Italy's general election on 9 and 10 April has created a confusing representation of my country. For the first time Italian expatriates have been able to elect their own representatives and for the first time in 50 years of democracy the margin of victory between the two coalition ( the centre-left and the centre-right) is less than one-tenth of 1%. For the first time, the electoral system has changed the voting procedure: voters cast only one vote on their preferred list, with no preference votes.
Furthermore, because it is the president of the Republic that formally select the prime minister, the formation of a new government will have to wait until after new parliament elects a new president in May: in fact, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi's seven-year term of office is about to expire. So the Prime Minister, Mr Berlusconi will still remain caretaker prime minister for at least one more month.
In the Italian Parliamentary Republic, both houses are elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term. A government needs the support of both houses to function.
The Italian Parliament consists, in fact, of two houses: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic and, according to the principle of full bicameralism, the two houses have the same functions.
For election to the Chamber of Deputies, Law No. 270 of 21 December 2005 introduced a fully proportional system , with the possibility of the award of bonus seats for a nationwide majority result, replacing the earlier partly proportional system.
The 618 Deputies (there are special rules governing the election of the 12 Deputies representing the Foreign Constituency) are elected nationwide in proportion to the number of votes obtained by the lists of candidates submitted in the 26 constituencies.
The seats are distributed proportionately nationwide between the coalitions of lists and the lists that have exceeded the statutory minimum thresholds.
The new Chamber system provides for a nationwide majority prize: if the coalition that obtains a majority of votes initially receives less than fifty-five percent of the seats filled in Italy proper (340 out of 618), its number of seats is increased to 340.
The Senate of the Republic is made up of 315 elected members, plus a number of appointed life senators and ex officio life senators: in fact former presidents of the Republic have the right to life-time Senate membership. Six senators represent Italians residing overseas and are elected only by Italian expatriates.
For elections to the Senate, electors will vote for a closed party list in 18 of Italy's twenty regions. Senate seats in these regions are assigned by the largest remainder method of proportional representation among coalitions that receive at least 20% of the vote. The new Senate system also attributes a regional majority prize: if the coalition that obtains a majority of votes in a given region is initially allocated less than fifty-five percent of the seats filled in the region, its number of seats is increased to no less than fifty-five percent of the region's total, and the remaining seats are distributed among the other qualifying coalitions and individual parties.
What will happen after the General Election? No party had an overall majority and someone is already talking about a German-style "grand coalition"... Omnia cum tempora
The election results:
SENATE: centre-left 48,9% [158 seats] - centre-right 50,2 [156 seats]
CHAMBER: centre-left 49,8% [348 seats] - centre-right 49,7 [281 seats]
Online Resources:
The Italian Senate of the Republic
The Chamber of Deputies