The 2012
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
centre-left primary election determined the leader of the coalition
Italy. Common Good
Italia. Bene Comune (Italy. Common Good, IBC) was a centre-left political list and electoral alliance in Italy created to stand at the 2013 Italian general election. It ''de facto'' ended on 28 April 2013, with PD's new leader Enrico Letta forming ...
, who will stand as common candidate for the office of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
in the
subsequent general election, which took place on 24–25 February 2013. It was won with 61% of the votes by
Pier Luigi Bersani, who defeated
Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
in the run-off.
The coalition, launched on 13 October 2012, comprises the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
(PD),
Left Ecology Freedom
Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former Preside ...
(SEL) and the
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...
(PSI).
Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy ( it, Alleanza per l'Italia; ApI) was a centrist political party in Italy.
The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic l ...
(ApI), though officially still member of the centrist coalition
New Pole for Italy, decided to take part in the contest, fielding a candidate from its own ranks.
Background and rules
After a heated debate inside the PD, the primary election was announced by its leader
Pier Luigi Bersani, on 8 June 2012, during a national direction of the party, even before the official coalition formation. Several
bosses of the party openly opposed the decision, stating that Bersani was to be declared the coalition leader outright and deeming the primary process counterproductive for the party.
Defying the internal opposition, on 14 July, Bersani confirmed the decision, which was approved by the party's national assembly, and announced his intention to run.
On 31 July Bersani presented a "Charter of Values" that every candidate must accept in order to take part to the election. The charter was soon endorsed by
Nichi Vendola, leader of SEL, who, as widely expected, later said he would run too.
On 13 September
Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
(PD), mayor of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, officially announced his bid to become the coalition leader. The announcement came after a lengthy struggle, with his candidacy hotly contested by the PD governing body, since the party charter clearly states that the party leader (in this case Bersani) is automatically the party candidate for Prime Minister, so barring any other PD member from running in the primaries. Anyway, in the wake of a grassroots campaign in support of a broader contest, and with Bersani's own consent, the party statute was expressly modified to allow multiple candidatures.
On 13 October the centre-left coalition, named
Italy. Common Good
Italia. Bene Comune (Italy. Common Good, IBC) was a centre-left political list and electoral alliance in Italy created to stand at the 2013 Italian general election. It ''de facto'' ended on 28 April 2013, with PD's new leader Enrico Letta forming ...
was officially formed, with the signature by the leaders of the coalition partners (Bersani for the PD, Vendola for SEL, and
Riccardo Nencini for the PSI) of the common political platform (named ''Pact of Democrats and Progressives''), largely based on the charter presented by Bersani two months before. The charter was somewhat controversial, since it lacked any reference to
Mario Monti, despite the PD being a key supporter of
his government; this was viewed as a concession to Nichi Vendola's SEL, which on the contrary staunchly opposes Monti.
The convention set the election rules too, fixing the first run on 25 November and, in case no candidate had secured more than 50% of the vote, a run-off on 2 December between the two front-runners. Many of the rules were soon contested by Renzi, who lambasted them for having been conceived to reduce turnout and thus favoring Bersani. On the other hand, Bersani defended the rules, explaining that they had the purpose to prevent raiding from right-wing supporters.
Candidates
Other possible candidates included
Giuseppe Civati
Giuseppe "Pippo" Civati (born 4 August 1975) is an Italian politician and publisher, former leader of Possible (Italy), Possible and a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2018.
Biography Comunal and Reg ...
, PD, and
Valdo Spini
Valdo Spini (born 20 January 1946 in Florence) is an Italian politician and author.
A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), in 1994 he founded the Labour Federation (FL), of which he was leader until 1998, when FL merged into ...
, ex-PSI. The PSI chose not to field a candidate and supported Bersani instead.
The left-wing party
Italy of Values
Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former ''Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the par ...
(IdV), former coalition partner with the PD in the
past general election, was excluded from the coalition mainly because of the attacks made by the party leader
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor i ...
against the
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 ...
Giorgio Napolitano about his strong support of the
Monti Cabinet
The Monti government was the sixty-first government of Italy and was announced on 16 November 2011. This Government of Experts, Experts' cabinet was composed of independents, three of whom were women and was formed as an interim government. The ...
and his alleged implication in the
State-Mafia negotiation of 1992-93. Nevertheless, the party unofficially backed Bersani in the contest.
Campaign
First Round
Unlike the previous centre-left primaries, which resulted in
Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
's overwhelming victory over the radical left candidate (later
President of the Chamber of Deputies President of the Chamber of Deputies may refer to:
* List of presidents of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
* List of presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
* President of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
* President of the Chamber of Dep ...
