Municipal elections were held in Milan on 15–16 and 29–30 May 2011, at the same time as Italian local elections.
Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome, with the city proper having a population of 1,372,810 while its metropolitan city has a population of 3,245,308. Its continuously built-up urban area has a population estimated to be about 5,270,000 over 1,891 square kilometres. The wider Milan metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, is a polycentric metropolitan region that extends over central Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and which counts an estimated total population of 7.5 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the 54th largest in the world. Milan served as capital of the Western Roman Empire from 286 to 402 and the Duchy of Milan during the medieval period and early modern age.
Letizia Moratti is an Italian businesswoman and former politician. She is the former mayor of Milan and current chairwoman of the management board of UBI Banca.
Giuliano Pisapia is an Italian lawyer and politician, twice member of the Parliament and former Mayor of Milan. As a politician, he has been a member of two left-wings parties, first Proletarian Democracy and then the Communist Refoundation Party; in Milan's mayoral election, he was endorsed by a large left-wing coalition, after winning the primary election of the Centre-left with the strong support of Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom. As a lawyer, he participated in a number of notable trials with political implications, including that of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the trial that followed the death of anti-global activist Carlo Giuliani, shot by the police during the 27th G8 summit.
Councillors and presidents of the 9 administrative zones of the city were also to be decided in the elections. Of these, the center-left coalition controlled one and the center-right eight. 48 councillors were due to be elected in the City Council.
As a result of the election, Pisapia was elected on the second round becoming the first leftist mayor of Milan after nearly 20 years. The center-left coalition gained control of 29 seats in the City Council.[2]
Background
Center-left primary election
The famous architect Stefano Boeri (right) was nominated by the PD but he was beaten by Giuliano Pisapia (left) in the primary election.
In June 2010, Pisapia was the first to submit his own nomination as the Mayor of Milan, for the elections that would take place the following year. A number of intellectuals and notable people from the cultural and political elite of Milan immediately expressed their support of Pisapia.
On 14 November 2010 he ran for the open primary election of the center-left coalition led by the Democratic Party, with the support of Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom, and unexpectedly won (receiving 45% preferences) despite not being an actual member of the PD.[3]
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.
Left Ecology Freedom was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
At the beginning of the campaign, incumbent Mayor Letizia Moratti was thought to be largely advantaged, especially as Milan is traditionally a right-wing stronghold, the homeland of Silvio Berlusconi's party (to which Moratti belongs), as well as a symbol of the alliance between Berlusconi and Umberto Bossi's Lega Nord, a party that promotes a greater independence of Northern Italy. Both Bossi and Berlusconi repeatedly declared that the left wing had no chance to win the elections in Milan, and Berlusconi himself actively contributed in the campaign, possibly to reaffirm his appeal to the Italian people leveraging on the results of what was supposed to be an easy match.[4] Berlusconi warned that if Moratti was defeated, Milan would become a "Gypsytown" and an "Islamic city".[5] The Milan Islamic Center criticized these remarks.[6]
Silvio Berlusconi is an Italian media tycoon and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments.
Umberto Bossi is an Italian politician, former leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to Manuela Marrone and has four sons.
Lega Nord, whose complete name is Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania, is a right-wing political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as Lega (League) without changing its official name in the party's statute. The party was nonetheless frequently referred to only as "Lega" even before the rebranding. The LN is also often referred to as Carroccio by the Italian media.
As Berlusconi had recently been involved in a number of controversial matters, including the so-called Ruby Gate, many observers described the elections in Milan as a poll that would assess the popular support of Berlusconi's politics.[4] This attracted much attention to this particular election (one of many administrative elections held in the same days in several locations in Italy).
Voting system
The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy of cities with a population higher than 15,000. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives at least 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.
For zones the voting system is the same, not referred to the mayor but to the president of the zone.
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.
Results
Piazza del Duomo. Supporters of Pisapia celebrating his election on 30 May 2011.Supporters of Pisapia celebrating his election in front of the Duomo.
