Politics of Veneto

The politics of Veneto, a region of Italy, takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President 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.

The Statute of Veneto was promulgated in 1971 and largely rewritten in 2011. Article 1 defines Veneto as an "autonomous Region", "constituted by the Venetian people and the lands of the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza", while maintaining "bonds with Venetians in the world". Article 2 sets forth the principle of the "self-government of the Venetian people" and mandates the Region to "promote the historical identity of the Venetian people and civilisation". ^[1]

On 22 October 2017 an autonomy referendum took place in Veneto: 57.2% of Venetians participated and 98.1% voted "yes".

The president of Veneto is Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega, by far the largest party in the Regional Council.

Political history

Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Veneto were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades, but also the main opposition parties, namely the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party, had a good sway among Venetian voters. In the 1919 general election, the first held with proportional representation, the Catholic-inspired Italian People's Party came first with 42.6% (gaining at least 10% more than in any other region) and the Socialists were in second place with 36.2%. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Veneto was one of the few regions, along with Lombardy and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party. ^[2]

From World War II to 1994 Veneto was the heartland of Christian Democracy, which polled 60.5% in the 1953 general election and steadily above 50% until the late 1970s, and led the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In the 1990s Veneto became a stronghold of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition, which governed the region from 1995 to 2010 under Giancarlo Galan of Forza Italia. In 2010 Galan was replaced by Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who obtained a hefty and record-breaking 60.2% of the vote and whose coalition government included The People of Freedom/Forza Italia and, since 2013, the New Centre-Right; ^[3] Liga Veneta was the largest party with 35.2% of the vote. Zaia and Liga Veneta were confirmed in 2015, with a reduced but more cohesive majority, due to the split of Tosi List for Veneto and the diminishment of Forza Italia: Zaia won 50.1% of the vote, while Liga Veneta a thumping 40.9%, largely ahead of the opposition Democratic Party's 20.5%.

Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism (or Venetism), a political movement that appeared in the 1970s, demanding political and fiscal autonomy for the region (which is felt by Venetists to be a nation in its own right) and promoting Venetian culture, language and history. This was the background from which Liga Veneta emerged in 1980. In the 1990s and 2000s other Venetist parties (the Union of the Venetian People, the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, Lega Autonomia Veneta, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project, etc.) emerged, but they never touched the popularity of Liga Veneta, which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Some Venetists have campaigned for federal reform and/or autonomy, others (notably including the Venetian National Party, the Party of the Venetians, Veneto State, Venetian Independence, Veneto First, Plebiscito.eu , Venetian Left, Independence We Veneto and We Are Veneto) for outright independence.

Executive branch

Main article: Government of Veneto

The Regional Government is led by the President of Veneto and composed of the President and ten Ministers (Assessori), including a Vice President.

Current composition

Main article: Third Zaia government

The current regional government has been in office 16 October 2020, under the leadership of President Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.

Third Zaia government

Office	Name	Party
President	Luca Zaia		Liga Veneta
Vice President	Elisa De Berti		Liga Veneta
Minister of Legal Affairs, Public Works, Infrastructures and Transports	Elisa De Berti		Liga Veneta
Minister of Planning, Budget, Patrimony and Local Government	Francesco Calzavara		Liga Veneta
Minister of Health, Social Affairs and Social Programs	Manuela Lanzarin		Liga Veneta
Minister of Economic Development, Energy and Special Status for Venice	Roberto Marcato		Liga Veneta
Minister of EU Programs, Agriculture, Tourism and International Trade	Federico Caner		Liga Veneta
Minister of Education, Formation, Labour and Equal Opportunities	Elena Donazzan (until July 2024)		Brothers of Italy
Minister of Environment, Climate and Civil Protection	Gianpaolo Bottacin		Liga Veneta
Minister of Culture, City Planning, Security, Hunting and Fishing	Cristiano Corazzari		Liga Veneta