)
Fausto Bertinotti
Fausto Bertinotti (born 22 March 1940) is an Italian politician who led the Communist Refoundation Party (''Partito della Rifondazione Comunista'') from 1994 to 2006. On 29 April 2006, after the centre-left coalition's victory in the Italian ...
, this time the race was considered much more competitive, primarily because of Renzi's presence on the ballot.
![Errani - Zoffoli - Panzavolta - Bersani 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Errani_-_Zoffoli_-_Panzavolta_-_Bersani_2011.jpg)
In fact, PD Secretary Pierluigi Bersani entered the campaign as a clear favorite, being able to cluster around himself the solid support of almost the whole party (he was endorsed by about the 90% of the over 300 PD MPs) and the highly influential
CGIL. His leadership, however, was soon challenged by mayor Renzi, who already in 2011 had become the leader of a grassroots movement (defined ''Rottamazione'', Scrappage) that called for a radical renewal of the party governing boards, considered responsible for the collapse of both Prodi governments and, more in general, the inability to counter
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
's appeal and policies over the previous 20 years. Renzi's relatively young age and continuous attacks on several prominent party leaders (especially on former PM
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 ...
, that ignited a heated squabble) helped him gain the label of "anti-establishment" candidate, and, in a climate of general deep discontent towards the whole political class, this resulted in a dramatic increase in popularity across the whole political spectrum. On the other hand, his political stances, based on a centrist platform and open to a moderate
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
(with frequent remarks to
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
's
New Labour
New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...
), alienated many leftists and led to the charge of trying to win the primaries by relying mostly on the support of right-wing electors.
Governor
Nichi Vendola carried out a radical, left-wing campaign centered on the consequences of the
2008–2012 global recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
, openly endorsing the stances of the
Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
, with frequent attacks to the
global financial system
The global financial system is the worldwide framework of legal agreements, institutions, and both formal and informal economic actors that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investment and trade finan ...
and the
Monti Cabinet
The Monti government was the sixty-first government of Italy and was announced on 16 November 2011. This Government of Experts, Experts' cabinet was composed of independents, three of whom were women and was formed as an interim government. The ...
, seen as an emanation of the same lobbies that caused the crisis and keep strangling the poorer classes; while remaining committed to the idea of a
federal Europe
The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Americ ...
and to
public debt
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...
reduction, he advocated a strong reduction in military expenses and a higher taxation on the richest (often citing
François Hollande's fiscal reform).
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
, and in particular
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, ...
promotion was another key issue for Vendola, who is the most prominent openly gay Italian politician; during the campaign, he hit the headlines stating his will to marry his current partner and build a family. However, Vendola's campaign started in earnest only at the beginning of November, when he was acquitted in a corruption trial; if found guilty, he promised he would have left politics immediately.
![Renzi&Richetti 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Renzi%26Richetti_2012.jpg)
Puppato and Tabacci, unanimously considered underdogs, were left with little media coverage and generally neglected. Puppato, who as mayor of
Montebelluna Montebelluna is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, Italy, approximately northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 32,000.
Montebelluna borders the following municipalities: Altivole, Caerano di San Marco, Cornuda, Crocetta del Montello ...
gained popularity for her
environmentalist battles, belonged to the "green" faction of the PD and campaigned on
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
and
green economy promotion; moreover, being the only woman to contest the race, she raised the issue of
discrimination against women, particularly stressing the
gender pay gap and the rise of
domestic violence. Tabacci, whose candidacy was aimed at representing the
moderate values in the primaries, emphasized honesty and responsibility in politics, gaining widespread respect for his coherence and moral integrity, even from the far left.
Secretary
Pier Luigi Bersani countered Renzi's calls for ''Rottamazione'' with pledges to a deep but milder renewal in the party. He mounted up a campaign based on a mainstream
social democratic platform, building his own image of reformist - during his tenure as minister in the
Prodi II Cabinet
The second Prodi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the only cabinet of the XV Legislatur ...
, he became famous for his liberalization efforts, popularly called ''Lenzuolate'' - but firmly anchored to the values of the left; he was depicted as the "used safe", an experienced yet efficient politician, the only candidate capable of keeping together the coalition and with the standing needed to deal with the other European leaders.
Right from the start, being the PD by far the largest party in the coalition, the media reduced (somewhat forcedly) the contest to a race between Bersani and Renzi, with the former constantly leading in the polls by a comfortable margin but still below the 50% threshold needed to avoid the run-off. Trying to close the gap, Renzi toured all 108
Provinces of Italy with a camper, and repeatedly asked for a relaxation of the rules, since an increase in the turnout seemed to go to Renzi's advantage.
