1994 Italian general election

1994 Italian general election

27–28 March 1994
All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 315 seats in the Senate
Turnout	86.3%
120px 120px Leader Silvio Berlusconi Achille Occhetto Mariotto Segni Alliance Pole of Freedoms & Good Government Alliance of Progressives Pact for Italy Leader since 18 January 1994 10 June 1988 5 January 1994 Leader's seat Rome (C) Bologna (C) Sassari (C) (lost) Seats won 366 (C) / 156 (S) 213 (C) / 122 (S) 46 (C) / 31 (S) Coalition vote 16,585,516 (C) 14,110,705 (S) 13,308,244 (C) 10,881,320 (S) 6,098,986 (C) 5,519,090 (S) Percentage 42.8% (C) 42.6% (S) 34.3% (C) 32.9% (S) 15.8% (C) 16.7% (S)
450px Results of the single-member constituencies in the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right).
Prime Minister before election Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Independent Prime Minister after the election Silvio Berlusconi Forza Italia

The 1994 Italian general election was held on 27 and 28 March 1994 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for the 12th legislature. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right alliance won a large majority in the Chamber, but just missed winning a majority in the Senate. The Italian People's Party, the renamed Christian Democrats, which had dominated Italian politics for almost half a century, was decimated. It took only 29 seats versus 206 for the DC two years earlier—easily the worst defeat a sitting government in Italy has ever suffered, and one of the worst ever suffered by a Western European governing party.

New electoral system

A new electoral system was introduced in these elections, after a referendum in 1993 which repealed the "supermajority clause" concerning Senate elections. The clause had meant that Senate elections were conducted using de facto pure proportional representation. As a result of this change, the Senate now elected 75% of its seats via plurality voting system in single-member constituencies, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a compensatory nature. Parliament passed a new electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies to bring it more in line with the Senate, assigning 75% of the seats via plurality voting, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a supplementary manner using a minimum threshold of 4% of the vote. The new electoral system was nicknamed the Mattarellum, after Sergio Mattarella, who was the official proponent.

Historical background

See also: Mani pulite

See also: Political career of Silvio Berlusconi

In 1992, the five pro-western governing parties, Christian Democracy, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Social-Democratic Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Italian Liberal Party, lost much of their electoral strength almost overnight due to a large number of judicial investigations concerning the financial corruption of many of their foremost members. This led to a general expectation that upcoming elections would be won by the Democratic Party of the Left, the heirs to the former Italian Communist Party, and their Alliance of Progressives coalition unless there was an alternative.

File:Silvio Berlusconi May 1994.jpg

Berlusconi during a Forza Italia rally.

On 26 January 1994, the media magnate Silvio Berlusconi announced his decision to enter politics, ("enter the field", in his own words) presenting his own political party, Forza Italia, on a platform focused on defeating the Communists. His political aim was to convince the voters of the Pentapartito, (i.e. the usual five governing parties) who were shocked and confused by Mani Pulite scandals, that Forza Italia offered both novelty and the continuation of the pro-western free market policies followed by Italy since the end of the 2nd World War.

Shortly after he decided to enter the political arena, investigators into the Mani Pulite affair were said to be close to issuing warrants for the arrest of Berlusconi and senior executives of his business group. During his years of political career Berlusconi has repeatedly stated that the Mani Pulite investigations were led by communist prosecutors who wanted to establish a soviet-style government in Italy.

In order to win the election Berlusconi formed two separate electoral alliances: Pole of Freedoms (Polo delle Libertà) with the Northern League (Lega Nord) in northern Italian districts, and another, the Pole of Good Government (Polo del Buon Governo), with the post-fascist National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale; heir to the Italian Social Movement) in central and southern regions. In a shrewd pragmatic move, he did not ally with the latter in the North because the League disliked them. As a result, Forza Italia was allied with two parties that were not allied with each other.

Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks. He subsequently won the elections, with Forza Italia garnering 21% of the popular vote, the highest percentage of any single party. One of the most significant promises that he made in order to secure victory was that his government would create "one million more jobs".

