1994 Italian general election
27–28 March 1994
All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
316 seats needed for a majority
All 315 elective seats in the Senate
163 seats needed for a majority[lower-alpha 1]
Registered48,135,041 (C) · 41,795,730 (S)
Turnout41,546,290 (C) · 86.3% (Decrease1.1 pp)
35,873,375 (S) · 85.8% (Decrease1.0 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Silvio Berlusconi 1994 (cropped).jpg
Achille Occhetto.jpg
Mariotto Segni 1994.jpg
Leader Silvio Berlusconi Achille Occhetto Mario Segni
Party Forza Italia PDS Segni Pact
Alliance Pole of Freedoms / Pole of Good Government Progressives Pact for Italy
Leader since 18 January 1994 21 June 1988[lower-alpha 2] 5 January 1994
Leader's seat Rome (C) Bologna (C) Sardinia (C)[lower-alpha 3]
Seats won 366 (C) / 156 (S) 213 (C) / 122 (S) 46 (C) / 31 (S)
Popular vote 17,746,612 (C) (FPTP)
16,585,516 (C) (Prop)
14,110,705 (S)		 12.632,680 (C) (FPTP)
13,308,244 (C) (Prop)
10,881,320 (S)		 6,019,038 (C) (FPTP)
6,098,986 (C) (Prop)
5,519,090 (S)
Percentage 46.1% (C) (FPTP)
42.8% (C) (Prop)
42.6% (S)		 32.8% (C) (FPTP)
34.3% (C) (Prop)
32.9% (S)		 15.6% (C) (FPTP)
15.8% (C) (Prop)
16.7% (S)
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 of the Republic for the 12th legislature. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition won a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies but just missed winning a majority in the Senate. The Italian People's Party, the renamed Christian Democracy (DC), 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A new electoral system was introduced in these elections, after a referendum in 1993 which repealed the "supermajority clause" concerning Senate elections.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 Mattarellum after Sergio Mattarella, who was the official proponent.

Background

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 Progressives coalition unless there was an alternative.


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 World War II.

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.[1][2]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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 Progressives 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 Party leader Coalition leader
Pole of Freedoms –
Pole of Good Government		 Forza Italia (FI) Liberal conservatism Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi
National Alliance (AN)[lower-alpha 4] National conservatism Gianfranco Fini
Northern League (LN)[lower-alpha 5] Regionalism Umberto Bossi
Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)[lower-alpha 6] Christian democracy Pier Ferdinando Casini
Union of the Centre (UdC)[lower-alpha 6] Liberalism Raffaele Costa
Liberal Democratic Pole (PLD)[lower-alpha 6] Liberalism Adriano Teso
Progressives Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) Democratic socialism Achille Occhetto 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
Democratic Alliance (AD) Social liberalism Willer Bordon
Social Christians (CS)[lower-alpha 7] Christian socialism Pierre Carniti
Socialist Rebirth (RS)[lower-alpha 8] Social democracy Giorgio Benvenuto
Pact for Italy Italian People's Party (PPI) Christian democracy Mino Martinazzoli Mario Segni
Segni Pact (PS) Liberalism Mario Segni

Results

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)8,136,13521.0130[lower-alpha 9]17,746,61246.0987111[lower-alpha 10]New
Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)2127New
National Alliance (AN)5,214,13313.4723[lower-alpha 11]87110+75
Northern League (LN)3,235,2488.3611[lower-alpha 12]107118+62
Total seats64302366–
Progressives Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)7,881,64620.3638[lower-alpha 13]12.632,68032.8187125[lower-alpha 14]+17
Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)2,343,9466.05112738+4
Federation of the Greens (FdV)1,047,2682.7001111−5
Italian Socialist Party (PSI)849,4292.1901515[lower-alpha 15]−77
The Network (LR)719,8411.86088−4
Democratic Alliance (AD)456,1141.1801616New
Total seats49164213–
Pact for Italy Italian People's Party (PPI)4,287,17211.07296,019,03815.63433−146
Segni Pact (PS)1,811,8144.6813013New
Total seats42446–
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)231,8420.600188,0170.4933±0
Southern Action League (LAM)59,8730.15046,8200.1311+1
Aosta Valley (VdA)——043,7000.1111±0
Total630–

Detailed results

First-past-the-post
Party or coalition Votes % Seats
Progressives (P) 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
Aosta Valley (VdA) 43,700 0.11 1
Others 1,247,131 3.24 0
Total 38,504,158 100.00 475
Source: Ministry of the Interior
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
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
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
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote (First-past-the-post)
P
 
