Politics of Apulia

Last updated February 04, 2024

The politics of Apulia, Italy take place in the framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of the Region is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Regional Council of Apulia, while executive power is exercised by the Regional Government led by the President, who is directly elected by the people. The current Statute, which regulates the functioning of the regional institutions, has been in force since 2004.

Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Apulia were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades. At the 1924 general election, which opened the way to the Fascist authoritarian rule, Apulia was one of the regions where the National Fascist Party (PNF) obtained more than 50% of the vote.^[1]

After World War II, Apulia became a stronghold of the Christian Democracy (DC), which was especially strong in rural areas. The region is now considered a stronghold of the "centre-left coalition" led by the Democratic Party (PD), having been governed by such alliance since 2005.

Between 2005 and 2015 the region was headed by Nichi Vendola, the first openly LGBT heads of a regional government in Italy.

Legislative branch

The Regional Council of Apulia (Consiglio Regionale della Puglia) is composed of 51 members, 50 councillors and the President. 23 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while 27 councillors (elected in a general ticket) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second.

The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent clause introduced in 1999 (literally they will stand together or they will fall together), also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.^[2]

2020–2025 composition

	Seats	Status
Democratic Party	15 / 51	In government
Brothers of Italy	6 / 51	In opposition
With Emiliano	5 / 51	In government
Five Star Movement	5 / 51	In government
Forza Italia	4 / 51	In opposition
League	4 / 51	In opposition
For Apulia	3 / 51	In government
Action	3 / 51	In opposition
Populars with Emiliano	2 / 51	In government
Apulia Tomorrow	2 / 51	In opposition
Mixed group^[3]	2 / 51	—

Executive branch

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is currently composed by 10 members: the President and 9 regional ministers or assessors (Assessori), including a Vice President (Vice Presidente).^[4]

Current composition

The current Regional Government was sworn in on 24 November 2020.

		Members
Democratic Party	PD	President and 3 ministers
With Emiliano	CE	2 ministers
Populars with Emiliano	PcE	1 minister
Italian Left	SI	1 minister
Five Star Movement	M5S	1 minister
Independent	Ind	1 minister

Minister		Delegate for
Raffaele Piemontese (vice president)	PD	Finance and budget, infrastructures
Anna Maurodinoia	PD	Transports and sustainable mobility
Donato Pentassuglia	PD	Agriculture, food processing, hunt and fishing, woods
Alessandro Delli Noci	CE	Economic development
Gianfranco Lopane	CE	Tourism
Rocco Palese	Ind	Healthcare
Anna Grazia Maraschino	SI	Environment, circular economy, housing
Sebastiano Leo	PcE	Education and labour, universities
Rosa Barone	M5S	Welfare and social policies

List of presidents

The current President of Apulia is Michele Emiliano, who is serving his second term after winning the 2020 regional election.

Presidents elected by the Regional Council (1970–1995)

N.	Name	Term of office		Political party	Legislature
1	Gennaro Trisorio Liuzzi	8 June 1970	16 June 1975	DC	I (1970)
2	Nicola Rotolo	16 June 1975	23 December 1978	DC	II (1975)
3	Nicola Quarta	23 December 1978	9 June 1980	DC	II (1975)
3	Nicola Quarta	9 June 1980	4 July 1983	DC	III (1980)
4	Angelo Monfredi	4 July 1983	23 September 1983	DC
(1)	Gennaro Trisorio Liuzzi	23 September 1983	13 May 1985	DC
5	Salvatore Fitto	13 May 1985	29 August 1988^[5]	DC	IV (1985)
6	Franco Borgia	29 August 1988	23 November 1988	PSI
7	Giuseppe Colasanto	23 November 1988	6 May 1990	DC
8	Michele Bellomo	6 May 1990	23 October 1992	DC	V (1990)
9	Cosimo Convertino	23 October 1992	4 December 1992	PSI
10	Giovanni Copertino	4 December 1992	3 September 1993	DC
11	Vito Savino	3 September 1993	1 March 1994	DC
12	Giuseppe Martellotta	1 March 1994	27 June 1995	PPI

Directly-elected presidents (since 1995)

N.	President	Term of office		Tenure (Years and days)		Composition	Legislature
13	Salvatore Distaso (1937–2008)	27 June 1995	19 May 2000	4 years, 327 days	FI	FI–AN–CDC	VI (1995)
14	Raffaele Fitto (b. 1969)	19 May 2000	27 April 2005	4 years, 343 days	FI	FI–AN–CDC–CDU	VII (2000)
15	Nichi Vendola (b. 1958)	27 April 2005	26 April 2010	10 years, 60 days	PRC / SEL	DS–DL–PRC–SDI– UDEUR–PdCI−IdV–FdV	VIII (2005)
15	Nichi Vendola (b. 1958)	26 April 2010	26 June 2015	10 years, 60 days	PRC / SEL	PD–SEL–IdV	IX (2010)
16	Michele Emiliano (b. 1959)	26 June 2015	24 November 2020	8 years, 223 days	PD	PD–SEL–IdV–SC–UdC	X (2015)
16	Michele Emiliano (b. 1959)	24 November 2020	Incumbent	8 years, 223 days	PD	PD–CE–PcE–M5S ^[6]	XI (2020)

Local government

Provinces and Metropolitan City

Apulia is divided into five provinces and one metropolitan city.

