The 1999 Italian presidential election was held on 13 May 1999. As a second-level, indirect election, only Members of Parliament and regional deputies were entitled to vote.

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...

was elected

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of the

Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, a role of representation of national unity and guarantee that

Italian politics The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly was electe ...

comply with the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, in the framework of a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

. On 13 May, the former Prime Minister

was elected on the first ballot with 707 votes. His term officially started with a swearing-in ceremony held on 18 May.

Procedure

According with the

Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...

, the election must be held in the form of secret ballot, with the Senators, the Deputies and 58 regional representatives allowed to cast their votes. When the 1999 election was held, the Senate counted 322 members and the Chamber of Deputies counted 630 members; the electors were in total 1010. The election is held in the ''

Palazzo Montecitorio The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament. History The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mon ...

'', home of the Chamber of Deputies, with the capacity of the building being expanded for the purpose. The first three ballots require a two-thirds majority of the voters in order to elect a President. The election is conducted by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, who has the authority to proceed to the public counting of the votes. The presidential mandate lasts seven years. On 13 May 1999, the President of the Chamber of Deputies

Luciano Violante Luciano Violante (born 25 September 1941) is an Italian judge and politician, Member of Parliament from 1979 to 2008. He is particularly interested in questions of justice, the struggle against the Mafia and institutional reform. Biography Viola ...

, in agreement with the President of the Senate Nicola Mancino, convened the two houses of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

, integrated with a number of representatives appointed by the twenty Italian regions, in a common session in order to commence voting for the election of the new

President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Proposed candidates

Ballots

First ballot (13 May)

Prime Minister

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...

initially proposed

as government's official candidate, in an attempt to reach an agreement with the House of Freedoms, whose votes would have been necessary to have a successful election at the first ballot. The centre-right opposition then declared its intent to vote for Ciampi. The voting resulted in the election of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi as President of the Italian Republic.

Results

{{Italian presidential elections Presidential elections in Italy 1999 elections in Italy