Italian elections results

Italy: None of the coalitions or individual parties has the numbers to form a government majority. There will be laborious negotiations to form a government alliance between parties that are characterized by mutual hostility and mistrust.

Leggi in Italiano

On Sunday, March 4, the elections for the renewal of the Italian parliament took place, at the natural end of the parliamentary term, 5 years after the previous elections of February 2013. These are the results for the main parties in percentage:

Movimento 5 Stelle	Partito Democratico	Lega	Forza Italia	Fratelli d’Italia	Liberi e uguali
32,4%	18,8%	17,6%	14,0%	4,4%	3,4%

Fonte: Ministero dell’Interno

Distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies:

Center-right	5-star Movement	Center-left	Liberi e Uguali	Total seats
260	221	112	14	607

Distribution of seats in the Senate:

Center-right	5-star Movement	Center-left	Liberi e Uguali	Total seats
135	112	57	4	308

 (dati provvisori del 6 marzo, fonte Ministero dell’Interno)

None of the coalitions or individual parties has the numbers to form a government majority. It seems inevitable that, after the inauguration of the new parliament scheduled on March 23, there will be laborious negotiations to form a government alliance between parties that are characterized by mutual hostility and mistrust.

The 5-star Movement has achieved a surprising result especially in the south, where in some cases it has exceeded 50% of the votes. In the north the Lega consolidates its position, and results the first party in many areas. The extraordinary growth of these two parties is to the detriment of the left Democratic Party (PD), and of Forza Italia, Berlusconi’s party.

The result can be interpreted as a vote against Europe, which is seen by many Italians as a hostile defender of financial establishment and German and interests. A Europe, which mercilessly demands national governments to repay loans, reduce debt and pay interest. A austerity policy which is counterproductive for industrial development, according to many economist observers. The accusation of having left Italy alone to face the migratory pressure is also decisive for the populist turnaround.

The Italian voters have launched a hostile message against an emotionally distant Europe, which lacks a social sensitivity, sympathy and understanding of the problems of the people. In a period of difficulty, a large part of the Italians observe Europe mainly absorbed by financial issues and the interests of large multinationals, with a policy of austerity that neglects people’s problems – real or perceived: security, increasing poverty, uncertainty about the future pensions and youth unemployment, immigration from Africa and Middle East war outbreaks, health, environmental pollution.

In the two regions of Lazio and Lombardy, where regional elections were held at the same time, many voters who supported the 5-star Movement at the national level made different choices. In Lazio, where the outgoing PD governor Nicola Zingaretti was confirmed, the Movement founded by Peppe Grillo has reached only 27.1%, while in Lombardy a modest 20.1%. The impression remains that the success of the 5-star Movement is due more to the protest vote than to party membership.

by Massimo Predieri