On the other side, the center-left Alliance of Progressive led by Achille Occhetto, also called the Joyful War Machine, was composed by the two party born from the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party: the Democratic Party of the Left and Communist Refoundation Party. Since the alliance was sure of victory, based his campaign accusing the communicative power of Silvio Berlusconi.

Main coalitions and parties

Coalition		Party		Main ideology	Leader
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Forza Italia (FI)	Liberal conservatism	Silvio Berlusconi
			National Alliance (AN)	National conservatism	Gianfranco Fini
			Northern League (LN)	Regionalism	Umberto Bossi
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)	Christian democracy	Pier Ferdinando Casini
		style="background-color:Template:Union of the Centre (1993)/meta/color"|	Union of the Centre (UdC)	Liberalism	Raffaele Costa
			Liberal Democratic Pole (PLD)	Liberalism	Adriano Teso
	Alliance of Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	Democratic socialism	Achille Occhetto
		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	Communism	Fausto Bertinotti
		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	Green politics	Carlo Ripa di Meana
		Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	Social democracy	Ottaviano Del Turco
		The Network (LR)	Anti-corruption politics	Leoluca Orlando
	style="background-color:Template:Democratic Alliance (Italy)/meta/color"|	Democratic Alliance (AD)	Social liberalism	Willer Bordon
		Social Christians (CS)	Christian socialism	Pierre Carniti
		Socialist Rebirth (RS)	Social democracy	Giorgio Benvenuto
	Pact for Italy	style="background-color:Template:Italian People's Party (1994)/meta/color"|	Italian People's Party (PPI)	Christian democracy	Mino Martinazzoli
		Segni Pact (PS)	Liberalism	Mariotto Segni

Coalitions' leaders

Portrait	Name		Most recent position	Refs
110px		Silvio Berlusconi (1936– )	President of Forza Italia (1994–incumbent) Other positions None
		Achille Occhetto (1936– )	National Secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (1991–incumbent) Other positions Member of the Chamber of Deputies (1976–incumbent) Member of the European Parliament (1989–incumbent) General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party (1988–1991) Secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation (1962–1966)
110px		Mariotto Segni (1939– )	Leader of the Segni Pact (1993–incumbent) Other positions Member of the Chamber of Deputies (1976–incumbent)

Results

At the election Berlusconi's coalition won a decisive victory over the progressive one, becoming the first centre-right alliance to win a general election in Italy since the end of the Second World War. The Pole of Freedoms won in the main regions of Italy: in the North the strongest parties were the regionalist Northern League and Forza Italia, which was also able to win in all provinces of Sicily, while in the South the National Alliance received more votes. The Alliance of Progressive confirmed its predominance in the "Red Belt" regions of central Italy, and in the South.

Chamber of Deputies

Overall results

← Summary of the 27 March 1994 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Forza Italia (FI)	8,136,135	21.01	30	17,746,612	46.09	87	111	New
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)						21	27	New
			National Alliance (AN)	5,214,133	13.47	23			87	110	+75
			Northern League (LN)	3,235,248	8.36	11			107	118	+62
		Total seats				64			302	366	–
	Alliance of Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,881,646	20.36	38	12.632,680	32.81	87	125	+17
			Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	2,343,946	6.05	11			27	38	+4
			Federation of the Greens (FdV)	1,047,268	2.70	0			11	11	−5
			Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	849,429	2.19	0			15	15	−77
			The Network (LR)	719,841	1.86	0			8	8	−4
		bgcolor="Template:Democratic Alliance (Italy)/meta/color"|	Democratic Alliance (AD)	456,114	1.18	0			16	16	New
		Total seats				49			164	213	–
	Pact for Italy	bgcolor="Template:Italian People's Party (1994)/meta/color" |	Italian People's Party (PPI)	4,287,172	11.07	29	6,019,038	15.63	4	33	−146
			Segni Pact (PS)	1,811,814	4.68	13			0	13	New
		Total seats				42			4	46	–
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)			231,842	0.60	0	188,017	0.49	3	3	±0
	Southern Action League (LAM)			59,873	0.15	0	46,820	0.13	1	1	+1
bgcolor="Template:Aosta Valley (political coalition)/meta/color"|	Aosta Valley (VdA)			N/A	N/A	0	43,700	0.11	1	1	±0
Total										630	–

