Politics of Calabria

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The Politics of Calabria , Italy takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.

Contents

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 composed by the President and the Ministers (Assessori), of which there are currently eleven, including a Vice President (Vice Presidente). [1]

List of presidents

Presidents elected by the Regional Council (1970–2000)

#NameTerm of officePolitical partyLegislature
1Antonio Guarasci
(1918–1974)
9 June
1970
2 October
1974
DC I (1970)
2Aldo Ferrara
(1921–1997)
2 October
1974
17 June
1975
DC
3Pasquale Perugini
(1926–1996)
17 June
1975
1 January
1976
DC II (1975)
(2)Aldo Ferrara
(1921–1997)
1 January
1976
10 June
1980
DC
4Bruno Dominijanni
(1922–2004)
10 June
1980
14 May
1985
PSI III (1980)
5Francesco Principe
(1918–2008)
14 May
1985
30 December
1987
PSI IV (1985)
6 Rosario Olivo
(born 1940)
30 December
1987
7 May
1990
PSI
7 May
1990
1 February
1992
V (1990)
7 Guido Rhodio
(1935–2023)
1 February
1992
10 August
1994
DC
8 Donato Veraldi
(born 1941)
10 August
1994
14 June
1995
PPI
9Giuseppe Nisticò
(born 1941)
14 June
1995
9 May
1998
FI VI (1995)
10Giovanbattista Caligiuri
(born 1944)
11 August
1998
22 January
1999
FI
11Luigi Meduri
(born 1942)
22 January
1999
18 May
2000
PPI

Directly-elected presidents (since 2000)

N.PortraitPresidentTerm of officeTenure
(Years and days)
PartyCompositionLegislature
12 Francesca Senette e Giuseppe Chiaravalloti Privacy Day Forum 2012 (cropped).jpg Giuseppe Chiaravalloti
(1934–2025)
18 May
2000
2 May
2005
4 years, 349 days FI FIANCDCCDUPS VII
(2000)
13 Agazio Loiero daticamera.jpg Agazio Loiero
(born 1940)
2 May
2005
12 April
2010
4 years, 345 days DL
PD
DSDLUDEURSDIPRCPdCI VIII
(2005)
14 Giuseppe Scopelliti.jpg Giuseppe Scopelliti
(born 1966)
12 April
2010
29 May
2014 [a]
4 years, 47 days PdL PdLUDCNPSIUDEUR IX
(2010)
15 Mario Oliverio.jpg Mario Oliverio
(born 1953)
9 December
2014
15 February
2020
5 years, 77 days PD PDApISEL X
(2014)
16 Jole Santelli daticamera 2018.jpg Jole Santelli
(1968–2020)
15 February
2020
15 October
2020 [b]
241 days FI FILegaFdIUDC XI
(2020)
17 Roberto Occhiuto 2018 (cropped).jpg Roberto Occhiuto
(born 1969)
29 October
2021
4 August
2025
3 years, 279 days FI FIFdILegaCIUDC XII
(2021)
  1. Resigned after a corruption scandal. His deputy Antonella Stasi (PdL) held the office till a new regional election was called.
  2. Died in office. Her deputy Antonino Spirlì (League) held the office till a new regional election was called.

Legislative branch

The Regional Council of Calabria (Consiglio Regionale della Calabria) is composed of 50 members. 40 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while 10 councillors (elected in bloc) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the council with PR, only 5 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 45. If the winning coalition receives less than 40% of votes, special seats are added to the council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition. Parties obtaining less than 4% receive no seats, no matter if they are in coalition with larger parties or not. [2]

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. [3]

Local government

Provinces

There are five provinces in Calabria: Cosenza, Catanzaro, Crotone, Reggio Calabria, and Vibo Valentia. Catanzaro is the capital of the region.

Municipalities

Calabria is also divided in 404 comuni (municipalities), which have even more history, having been established in the Middle Ages when they were the main places of government.

Provincial capitals

MunicipalityInhabitantsMayorPartyElection
Catanzaro 89,364 Sergio Abramo Forza Italia 2017
Cosenza 69,484 Mario Occhiuto Independent (centre-right)2016
Crotone 58,881 Vincenzo Voce Civic List 2020
Reggio Calabria 180,817 Giuseppe Falcomatà Democratic Party 2014
Vibo Valentia 33,357 Maria Limardo Forza Italia 2019

Other municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants

MunicipalityInhabitantsMayorPartyElection
Corigliano-Rossano74,848Flavio Stasi Independent (centre-left)2019
Lamezia Terme70,336Paolo Mascaro Independent (centre-right)2015
Rende33,555Marcello Manna Civic List 2019
Castrovillari22,515Domenico Lo Polito Independent (centre-left)2015
Acri21,458Pino Capalbo Democratic Party 2017
Gioia Tauro20,089Aldo Alessio Independent (centre-left)2019

Parties and elections

Latest regional election

In the latest regional election, which took place on 5–6 October 2025, incumbent president Roberto Occhiuto of Forza Italia was re-elected president by a wide margin, over Pasquale Tridico of the Five Star Movement. Forza Italia, which fielded three lists (other than the official one, "Occhiuto for President" and Forza Azzurri) was the largest party.

5–6 October 2025 Calabrian regional election results
2025 Calabrian Regional Council.svg
CandidatesVotes%SeatsPartiesVotes%Seats
Roberto Occhiuto 453,92657.261 Forza Italia 136,50117.987
Occhiuto for President94,03012.394
Brothers of Italy 88,33511.644
League 71,3819.403
Us Moderates 30,6134.032
Christian DemocracyUnion of the Centre 9,7501.280
Forza Azzurri7,9151.040
South calls NorthAnimalist Party 1,5270.200
Total440,05257.9820
Pasquale Tridico 330,81341.731 Democratic Party 103,11913.594
Tridico for President57,8137.622
Five Star Movement 48,7756.431
Progressive Democrats39,7275.231
Reformist House 33,5294.421
Greens and Left Alliance 29,2513.850
Total312,21441.139
Francesco Toscano7,9921.010 Sovereign Popular Democracy 6.7380.890
Total candidates792,731100.02Total parties759,004100.029
Blank and invalid votes22,126
Registered voters/turnout1,888,36843.15
Source: Calabria Region – Results

References

  1. "Regione Calabria - Giunta". Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  2. La Repubblica – Regional electoral law
  3. "Regional Council of Lombardy – 1999 Constitutional law" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.