 32.81%
PdL
 
 22.77%
PpI
 
 15.63%
PdBG
 
 14.89%
AN
 
 6.67%
FI
 
 1.76%
Pannella
 
 1.12%
Others
 
 4.35%
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%

FPTP results by constituency

Constituency Total
seats		 Seats won
PdL–PdBG P PpI Others
Abruzzo 11 1 10
Aosta Valley 1 1
Apulia 34 23 10 1
Basilicata 5 1 4
Calabria 17 7 10
Campania 1 25 10 15
Campania 2 22 7 12 3
Emilia-Romagna 32 3 29
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 10 10
Lazio 1 32 29 3
Lazio 2 11 11
Liguria 14 7 7
Lombardy 1 31 31
Lombardy 2 32 32
Lombardy 3 11 10 1
Marche 12 12
Molise 3 2 1
Piedmont 1 19 14 5
Piedmont 2 17 17
Sardinia 14 9 4 1
Sicily 1 20 16 4
Sicily 2 21 21
Trentino-Alto Adige 8 5 3
Tuscany 29 29
Umbria 7 7
Veneto 1 22 22
Veneto 2 15 14 1
Total 475 302 164 4 5

PR results by constituency

Constituency Total
seats		 Seats won
PdL–PdBG P PpI
Abruzzo 3 2 1
Apulia 10 1 5 4
Basilicata 2 1 1
Calabria 6 2 2 2
Campania 1 8 4 2 2
Campania 2 7 4 1 2
Emilia-Romagna 9 4 4 1
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 3 1 1 1
Lazio 1 10 1 6 3
Lazio 2 3 1 1 1
Liguria 6 3 2 1
Lombardy 1 10 4 4 2
Lombardy 2 11 5 3 3
Lombardy 3 4 2 1 1
Marche 4 2 1 1
Molise 1 1
Piedmont 1 6 3 2 1
Piedmont 2 6 3 2 1
Sardinia 4 1 1 2
Sicily 1 7 3 2 2
Sicily 2 7 3 2 2
Trentino-Alto Adige 2 1 1
Tuscany 11 5 4 2
Umbria 2 2
Veneto 1 8 3 2 3
Veneto 2 5 3 1 1
Total 155 64 49 42

Senate of the Republic

Overall results

← 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[lower-alpha 16]40.34[lower-alpha 17]1282860+35
National Alliance (AN)48+32
Forza Italia (FI)36[lower-alpha 18]New
Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)12New
Total seats156–
Progressives Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)10,881,32032.90962676[lower-alpha 19]+12
Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)18−2
Italian Socialist Party (PSI)9[lower-alpha 20]−40
Federation of the Greens (FdV)7+3
Democratic Alliance (AD)6New
The Network (LR)6+3
Total seats122–
Pact for Italy (PpI)5,519,09016.6932831−64
Pannella List (LP)767,7652.32011+1
Lombard Alpine League (LAL)246,0460.74011±0
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)217,1370.66303±0
Magris List (Magris)61,4000.19101New
Aosta Valley (VdA)27,4930.08101±0
Total315–

Detailed results

Party or coalition Votes % Seats
FPTP Proportional
Progressives (P)10,881,32032.909626
Pole of Freedoms (PdL)6,570,46819.87748
Pact for Italy (PpI)5,519,09016.69328
Pole of Good Government (PdBG)4,544,57313.745619
National Alliance (AN)2,077,9346.2808
Pannella List (LP)767,7652.3201
Pensioners' Party (PP)250,6370.7600
Lombard Alpine League (LAL)246,0460.7401
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)217,1370.6630
Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)165,3700.5000
Federalist Greens (VF)100,4180.3000
Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az)88,2250.2700
Natural Law Party (PLN)86,5790.2600
Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)80,2640.2400
The League of Angela Bossi72,4550.2200
Greens Greens (VV)68,2180.2100
Veneto Autonomous Region Movement (MVRA)64,1490.1900
Magris List (Magris)61,4000.1910
Southern Action League (LAM)54,3950.1600
League for Piedmont49,5050.1500
Aosta Valley (VdA)27,4930.0810
Others931,1432.8200
Total33,074,549100.0023283
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
P
 
 32.90%
PdL
 
 19.87%
PpI
 
 16.69%
PdBG
 
 13.74%
AN
 
 6.28%
Pannella
 
 2.32%
Others
 
 8.20%

FPTP by constituency

Constituency Total
seats		 Seats won
PdL–PdBG P PpI Others
Piedmont 17 12 5
Aosta Valley 1 1
Lombardy 35 35
Trentino-Alto Adige 6 3 3
Veneto 17 17
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 5 4 1
Liguria 6 2 4
Emilia-Romagna 15 1 14
Tuscany 14 14
Umbria 5 5
Marche 6 6
Lazio 21 16 5
Abruzzo 5 5
Molise 2 2
Campania 22 7 13 2
Apulia 16 9 7
Basilicata 5 1 4
Calabria 8 1 7
Sicily 20 17 3
Sardinia 6 3 2 1
Total 232 128 96 3 5

PR results by constituency

Constituency Total
seats		 Seats won
PpI PdL–PdBG P Others
Piedmont 6 2 2 2
Lombardy 12 3 1 6 2
Trentino-Alto Adige 1 1
Veneto 6 2 1 3
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2 1 1
Liguria 3 1 2
Emilia-Romagna 6 2 4
Tuscany 5 2 3
Umbria 2 1 1
Marche 2 1 1
Lazio 7 2 1 4
Abruzzo 2 2
Campania 8 3 3 2
Apulia 6 2 2 2
Basilicata 2 1 1
Calabria 3 1 2
Sicily 7 2 5
Sardinia 3 1 1 1
Total 83 28 27 26 2