The electoral committee soon received many offers by all main TV channels to organize a debate among all candidates. In the end, the debate was held on 12 November and aired live in prime-time by
Sky TG24
Sky TG24 is Italy's second all-news channel, owned by Sky Italia.
Launched on 31 July 2003, it provides non-stop rolling news, weather forecasts and sports stories with half-hourly updates.
Overview
Part of Sky TG24's programming is available o ...
and
Cielo
Cielo (Spanish and Italian for "heaven" or "sky"), El Cielo (in Spanish) or Il Cielo (in Italian) may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Cielo'' (film), a 2017 Chile-Canadian documentary film
* Cielo (TV channel), an Italian television ...
, both belonging to the private television platform
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...
; this caused controversy, mainly because Italian public network
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
repeatedly demanded to host the event but was turned down. The debate, that was widely considered a success, being watched by over 1.5 million viewers, was narrowly won by Renzi, but the polls did not show any significant improvement in his numbers. Calls from both Vendola and Renzi to hold another public debate were denied by Bersani.
On election day, little more than 3 million people cast their vote, a sharp decline in turnout if compared to the previous primaries but well beyond the rosiest prospects nonetheless. As widely expected, Bersani gained a plurality but not an absolute majority, with Renzi coming distant second. Renzi came first in his native
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
,
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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and
Marche, widely known as the "reddest" regions of Italy, and was highly competitive in the rich North-West; on the other hand, Bersani won all major cities (with the exception of Renzi's
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
) and prevailed overwhelmingly in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, where Renzi often yielded the second place to Vendola. The leader of SEL had disappointing results, coming third overall with only 15% of the votes and narrowly losing
his own region to Bersani.
Second Round
Vendola's endorsement
Vendola, leader of the leftist component of the coalition, soon declared his personal support for Bersani, initially only informally, later joining the PD Secretary in a common electoral rally in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
; Vendola's widely expected endorsement ostensibly tilted the balance in Bersani's favor.
Renzi's last attack over the rules
Renzi countered by reviving the long-drawn-out strife over the rules, publicly inviting those who had not voted in the first round to register and take part to the run-off, though this was forbidden by the electoral committee.
As a matter of fact, the rules were somewhat ambiguous on that point, stating that those willing to vote in the second round had to justify their absence on the first, but an initially rather lenient interpretation was later reversed for a much stricter one, much to Renzi's chagrin, who openly denounced the attempt to rig the elections by the establishment-controlled electoral committee.
Bersani replied by officially charging his opponent with trying to raid the vote. All candidates who had been eliminated in the first round soon joined Bersani in his protests. Seeing that the attack over the rules had substantially backfired on him, on the last day of campaign Renzi gave up, promising to respect in any case the outcome of the vote.
In the end, over 120,000 more people applied to register, but only little more than 7,000 were actually allowed to vote.
The second debate
A second TV debate between the two candidates was held on 28 November, this time aired by
Rai 1
Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and gener ...
, the oldest and most popular Italian TV channel, again live and in prime-time. The debate lasted little less than two hours, hosted by
TG1
''TG1'' (''Telegiornale 1'') is the flagship television newscast produced by Rai 1, the main channel of state-owned Italian public broadcaster RAI. It is the longest running program in the history of television in Italy as it has been broadcast ...
leading anchorwoman
Monica Maggioni, who posed questions drafted by the newsroom and posted by the audience in the TG1 website over the previous days. The debate featured hook-ups with electoral committees of both candidates, who too had the opportunity to ask questions.
Like the previous debate, the contest was dominated by fair-play, with no cheap shots and leaving alone the quarrel about the rules. Again, Renzi seemed more at ease with the quick TV pace and emerged as the clear winner, but Bersani held out, keeping his lead in the polls.
Election results
On 2 December Bersani won the run-off with around 61% of the vote, a higher margin than expected. Bersani again swept the South, that voted ''en masse'' for him, and swung to his column
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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, demographics_type1 =
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, ...
and
Marche, thus leaving to Renzi only
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
. With Bersani's victory becoming apparent soon after the closing of the polls, Renzi quickly conceded, thanking his supporters and calling for party unity.
Results
Further reading
*{{Cite book , editor1=Bianca Gelli , editor2=Terri Mannarini , editor3=Cosimo Talò , title=Perdere vincendo: Dal successo delle primarie 2012 all'impasse post-elettorale , publisher=FrancoAngeli , year=2013
References
2012 elections in Italy
Political party leadership elections in Italy
November 2012 events in Italy
December 2012 events in Italy
Italian centre-left primary election