Proportional

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Forza Italia (FI)	8,136,135	21.01	30
	Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,881,646	20.36	38
	National Alliance (AN)	5,214,133	13.47	23
bgcolor="Template:Italian People's Party (1994)/meta/color" |	Italian People's Party (PPI)	4,287,172	11.07	29
	Northern League (LN)	3,235,248	8.36	11
	Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	2,343,946	6.05	11
	Segni Pact (PS)	1,811,814	4.68	13
	Pannella List (LP)	1,359,283	3.51	0
	Federation of the Greens (FdV)	1,047,268	2.70	0
	Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	849,429	2.19	0
	The Network (LR)	719,841	1.86	0
bgcolor="Template:Democratic Alliance (Italy)/meta/color"|	Democratic Alliance (AD)	456,114	1.18	0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	231,842	0.60	0
	Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)	179,495	0.46	0
	Program Italy (PI)	151,328	0.39	0
	Lombard Alpine League (LAL)	136,782	0.35	0
	Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)	103,764	0.27	0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	59,873	0.15	0
	Others	517,780	1.34	0
Total		38,720,893	100.00	155

Popular vote (Proportional)
FI–CCD			21.01%
PDS			20.36%
AN			13.47%
PPI			11.07%
LN			8.36%
PRC			6.05%
Segni			4.68%
Pannella			3.51%
FdV			2.70%
PSI			2.19%
Rete			1.86%
AD			1.18%
Others			3.56%

First-past-the-post

Parties and coalitions		Votes	%	Seats
	Alliance of Progressives (AdP)	12,632,680	32.81	164
	Pole of Freedoms (PdL)	8,767,720	22.77	164
	Pact for Italy (PpI)	6,019,038	15.63	4
	Pole of Good Government (PdBG)	5,732,890	14.89	129
	National Alliance (AN)	2,566,848	6.67	8
	Forza Italia (FI)	679,154	1.76	1
	Pannella List (LP)	432,667	1.12	0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	188,017	0.49	3
	Social Democracy for the Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)	147,493	0.38	0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	46,820	0.13	1
bgcolor="Template:Aosta Valley (political coalition)/meta/color" |	Aosta Valley (VdA)	43,700	0.11	1
	Others	1,247,131	3.24	0
Total		38,504,158	100.00	475

Popular vote (First-past-the-post)
PdL–PBG			37.66%
AdP			32.81%
PpI			15.63%
AN			6.67%
FI			1.76%
Pannella			1.12%
Others			4.35%

Source: 1994 Italian general election, Chamber of Deputies – Ministry of the Interior

Senate of the Republic

← Summary of the 27 March 1994 Senate of the Republic election results →

Coalition		Party		First-past-the-post			Proportional (Seats)	Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Northern League (LN)	13,342,940	40.34	128	28	60	+35
			National Alliance (AN)					48	+32
			Forza Italia (FI)					36	New
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)					12	New
		Total seats						156	–
	Alliance of Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	10,881,320	32.90	96	26	76	+12
			Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)					18	−2
			Italian Socialist Party (PSI)					9	−40
			Federation of the Greens (FdV)					7	+3
		bgcolor="Template:Democratic Alliance (Italy)/meta/color" |	Democratic Alliance (AD)					6	New
			The Network (LR)					6	+3
		Total seats						122	–
	Pact for Italy (PpI)			5,519,090	16.69	3	28	31	−64
	Pannella List (LP)			767,765	2.32	0	1	1	+1
	Pensioners' Party (PP)			250,637	0.76	0	0	0	±0
	Lombard Alpine League (LAL)			246,046	0.74	0	1	1	±0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)			217,137	0.66	3	0	3	±0
	Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)			165,370	0.50	0	0	0	−1
	Federalist Greens (VF)			100,418	0.30	0	0	0	±0
style="background:Template:Sardinian Action Party/meta/color;" |	Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az)			88,225	0.27	0	0	0	−1
	Natural Law Party (PLN)			86,579	0.26	0	0	0	New
	Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)			80,264	0.24	0	0	0	−3
	The League of Angela Bossi			72,455	0.22	0	0	0	New
	Greens Greens (VV)			68,218	0.21	0	0	0	±0
	Veneto Autonomous Region Movement (MVRA)			64,149	0.19	0	0	0	±0
	Magris List (Magris)			61,400	0.19	1	0	1	New
	Southern Action League (LAM)			54,395	0.16	0	0	0	±0
	League for Piedmont			49,505	0.15	0	0	0	New
style="background:Template:Aosta Valley (political coalition)/meta/color;" |	Aosta Valley (VdA)			27,493	0.08	1	0	1	±0
	Others			931,143	2.82	0	0	0	−17
Total				33,074,549	100.00	232	83	315	–