After the 2014 reform of local authorities the Province of Bari was replaced by the new Metropolitan City of Bari. Since 2014 the president of the province is no more elected directly by citizens, but is chosen by mayors and councilors of the municipalities of the province.

Province / Metropolitan City	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Metropolitan City of Bari	1,261,954	Antonio Decaro (metropolitan mayor)	Democratic Party	2019
Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani	384,293	Bernardo Lodispoto	Independent (Democratic Party)	2023
Province of Brindisi	401,652	Toni Matarelli	Independent (Democratic Party)	2022
Province of Foggia	627,102	Giuseppe Nobiletti	Independent (Democratic Party)	2023
Province of Lecce	802,807	Stefano Minerva	Democratic Party	2022
Province of Taranto	581,092	Rinaldo Melucci	Democratic Party	2022

Municipalities

Apulia is also divided into 258 comuni (municipalities), which have even more history, having been established in the Middle Ages when they were the main places of government. There are eight provincial capital cities in Apulia, as the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani is the only province in Italy with three capital cities.

There are 258 communes in Apulia (as of January 2019):

41 in the Metropolitan City of Bari
10 in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani
20 in the Province of Brindisi
61 in the Province of Foggia
97 in the Province of Lecce
29 in the Province of Taranto

Provincial capitals

Municipality	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Andria	100,357	Giovanna Bruno	Democratic Party	2020
Bari	311,997	Antonio Decaro	Democratic Party	2019
Barletta	94,664	Cosimo Cannito	Independent	2022
Brindisi	88,482	Giuseppe Marchionna	Independent	2023
Foggia	152,700	Maria Aida Episcopo	Independent	2023
Lecce	89,902	Carlo Salvemini	Independent	2019
Taranto	198,083	Rinaldo Melucci	Democratic Party	2022
Trani	55,808	Amedeo Bottaro	Democratic Party	2020

Other municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants

Municipality	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Altamura	70,789	Vitantonio Petronella	Independent	2023
Molfetta	60,272	Tommaso Minervini	Democratic Party	2022
Cerignola	57,007	Francesco Bonito	Democratic Party	2021
Manfredonia	56,318	Giovanni Rotice	Forza Italia	2021
Bitonto	56,304	Francesco Paolo Ricci	Democratic Party	2022
San Severo	55,297	Francesco Miglio	Democratic Party	2019
Bisceglie	54,847	Angelantonio Angarano	Independent	2023

Parties and elections

Latest regional election

In the latest regional election, which took place on 20–21 September 2020, Michele Emiliano of the Democratic Party was re-elected President with 46.8% of the vote.

20–21 September 2020 Apulian regional election results
Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats

	Michele Emiliano	871,028	46.78	1		Democratic Party	289,188	17.25	16
						With Emiliano	110,559	6.59	6
						Populars with Emiliano	99,621	5.94	5
						Civic Sense – A New Olive Tree for Apulia	69,780	4.16	–
						Italia in Comune	64,886	3.87	–
						Solidary and Green Apulia	63,725	3.80	–
						Emiliano Mayor of Apulia	43,404	2.59	–
						Animalist Party	5,573	0.33	–
						Alternative Left	4,192	0.25	–
						Pensioners and Disabled	3,119	0.19	–
						Party of the South	1,410	0.08	–
						Thought and Action Party	1,243	0.07	–
						Independent South	1,179	0.07	–
						Christian Democracy	1,047	0.06	–
						Open Society Association – The Liberals	806	0.05	–
					Total		759,732	45.32	27
	Raffaele Fitto	724,928	38.93	1		Brothers of Italy	211,693	12.63	6
						League	160,507	9.57	4
						Forza Italia	149,399	8.91	4
						Apulia Tomorrow	141,201	8.42	3
						Union of the Centre – New PSI	31,736	1.89	–
					Total		694,536	41.43	17
	Antonella Laricchia	207,038	11.12	–		Five Star Movement	165,243	9.86	5
						Future Apulia	9,897	0.59	–
					Total		175,140	10.45	5
	Ivan Scalfarotto	29,808	1.60	–		Italia Viva	18,025	1.08	–
						Scalfarotto for President	5,062	0.30	–
						Green Future	1,888	0.11	–
					Total		24,975	1.49	–
	Mario Conca	16,531	0.89	–		Apulian Citizens	12,162	0.73	–
	Nicola Cesaria	7,222	0.39	–		Work Environment Constitution	5,880	0.35	–
	Pierfranco Bruni	3,115	0.17	–		Tricolour Flame	2,362	0.14	–
	Andrea D'Agosto	2,353	0.13	–		Reconquer Italy	1,712	0.10	–

Blank and invalid votes		149,658	7.44
Total candidates		1,862,023	100.00	2	Total parties		1,676,499	100.00	49
Registered voters/turnout		3,565,013	56.43
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Results Archived 2020-09-23 at the Wayback Machine

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References

↑ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
↑ La Repubblica – Regional electoral law
↑ In support of the government: Antonio Tutolo (Independent). In the opposition: Stellato Massimiliano (Italia Viva).
↑ "QUIregione". www.regione.puglia.it. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007.
↑ Died in office.
↑ Since 2021.

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[Corbetta-1] Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009

[2] La Repubblica – Regional electoral law

[3] In support of the government: Antonio Tutolo (Independent). In the opposition: Stellato Massimiliano (Italia Viva).

[4] "QUIregione". www.regione.puglia.it. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007.

[5] Died in office.

[6] Since 2021.

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