Leaders' races

1994 Italian general election (C): Rome Centre
Candidate Coalition Party Votes %
Silvio Berlusconi Pole FI 34,354 46.29
Luigi Spaventa 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
Pole gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior
1994 Italian general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate Coalition Party Votes %
Achille Occhetto Progressives PDS 52,997 59.77
Pier Ferdinando Casini Pole CCD 17,925 20.22
Alfredo Ruocco None AN 7,388 8.33
Maria Gualandi Pact for Italy PPI 7,133 8.04
Oliviero Toscani None LP 3,225 3.64
Total 88,668 100.0
Turnout 91,571 95.03
Progressives gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior
1994 Italian general election (C): Sassari
Candidate Coalition Party Votes %
Carmelo Porcu Pole AN 30,623 36.14
Mario Segni Pact for Italy PS 26,776 31.60
Gavino Angius Progressives PDS 17,570 20.73
Giacomo Spissu None PSd'Az 6,952 8.20
Gavino Sale None ParIS 1,185 1.40
Giovanni Conoci None LR 966 1.14
Others 664 0.78
Total 84,736 100.0
Turnout 89,504 86.02
Pole gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aftermath

Contrary to its success in the Chamber, the Pole 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, Paolo Emilio Taviani and Leo Valiani).

The Senate finally gave Berlusconi 159 votes in favour and 153 against.[5]

Further reading

  • Carter, Nick (1998). Italy: The Demise of Post-War Partyocracy. State University of New York Press. pp. 71–94. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • Diamanti, Ilvo; Mannheimer, Renato, eds. (1994). Milano a Roma: guida all'Italia elettorale del 1994. Donzelli.
  • Parker, Simon (1996). Electoral reform and political change in Italy, 1991–1994. Routledge. pp. 40–56. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

References

  1. ↑ "As Italy Votes, Golden Career Of Berlusconi Is at Crossroads". Wall Street Journal. 30 March 2006.
  2. ↑ "Italian Election, The Prelude". The American. 1 April 2006. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  3. ↑ Griffin, Roger (1996). "The 'Post-Fascism' of the Alleanza Nazionale: A Case Study in Ideological Morphology". Journal of Political Ideologies. 1 (2): 123–145. doi:10.1080/13569319608420733. 'AN's ideological tap-root is still thrust deep into historical Fascism... retaining many Fascist core values
  4. ↑ "Elezioni della Camera dei Deputati del 27 Marzo 1994" (in Italian). Italian Chamber of Deputies. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12.
  5. ↑ "Il Sole 24 Ore - Nel 1994 decisivi per Berlusconi tre senatori a vita". Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2007-03-30.

Notes

  1. ↑ taking into account the Senators for life, which accounted for 10 seats at the time the election took place
  2. ↑ Occhetto served as secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1988 to 1991. In February 1991, he was appointed secretary of PCI's heir, the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).
  3. ↑ Segni ran also in the single-member constituency of Sassari but he lost, being then elected in the closed list proportional representation system.
  4. ↑ Pole of Good Government only
  5. ↑ Pole of Freedoms only
  6. 1 2 3 Confederation with Forza Italia
  7. ↑ Running with the Democratic Party of the Left
  8. ↑ Running with the Italian Socialist Party
  9. ↑ 6 out of the 30 MPs elected on the Forza Italia list were members of the Christian Democratic Centre.
  10. ↑ Including 6 deputies of the Reformers, 4 deputies of the Union of the Centre (UdC) and 2 deputies of the Liberal Democratic Pole (PLD).
  11. ↑ Emiddio Novi, elected in Campania for National Alliance, was member of Forza Italia, and he joined his party after the election.
  12. ↑ Andrea Merlotti, elected in Lombardy for the Northern League, was member of Forza Italia, and he joined his party after the election.
  13. ↑ Fabiano Crucianelli, elected in Latium for the PDS, was member of the Communist Refoundation Party, and he joined his party after the election.
  14. ↑ Including 8 deputies of the Social Christians party.
  15. ↑ Including 1 deputy of the Socialist Rebirth.
  16. ↑ 6,570,468 votes for the Pole of Freedoms (in Northern Italy), 4,544,573 votes for the Pole of Good Government (in Southern Italy), 2,077,934 votes for National Alliance (in Northern Italy) and 149,965 votes for Forza Italia–CCD (in Abruzzo)
  17. ↑ 19.87% of the votes for the Pole of Freedoms, 13.74% of the votes for the Pole of Good Government, 6.28% of the votes for National Alliance and 0.45% of the votes for Forza Italia–CCD
  18. ↑ Including 2 senators of the Union of the Centre and 1 senator of the Reformers.
  19. ↑ Including 6 senators of the Social Christians party.
  20. ↑ Including 1 senator of the Socialist Rebirth.
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