Lombard regional election, 2010

Lombard regional election, 2010

28-29 March 2010

All 80 seats to the Regional Council of Lombardy Turnout 64.64% ( 8.33%)   Majority party Minority party   Leader Roberto Formigoni Filippo Penati Party People of Freedom Democratic Party Last election 52 seats, 53.9% 28 seats, 43.2% Seats won 49 28 Seat change 3 Popular vote 2,704,057 1,603,674 Percentage 56.1% 33.3% Swing 2.2 9.9%

President before election Roberto Formigoni FI/PdL President-elect Roberto Formigoni PdL

The Lombard regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010. The 9th term of the Regional Council was chosen.

Roberto Formigoni, who was the longest-serving President of Region in Italy along with Giancarlo Galan of Veneto, obtained a historic fourth consecutive term. His opponent was Filippo Penati, a Democrat, who was President of the Province of Milan from 2004 to 2009.^[1] Lega Lombarda, that is to say the regional section of Lega Nord in Lombardy, backed Formigoni in return of the support granted by The People of Freedom to Lega Nord candidates in Veneto (Luca Zaia) and Piedmont (Roberto Cota).

Minor candidates who were running were Savino Pezzotta for the Union of the Centre,^[2] Vito Crimi for Beppe Grillo's movement,^[3] Vittorio Agnoletto for the Communist Refoundation Party and Gianmario Invernizzi for New Force. Marco Cappato for the Italian Radicals did not gain enough signatures to back his candidature.^[4]

Electoral law

Lombardy uses national Tatarella Law of 1995 to elect its Council, not having written an own legislation. Sixty-four councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists; remained seats and votes are grouped at regional level where a Hare quota is used, and then distributed to provincial party lists.

Sixteen councillors are elected at-large using a general ticket: parties are grouped in alliances, and the alliance which receives a plurality of votes elects all its candidates, its leader becoming the President of Lombardy. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the Council with PR, only 8 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 72; if the winning alliance receives less than 50% of votes, special seats are added to the Council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition.

Council apportionment

According to the official 2001 Italian census, the 64 Council seats which must be covered by proportional representation are so distributed between Lombard provinces.

BG	BS	CO	CR	LC	LO	MN	MI	MB	PV	SO	VA	total
7	8	4	2	2	1	3	21	5	4	1	6	64

The allocation is not fixed. Remaining seats and votes after proportional distribution, are all grouped at regional level and divided by party lists. The consequent division of these seats at provincial level usually change the original apportionment. Only 43 seats were directly assigned at provincial level, and the final distribution between provinces changed in this way.

BG	BS	CO	CR	LC	LO	MN	MI	PV	SO	VA	total
+2	+2	=	=	+1	=	=	+2	-1	+1	=	+7

As it can be seen, the landslide victory of Formigoni's Alliance caused the distribution of seven more seats to the oppositions at provincial level. Bergamo and Brescia received two new seats, Lecco and Milan and Sondrio one each.

Controversies on Formigoni's candidature

Formigoni's candidature, which allowed him a 4th mandate, has been contested by academics and left-wing politicians, as in disregard of Law n. 165/2004, that put a limit of two subsequent mandates to directly-elected Region Presidents. Formigoni was indirectly elected in 1995, but then directly elected in 2000 and 2005. He defends himself stating that the law was not in action when he was first directly elected in 2000, so he should be allowed a 4th mandate. After re-election, his mandate may be overturned by judges later on.^[5][6]

Formigoni also sparked controversies when agreeing to put in his majority-premium list, granting her safe election, Nicole Minetti, former showgirl and actual dental hygienist of Silvio Berlusconi, who asked for a political seat for her.^[7]

Results

2010 election led to the return to the guide of the Region, for its fourth consecutive term, Communion and Liberation's Roberto Formigoni, supported by the center-right coalition.

If the mechanisms of electoral law generated a Regional Council very similar to the incumbent one speaking about coalitions, the most relevant change was the five new seats conquered by the League, which obtained its best performance ever. More, the League was strangely penalized by the electoral law, having conquered less seats than as it would be with a proportional representation.

The People of Freedom was confirmed as the largest party in the region with 32% of the vote, despite a decline of three points, while Lega Nord took the 26% and Democratic Party the 23%.

Candidates	Regional lists			Provincial lists					Total
	votes	%	seats	Parties	votes	%	swing	seats	party	group
Roberto Formigoni	2,704,364	56.11	8	The People of Freedom	1,355,133	31.79	3.1	23	29	49
				Lega Lombarda–Lega Nord	1,117,227	26.21	10.4	18	20
				The Right	7,008	0.16	new	-	-
Filippo Penati	1,603,666	33.27	1	Democratic Party	976,215	22.90	4.2	21	22	28
				Italy of Values	267,954	6.29	4.9	4	4
				Pensioners' Party	69,932	1.64	1.0	1	1
				Left Ecology Freedom	59,112	1.39	new	1	1
				Federation of the Greens	35,060	0.82	2.1	-	-
				Italian Socialist Party	13,415	0.31	0.5	-	-
Savino Pezzotta	225,849	4.69	-	Union of the Centre	164,078	3.85	0	3	3	3
Vito Crimi	144,585	3.00	-	Five Star Movement	99,390	2.33	new	-	-	-
Vittorio Agnoletto	113,754	2.36	-	Federation of the Left	87,221	2.05	3.7	-	-	-
Gianmario Invernizzi	27,358	0.57	-	New Force	11,281	0.26	2.2	-	-	-
Total candidates	4,819,587	100.00	9	Total parties	4,263,026	100.00	=	71	80	80

Source: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections

References

1. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2009/dicembre/15/Bersani_lancia_Penati_Rifondazione_bravi_co_7_091215009.shtml
2. UDC runs without allies (it.)
3. Vito Crimi's blog (it.)
4. Cappato's nomination for Radicals (it.)
5. Vittorio Angiolini, professore ordinario di Diritto costituzionale dell'Università di Milano; Margherita Raveraira, Università di Perugia Il limite del doppio mandato alla immediata rielezione del Presidente della giunta regionale: una questione complessa, Federalismi.it
6. Michele Ainis, La terza via di Errani e Formigoni, La Stampa, 25 gennaio 2010
7. Running for Parliament, the Italian showgirl who made Silvio Berlusconi smile again, Mail Online, 19 febbraio 2010