Source: Veneto Region – Regional Government

List of previous Governments

Main article: Governments of Veneto

Governments of Veneto
Government	President	Party	Coalition	Vice President	Party	Term	Legislature
Tomelleri I	Angelo Tomelleri	DC	DC	Paolo Tartari	DC	1970–1971	I Legislature
Tomelleri II	Angelo Tomelleri	DC	DC	Paolo Tartari	DC	1971–1972
Feltrin	Piero Feltrin	DC	DC	Paolo Tartari	DC	1972–1973
Tomelleri III	Angelo Tomelleri	DC	DC	Marino Cortese	DC	1973–1975
Tomelleri IV	Angelo Tomelleri	DC	DC–PRI	Giancarlo Gambaro	DC	1975–1977	II Legislature
Tomelleri V	Angelo Tomelleri	DC	DC	Marino Cortese	DC	1977–1980
Bernini I	Carlo Bernini	DC	DC–PSDI [lower-alpha 1]	Marino Cortese	DC	1980–1985	III Legislature
Bernini II	Carlo Bernini	DC	DC–PSI–PSDI–PLI	Umberto Carraro	PSI	1985–1989	IV Legislature
Cremonese I	Gianfranco Cremonese	DC	DC–PSI–PSDI–PLI	Umberto Carraro	PSI	1989–1990
Cremonese II	Gianfranco Cremonese	DC	DC–PSI–PRI–PSDI	Amalia Sartori	PSI	1990–1992	V Legislature
Frigo	Franco Frigo	DC	DC–PSI–FdV	Renzo Burro	PSI	1992–1993
Pupillo	Giuseppe Pupillo	PDS	DC–PDS [lower-alpha 2] –PSI–FdV–UPV	Carlo Alberto Tesserin	DC	1993–1994
Bottin	Aldo Bottin	PPI	PPI [lower-alpha 3] –LV–FI [lower-alpha 4] –UPV–PLI–CPA–LP	Gian Paolo Gobbo	LV	1994–1995
Galan I	Giancarlo Galan	FI	FI–AN–CDU [lower-alpha 5] –CCD	Bruno Canella	AN	1995–2000	VI Legislature
Galan II	Giancarlo Galan	FI	FI–LV–AN–CDU [lower-alpha 6] –CCD [lower-alpha 6]	Fabio Gava	FI	2000–2005	VII Legislature
Galan III	Giancarlo Galan	FI	FI [lower-alpha 7] –LV–AN [lower-alpha 7] –UDC–NPSI	Luca Zaia / Franco Manzato	LV	2005–2010	VIII Legislature
Zaia I	Luca Zaia	LV	LV–PdL [lower-alpha 8]	Marino Zorzato	PdL	2010–2015	IX Legislature
Zaia II	Luca Zaia	LV	LV–FI [lower-alpha 9]	Gianluca Forcolin	LV	2015–2020	X Legislature
Zaia III	Luca Zaia	LV	LV–FdI	Elisa De Berti	LV	2020–present	XI Legislature

Source: Region of Veneto

1. The PSDI joined the government in 1981.
2. The PDS succeeded to the PCI in 1991.
3. The PPI succeeded to the DC in 1994.
4. Some members of the disbanded DC formed FI in 1994.
5. The regional councillors of the CDU were elected from a joint list with FI.
6. The CDU and the CCD were merged into the UDC in 2002.
7. FI and AN were merged into the PdL in 2009.
8. The PdL was disbanded in 2013; its members joined either FI or the NCD. Vice President Marino Zorzato joined the NCD.
9. The party's sole regional minister, Elena Donazzan left in 2018 and joined FdI in 2019.

Legislative branch

Main article: Regional Council of Veneto

The Regional Council of Veneto (Consiglio Regionale del Veneto) is composed of 51 members. 49 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the remaining two are the elected President and the candidate for President who comes second. The winning coalition wins a bonus of seats in order to make sure the elected President has a majority in the Council. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

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 (literally: "they will stand together or they will fall together") clause introduced in 1999, also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called. ^[7]

Current composition

Main article: Members of the Regional Council of Veneto, 2020–2025

Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council
Political Group		Leader	2020	Now
	Zaia for President [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2]	Alberto Villanova	23	17
	Liga Veneta	Giuseppe Pan	10	13
	Democratic Party	Giacomo Possamai / Vanessa Camani	6	6
	Brothers of Italy	Raffaele Speranzon / Daniele Polato / Enoch Soranzo / Daniele Polato / Enoch Soranzo	5	5
	Forza Italia [lower-alpha 3]	Elisa Venturini	2	2
	Five Star Movement	Erika Baldin	1	1
	Venetian Autonomy List [lower-alpha 4]	Tomas Piccinini	1	1
	Veneto We Want	Elena Ostanel	1	1
	Green Europe	Cristina Guarda	1	1
	Mixed Group [lower-alpha 5]	Stefano Valdegamberi	1	4