In the first round of elections, on 15–16 May 2011, Pisapia got 48% of the votes and Moratti 41%. As none of them exceeded 50%, a second face-to-face round was scheduled for 29–30 May. This first success of Pisapia was one of a number of successes of the left wing in several other cities and provinces. With the campaign reaching ever harsher tones than before, Pisapia finally won on 30 May, with 55% of the votes.[7] Internet and social networks played a relevant role in the election of Pisapia.[8][9][10]
The candidate of Beppe Grillo's party Five Star Movement, Mattia Calise, who was only 20 years old, obtained nearly 3.5% of the votes.
According to each part's popoluar vote, the People of Freedom party (PdL) won a narrow victory over the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which however won the majority in the City Council.
After the 2006 election, 8 zone were governed by the center-right and only one by the center-left. Then all were gained by the center-left coalition.[2]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Related Research Articles
Massimo Moratti is an Italian petroleum tycoon and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Saras Group, founded in 1962 by his father, industrialist Angelo Moratti; the main production site of the Saras Group is the Sarroch refinery located on the island of Sardinia, one of Europe's only six supersites, with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, representing 15% of refining capacity in Italy. In recent years, initially to enable independence of the Sarroch refinery from terms of energy, the Saras Group has entered in the production of electricity and is expanding its production of alternative energy sources, particularly in the field of wind energy, through its subsidiaries Sarlux and Sardeolica, the latter of which is controlled indirectly through the company Eolici Ulassai.
A snap national general election was held in Italy 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 coalition The Olive Tree, won the election, narrowly defeating Silvio Berlusconi, who led the Pole for Freedoms centre-right coalition.
The Mayor of Milan is an elected politician who, along with the Milan’s City Council of 48 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Milan in northern Italy. The title is the equivalent of Lord Mayor in the meaning of an actual executive leader.
Angelino Alfano is an Italian politician served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018.
A number of elections for the renewal of both municipal councils and mayors were held in Italy on May 28 and 29 2006. Notably, these election regarded the four biggest cities in the country, Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin. Other relevant cities where municipal elections were held included Cagliari, Varese, Novara, Ravenna, Rimini, Ancona, Siena, Salerno and Catanzaro.
The 2011 Italian local elections were held on 15–16 May, with a second round on 29–30 May. In Italy, direct elections were held in all 1,177 comuni and 11 provinces: in each comune were chosen mayor and members of the City Council, in each province were chosen president and members of the Provincial Council. Of the 1,177 comuni, 30 were capoluoghi and only 105 had a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants.
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 13-14 and 27–28 April 2008, at the same time as Italian general elections. The outgoing Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni (PD), was candidate in the general elections, so he resigned after only two years from the previous municipal election in Rome. The center-right candidate Gianni Alemanno, who was defeated by Veltroni in 2006, faced center-left candidate Francesco Rutelli who was chosen to head his party's list.
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 28–29 May 2006, at the same time as other Italian municipal elections. The outgoing Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni (DS) faced center-right candidate Gianni Alemanno who was chosen to head his coalition.
A general election took place on 24–25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 17th Parliament of the Italian Republic.
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 13 and 27 May 2001, at the same time as Italian general elections. The outgoing Mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli (Greens), was candidate in the general elections, so he resigned in January. The center-right candidate Antonio Tajani, was faced by the center-left candidate Walter Veltroni who was chosen to head his coalition.
The 2012 Italian local elections were held on 6–7 May, with a second round on 20–21 May. In Italy, direct elections were held in 948 comuni: in each comune were chosen mayor and members of the City Council. Of the 948 comuni, 28 were capoluoghi and only 176 had a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants.
The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017.
Citizens of Milan elect every five years the Mayor of the city, presidents and members of 9 districts's assemblies and 48 members of the City Council, which controls Mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence.
Municipal elections were held in Milan on 5 and 19 June 2016 to elect the Mayor of Milan and the 48 members of the City Council.
Together, whose complete name is Italy Europe Together, was a broadly progressive coalition of political parties in Italy, part of the centre-left coalition for the 2018 general election.
Giulio Santagata is an Italian politician, former member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and leader of Together.
Municipal elections were held in Milan on 28–29 May 2006, at the same time as other Italian municipal elections. The main candidates were the former Minister of Education Letizia Moratti, supported by Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedom, and the prefect Bruno Ferrante, supported by The Olive Tree.
