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2010 Piedmontese regional election

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2010 Piedmentese regional election

← 2005 28–29 March 2010 2014 →

All 60 seats to the Regional Council of Piedmont
Turnout64.33% (Decrease 7.04%)
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Roberto Cota Mercedes Bresso
Party Northern League Democratic Party
Alliance Centre-right Centre-left
Last election 25 seats, 47.0% 38 seats, 50.9%
Seats won 36 22
Seat change Increase11 Decrease16
Popular vote 1,043,318 1,033,946
Percentage 47.3% 46.9%
Swing Increase0.3% Decrease4.0%


President before election

Mercedes Bresso
PD

President-elect

Roberto Cota
LN

The 2010 Piedmontese regional election took place on 28–29 March 2010 as part of Italy's round of regional elections. Mercedes Bresso of the centre-left Democratic Party, the incumbent president of the region, lost her seat to Roberto Cota, leader of the Northern League Piedmont (Lega Piemonte) and floor leader of Lega Nord (Northern League) in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who was backed also by The People of Freedom.[1]

Cota's lead of Bresso was of only 0.4%, in one of the region's narrowest elections ever. The League thus secured a second region, after having conquered the presidency of Veneto with Luca Zaia with a much more convincing margin.

Electoral system

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Regional elections in Piedmont were ruled by the Tatarella law, which was approved in 1995 and provided for a mixed electoral system. Four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a single regional constituency, where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare quota among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian representation system, in which the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the region, while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.

A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes. The panachage was also allowed; the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

Background

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Bresso was one of the last bulwarks of the country's centre-left coalition in Central Italy and thus all Democratic Party members endorsed her in a key test of the coalition's strength after two years in opposition in Rome. For his part, Cota's choice was a little bit surprising as Piedmont is not really a stronghold for his party, which is much stronger in Veneto and Lombardy. The day after his bid was announced, Cota explained that it is time to rewrite the history of Italian unification, that was led by the Kingdom of Sardinia under the House of Savoy. Cota underlined that Piedmont was once an independent state and told that even Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, did not intend to unify the whole Italian Peninsula and later favoured a federal reform of the new Kingdom of Italy.

Cota, who is a republican and has no nostalgia of the House of Savoy, said his message would do well in Piedmont and that he would overcome the weakness of Lega Piemonte that usually gets far fewer votes than Liga Veneta in Veneto and Lega Lombarda in Lombardy. In Cota's view, most of his support would come from industrial workers, including those of Southern Italy descent, and Catholics embarrassed by Bresso's secularism.[2] The Union of the Centre, whose main aim in the election was to fight back the Northern League, chose to support Bresso, turning down the chance of running its own candidate, the most likely being Michele Vietti.[3] Most Catholic voters disagreed.

Parties and candidates

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Political party or alliance Constituent lists Previous result Candidate
Votes (%) Seats
Centre-left coalition Democratic Party 30.4 17 Mercedes Bresso
Federation of the Left 9.0 5
Union of the Centre 4.6 2
Together for Bresso 2.9 1
Federation of the Greens 2.8 1
Italian Socialist PartyUnited Socialists 2.4 1
Italy of Values 1.5 1
Left Ecology Freedom
Moderates
Bonino-Pannella List
Others
Centre-right coalition The People of Freedom 31.9 16 Roberto Cota
Northern League Piedmont 8.5 4
Greens Greens 1.2 1
Consumers 1.1 1
Pensioners' Party 0.6
Others
Five Star Movement Davide Bono

Results

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28–29 March 2010 Piedmontese regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats
Roberto Cota 1,043,318 47.33 12
The People of Freedom 474,431 25.05 13
Northern League Piedmont 317,065 16.74 9
Greens Greens 33,411 1.76 1
Pensioners' Party 27,797 1.47 1
The Right 12,581 0.66
To the Centre with Scanderebech 12,154 0.64
Alliance of the CentreChristian Democracy 5,704 0.30
New Italian Socialist Party 3,947 0.21
Consumers 8,826 0.15
Total 889,916 46.98 24
Mercedes Bresso 1,033,946 46.91 1
Democratic Party 439,663 23.21 12
Italy of Values 130,649 6.90 3
Union of the Centre 74,412 3.93 2
Together for Bresso 61,476 3.25 1
Moderates 58,010 3.06 1
Federation of the Left 50,191 2.65 1
Left Ecology Freedom 27,198 1.44 1
Federation of the Greens 14,575 0.77
Italian Socialist PartyUnited Socialists 14,077 0.74
Bonino-Pannella List 13,572 0.72
Pensioners and Disabled for Bresso 12,564 0.66
PiedmontYes – Populars – Autonomous Region 4,150 0.22
Total 900,537 47.55 21
Davide Bono 90,086 4.09 Five Star Movement 69,448 3.67 2
Renzo Rabellino 36,999 1.68
List of Talking Crickets – No Euro 13,186 0.70
Lega Padana Piemont 7,805 0.41
Forza Toro 3,494 0.18
New Force 2,151 0.11
Tricolour Flame 1,998 0.11
UDEURChristian Democracy – Others 1,670 0.09
No Nuclear – No TAV 1,553 0.08
Alliance for Turin 1,237 0.07
Young People Under 30 1,076 0.06
Total 34,170 1.80
Total candidates 2,204,349 100.00 13 Total parties 1,894,071 100.00 47
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections

See also

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References

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  1. ^ QuestIT s.r.l. "Archivio Corriere della Sera". Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  2. ^ QuestIT s.r.l. "Archivio Corriere della Sera". Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Udc-Bresso, affare fattoin dote entra la Sanità". LaStampa.it. 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2016.