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members

1. This group and "Liga Veneta" are united in a joint group named "Lega – Liga Veneta". See https://www.vipiu.it/leggi/villanova-e-pan-lega-lv-intergruppo-lega-liga-veneta-non-piu-due-gruppi-separati-ma-ununica-squadra-di-militanti-leghisti-con-obiettivi-comuni.
2. All the group members are affiliated to Liga Veneta–Lega.
3. A third regional councillor, Fabrizio Boron, who joined the party in December 2023, sits in the Mixed Group for technical reasons.
4. The group's only member, Tomas Piccinini, is a member of Liga Veneta. See https://legaonline.it/veneto
5. Current members: Fabiano Barbisan and Stefano Valdegamberi, both originally members of Liga Veneta, who switched to the group for technical reasons soon after the election and are no longer party members for different reasons, Arturo Lorenzoni, the centre-left candidate for President, who is close to both the Democratic Party and Veneto We Want (Art.1, SI, etc.), and Fabrizio Boron, another former member of Liga Veneta, who joined Forza Italia in December 2023, without changing group affiliation thereafter.

Local government

Provinces

Veneto is subdivided into seven provinces, including Venice which has functioned as a metropolitan city, with the mayor of Venice functioning also as metropolitan mayor, since 2015.

All the seven provinces, but especially Vicenza, Verona and Padua, were long Christian Democratic heartlands. In the early 1990s, when the Venetian and Italian party systems experienced huge realignments, Treviso, Vicenza and Verona became strongholds of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, while in Padua, the region's most populated, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia was the dominant political force; only two provinces, Venice and Rovigo, have traditionally been the powerbases of the centre-left coalition and, more recently, the Democratic Party, while Belluno was long a swing province. In the 2020 regional election Liga Veneta, which fielded two lists, came largely first in each and every province.

After a reform was enacted in 2014, provinces have lost most powers to the region and the municipalities, and, contextually, provincial presidents have been elected by mayors and municipal councillors, whose votes are weighted according to the population of their municipalities. In some cases, elected presidents represent bipartisan or trans-party coalitions. For instance, in 2014 Enoch Soranzo was elected in Padua thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party, while the majority of the centre-right coalition had endorsed another candidate. ^[8] Contextually, Achille Variati was endorsed both by the Democrats and Forza Italia in Vicenza ^[9] and, more recently, Sergio Giordani was the joint candidate of all running parties in 2022. ^[10]

In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures. ^[11]

Province	Inhabitants	President		Party	Election
Province of Padua	931,572		Sergio Giordani	Independent (Democratic Party)	2022
Province of Verona	927,862		Flavio Massimo Pasini	Liga Veneta	2023
Province of Treviso	878,424		Stefano Marcon	Liga Veneta	2021
Province of Vicenza	854,683		Andrea Nardin	Independent (Democratic Party)	2023
Province of Venice Metropolitan City of Venice	834,632		Luigi Brugnaro (metropolitan mayor)	Coraggio Italia	2020
Province of Rovigo	227,535		Enrico Ferrarese	Liga Veneta	2021
Province of Belluno	197,645		Roberto Padrin	Forza Italia	2018

Municipalities

Twenty-six comuni , hence municipalities, of Veneto have more than 25,000 inhabitants.

Of these, eight have mayors representing Liga Veneta, five the Democratic Party, four the Brothers of Italy and three Forza Italia. Six mayors are non-party independents: two of these are supported by the Democratic Party and its centre-left allies, two jointly by Liga Veneta, the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia, and two by local non-partisan coalitions.

In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures ^[11] and, in case of non-party independent mayors supported by partisan coalitions, the party to which the mayor is closest or the largest party in the coalition is indicated in brackets.

