	–	–
Daniela Santanché	–	2	–	–	–	–
Santo Versace	–	2	–	–	–	–
Ilaria Borletti Buitoni	–	–	3	–	–	–
Gianroberto Casaleggio	–	–	3	–	–	–
Fabrizio Cicchitto	–	–	3	–	–	–
Gherardo Colombo	–	–	3	–	–	–
Ermanno Leo	–	–	3	–	–	–
Roberto Di Giovan Paolo	–	–	2	–	–	–
Antonio Martino	–	–	2	–	–	–
Nicolò Pollari	–	–	2	–	–	–
Rosario Monteleone	–	–	–	–	15	–
Claudio Zin	–	–	–	–	4	–
Other candidates	18	41	44	7	14	6
Blank papers	104	418	465	15	445	10
Invalid papers	15	14	47	4	17	12
Abstentions	8	59	58	275	266	10
Total	1,007	1,007	1,007	1,007	1,007	1,007
Source: Parliament of Italy

Reactions

After the election results were announced, demonstrations took place outside Palazzo Montecitorio against the re-election of Napolitano. A sizable number of protesters were supporters of the Five Star Movement led by Beppe Grillo. Grillo himself condemned Napolitano's re-election, claiming this was a "coup d'état."^[11]

Pier Luigi Bersani promised to resign as leader of the PD in response to the lack of support within his coalition for Romano Prodi, the party's preference for president on the fourth ballot.^[11] Following his resignation, former trade union leader Guglielmo Epifani was elected in his place on 11 May 2013.^[13]

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References

↑ http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Continua.aspx?tipo=Notizia&key=35357
1 2 3 Mackenzie, James (20 April 2013). "Giorgio Napolitano, Italy's reluctant president". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
↑ Italy's 5-Star picks journalist as presidential candidate Reuters. 16 April 2013. Accessed 17 April 2013
↑ the http://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/1665291
↑ 5-Star Movement switches candidate ahead of Italy president race ^{[ permanent dead link ]}The Star Online. 18 April 2013. Accessed 18 April 2013
↑ Italy's Bersani proposes ex-Senate speaker as president Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine .International Business Times. 17 April 2013. Accessed 17 April 2013
1 2 "Votes for porn stars and footballers in farcical Italian presidential election". 18 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
↑ Italy centre-left backs ex-PM Prodi for president ^{[ permanent dead link ]}The Star Online. 19 April 2013. Accessed 20 April 2013
↑ Italy center-left leader Bersani quits after vote debacle Reuters. 19 April 2013. Accessed 20 April 2013
↑ Napolitano, Giorgio; Scalfari, Eugenio (9 June 2013). "Napolitano si racconta a Scalfari: 'La mia vita, da comunista a Presidente'" (Video, at 59 min). La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
1 2 3 "Italy crisis: President Giorgio Napolitano re-elected". BBC News. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
↑ Cinelli, Francesca (21 April 2013). "Italy President Napolitano Re-Elected in Bid to Resolve Crisis". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
↑ "Pd, Epifani segretario fino al congresso. Lui: "Aspettiamo domani, non si sa mai" - Repubblica.it". La Repubblica.

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[1] ttp://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Continua.aspx?tipo=Notizia&key=35357

[Reuters-2] 1 2 3 Mackenzie, James (20 April 2013). "Giorgio Napolitano, Italy's reluctant president". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[3] Italy's 5-Star picks journalist as presidential candidate Reuters. 16 April 2013. Accessed 17 April 2013

[4] the http://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/1665291

[5] 5-Star Movement switches candidate ahead of Italy president race ^{[ permanent dead link ]}The Star Online. 18 April 2013. Accessed 18 April 2013

[6] Italy's Bersani proposes ex-Senate speaker as president Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine .International Business Times. 17 April 2013. Accessed 17 April 2013

[Guardian1-7] 1 2 "Votes for porn stars and footballers in farcical Italian presidential election". 18 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-19.

[8] Italy centre-left backs ex-PM Prodi for president ^{[ permanent dead link ]}The Star Online. 19 April 2013. Accessed 20 April 2013

[9] Italy center-left leader Bersani quits after vote debacle Reuters. 19 April 2013. Accessed 20 April 2013

[Scalfari2013-10] Napolitano, Giorgio; Scalfari, Eugenio (9 June 2013). "Napolitano si racconta a Scalfari: 'La mia vita, da comunista a Presidente'" (Video, at 59 min). La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 9 June 2013.

[BBC-11] 1 2 3 "Italy crisis: President Giorgio Napolitano re-elected". BBC News. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[Bloomberg-12] Cinelli, Francesca (21 April 2013). "Italy President Napolitano Re-Elected in Bid to Resolve Crisis". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[13] "Pd, Epifani segretario fino al congresso. Lui: "Aspettiamo domani, non si sa mai" - Repubblica.it". La Repubblica.