Popular vote
PdL–PBG			33.61%
AdP			32.90%
PpI			16.69%
AN			6.28%
Pannella			2.32%
Others			8.20%

Source: 1994 Italian general election, Senate of the Republic – Ministry of the Interior

Maps

File:1994 Italian general election - Simple.svg

Results for the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate of the Republic (right) in single-member constituencies. The color corresponds to the party that won more votes in that area. Blue represents the Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government, red the Alliance of Progressives, yellow the Pact for Italy, black the South-Tyrolean People's Party, indigo the Southern Action League, and turquois the Aosta Valley coalition.

300px

300px

Composition of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate by coalition

Leaders' races

1994 Italian general election (C): Rome Centre
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Silvio Berlusconi	Pole of Good Government	FI	34,354	46.29
	Luigi Spaventa	Alliance of Progressives	PDS	29,914	40.10
	Alberto Michelini	Pact for Italy	PS	9,566	12.82
	Others			593	0.79
Total				74,607	100.0
Turnout				77,562	77.19
	Centre-right gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

1994 Italian general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Achille Occhetto	Alliance of Progressives	PDS	52,997	59.77
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	Pole of Good Government	CCD	17,925	20.22
	Alfredo Ruocco		AN	7,388	8.33
	Maria Gualandi	Pact for Italy	PPI	7,133	8.04
	Oliviero Toscani		LP	3,225	3.64
Total				88,668	100.0
Turnout				91,571	95.03
	Centre-left gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

1994 Italian general election (C): Sassari
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Carmelo Porcu	Pole of Good Government	AN	30,623	36.14
	Mario Segni	Pact for Italy	PS	26,776	31.60
	Gavino Angius	Alliance of Progressives	PDS	17,570	20.73
bgcolor="Template:Sardinian Action Party/meta/color"|	Giacomo Spissu		PSd'Az	6,952	8.20
	Gavino Sale		ParIS	1,185	1.40
	Giovanni Conoci		LR	966	1.14
	Others			664	0.78
Total				84,736	100.0
Turnout				89,504	86.02
	Centre-right gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aftermath

Contrary to its success in the Chamber, the Pole of Freedoms failed to win a majority in the Senate. Nevertheless, the Berlusconi I Cabinet obtained a vote of confidence also in the Senate, thanks to the abstention of four PPI senators (Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Stefano Cusumano, Luigi Grillo and Tomaso Zanoletti), who decided not to take part in the vote.

The vote of the Senators for life was not decisive, as three (Gianni Agnelli, Francesco Cossiga and Giovanni Leone) voted in favour of the government, three were absent (Carlo Bo, Norberto Bobbio and Amintore Fanfani) and five voted against (Giulio Andreotti, Francesco De Martino, Giovanni Spadolini and Paolo Emilio Taviani and Leo Valiani).

The Senate finally gave Berlusconi 159 votes in favour and 153 against.

External links

• Minister of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Chamber of Deputies - uninominal (compressed ZIP file)
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Chamber of Deputies - proportional
• Minister of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Senate of the Republic

Preceded by 1992 general election

Italian general elections

Succeeded by 1996 general election