Municipality	Inhabitants	Mayor		Party	Election
Verona (list)	255,608		Damiano Tommasi	Independent (Democratic Party)	2022
Venice (list)	250,185		Luigi Brugnaro	Coraggio Italia	2020
Padua (list)	207,242		Sergio Giordani	Independent (Democratic Party)	2022
Vicenza (list)	110,807		Giacomo Possamai	Democratic Party	2023
Treviso (list)	84,457		Mario Conte	Liga Veneta	2023
Rovigo (list)	50,103		Valeria Cittadin	Independent (Brothers of Italy)	2024
Chioggia	47,508		Mauro Armelao	Liga Veneta	2021
Bassano del Grappa	42,436		Nicola Finco	Liga Veneta	2024
San Donà di Piave	41,919		Alberto Teso	Brothers of Italy	2023
Schio	38,877		Cristina Marigo	Independent	2024
Mira	37,623		Marco Dori	Democratic Party	2022
Belluno (list)	35,467		Oscar De Pellegrin	Independent (Liga Veneta)	2022
Conegliano	34,419		Fabio Chies	Forza Italia	2021
Castelfranco Veneto	33,074		Stefano Marcon	Liga Veneta	2020
Villafranca di Verona	32,998		Roberto Dall'Oca	Forza Italia	2023
Montebelluna	31,214		Adalberto Bordin	Liga Veneta	2021
Mogliano Veneto	27,942		Davide Bortolato	Liga Veneta	2024
Spinea	27,730		Franco Bevilacqua	Democratic Party	2024
Vittorio Veneto	27,279		Mirella Balliana	Democratic Party	2024
Albignasego	27,193		Filippo Giacinti	Forza Italia	2021
Mirano	27,068		Tiziano Baggio	Democratic Party	2022
Jesolo	26,859		Christofer De Zotti	Brothers of Italy	2022
Valdagno	25,763		Maurizio Zordan	Independent	2024
Legnago	25,634		Paolo Longhi	Brothers of Italy	2024
Arzignano	25,633		Alessia Bevilacqua	Liga Veneta	2024
San Giovanni Lupatoto	25,290		Attilio Gastaldello	Liga Veneta	2021

Political parties and elections

Main articles: List of political parties in Veneto and Elections in Veneto

Latest regional election

Main article: 2020 Venetian regional election

The latest regional election took place on 20–21 September 2020.

Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega (formerly Lega Nord) was re-elected President by a landslide 76.8% of the vote, while his main rival Arturo Lorenzoni stopped at 15.7%. Liga Veneta, which ran an official party list and a list named after Zaia, was confirmed the largest in the region with a combined 61.5% of the vote. The Democratic Party came second with 11.9% and the Brothers of Italy third with 9.6%. The total score of Venetist parties was 65.6%, the highest ever.

20–21 September 2020 Venetian regional election results

Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seat
	Luca Zaia	1,883,959	76.79	1		Zaia for President	916,087	44.57	23
						League – Venetian League [12]	347,832	16.92	9
						Brothers of Italy	196,310	9.55	5
						Forza Italia	73,244	3.56	2
						Venetian Autonomy List	48,932	2.38	1
					Total		1,582,405	77.00	40
	Arturo Lorenzoni	385,768	15.72	1		Democratic Party	244,881	11.92	6
						Veneto We Want	41,275	2.01	1
						Green Europe	34,647	1.69	1
						More Veneto in Europe – Volt	14,246	0.69	–
						Venetian Left	2,405	0.12	–
					Total		337,454	16.42	8
	Enrico Cappelletti	79,662	3.25	–		Five Star Movement	55,281	2.69	1
	Paolo Girotto	21,679	0.88	–		3V Movement	14,916	0.73	–
	Antonio Guadagnini	20,502	0.84	–		Party of Venetians	19,756	0.96	–
	Paolo Benvegnù	18,529	0.76	–		Solidarity Environment Work	11,846	0.58	–
	Daniela Sbrollini	15,198	0.62	–		Italia Viva – PSI – PRI	12,426	0.60	–
	Patrizia Bertelle	14,518	0.59	–		Veneto Ecology Solidarity	9,061	0.44	–
	Simonetta Rubinato	13,703	0.56	–		Veneto for the Autonomies	12,028	0.59	–
Total candidates		2,453,518	100.00	2	Total parties		2,055,173	100.00	49
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Electoral Archive

Latest general election in Veneto

Main article: 2022 Italian general election in Veneto

The centre-right coalition (56.3%), this time dominated by the Brothers of Italy, obtained a far larger victory than four years before over the centre-left coalition (23.0%), Action – Italia Viva (8.4%) and the Five Star Movement (5.8%). One third of deputies and senators were elected in single-seat constituencies and, as in 2018, the centre-right won all such constituencies. Among parties, the Brothers of Italy came largely first with 32.7% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party (16.3%) and Lega (14.5%). The biggest turnaround happened within the centre-right, as Lega lost more than half of the votes obtained in 2018 (–17.7pp) and the Brothers of Italy jumped from 4.2% to virtually eight times that share (+28.5pp).

Chamber of Deputies

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Centre-right coalition		Brothers of Italy	821,583	32.7	7	1,413,108	56.3	5	12
			Lega (incl. Liga Veneta)	365,190	14.5	3			6	9
			Forza Italia	175,057	7.0	2			–	2
			Us Moderates	51,278	2.0	–			1	1
						12			12	24
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party	409,001	16.3	4	578,406	23.0	–	4
			Greens and Left Alliance	83,426	3.3	1			–	1
			More Europe	77,238	3.1	–			–	–
			Civic Commitment	8,741	0.3	–			–	–
						5			–	5
	Action – Italia Viva			210,720	8.4	2	210,720	8.4	–	2
	Five Star Movement			146,319	5.8	1	146,319	5.8	–	1
	Italexit			62,557	2.5	–	62,557	2.5	–	–
	Vita			44,430	1.8	–	44,430	1.8	–	–
	Sovereign and Popular Italy			27,853	1.1	–	27,853	1.1	–	–
	People's Union			24,724	1.0	–	24,724	1.0	–	–
	Alternative for Italy			3,674	0.1	–	3,674	0.1	–	–
Total				2,511,881	100.0	20	2,511,881	100.0	12	32

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera

Senate

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Centre-right coalition		Brothers of Italy	817,771	32.6	3	1,410,353	56.2	2	5
			Lega (incl. Liga Veneta)	366,266	14.6	2			2	4
			Forza Italia	174,377	7.0	1			1	2
			Us Moderates	51,939	2.1	–			–	–
						6			5	11
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party	404,957	16.1	2	582,005	23.2	–	2
			Greens and Left Alliance	87,476	3.5	1			–	1
			More Europe	81,708	3.3	–			–	–
			Civic Commitment	7,864	0.3	–			–	–
						3			–	3
	Action – Italia Viva			210,033	8.4	1	210,033	8.4	–	1
	Five Star Movement			145,545	5.8	1	145,545	5.8	–	1
	Italexit			61,777	2.5	–	61,777	2.5	–	–
	Vita			42,537	1.7	–	42,537	1.7	–	–
	Sovereign and Popular Italy			26,627	1.1	–	26,627	1.1	–	–
	People's Union			23,303	0.9	–	23,303	0.9	–	–
	Alternative for Italy			8,604	0.3	–	8,604	0.3	–	–
Total				2,510,784	100.0	11	2,510,784	100.0	5	16

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera

Latest EP election in Veneto

Main article: 2024 European Parliament election in Veneto

Party		Votes	%
	Brothers of Italy	774,624	37.6
	Democratic Party	389,053	18.9
	Lega	271,142	13.2
	Forza Italia–Us Moderates	176,891	8.6
	Greens and Left Alliance	125,487	6.1
	Five Star Movement	99,866	4.8
	Action	84,580	4.1
	United States of Europe	65,992	3.2
	Peace Land Dignity	41,868	2.0
	Freedom	17,635	0.9
	South Tyrolean People's Party	7,418	0.4
	Popular Alternative	6,632	0.3
Total		2,061,188	100.00

Source: Ministry of the Interior

References

1. "Consiglio Regionale Veneto – Leggi Regionali".
2. Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
3. In 2009 Forza Italia was merged into The People of Freedom, which was transformed into the new Forza Italia in 2013, causing the split of the New Centre-Right.
4. "Elezioni Regione Veneto 2015".
5. "COME SI VOTA/ Video, Elezioni Regionali Veneto 2015: fac-simile scheda, seggi speciali e i documenti necessari (oggi, domenica 31 maggio)".
6. "Sette leggi per sette regioni. Le differenze fra i sistemi elettorali". 25 May 2015.
7. "Home – Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia" (PDF).
8. "Enoch Soranzo eletto presidente della Provincia di Padova – Cronaca – Il Mattino di Padova". 13 October 2014.
9. "Province: Soranzo, Pastorello, Variati, Trombini i nuovi presidenti". 13 October 2014.
10. "Sergio Giordani è il nuovo presidente della Provincia di Padova".
11. "Bilancio demografico mensile".
12. "Lists and Candidates by province" (PDF). consiglioveneto.it. Retrieved 25 September 2020.

Sources

• Veneto Region – Legislatures
• Regional Council of Veneto – Elections
• Cattaneo Institute – Archive of Election Data
• Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections

External links

• Veneto Region
• Regional Council of Veneto
• Constitution of Veneto