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 Legislature. It was composed of 24 ministers, 10 deputy-ministers and 66 under-secretaries, for a total of 102 members. This was the first government of the Republic in which the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replac ...

and the

Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals ( it, Radicali Italiani, RI) is a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. Founded on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as their first secretary, the party describes itself as "''liberale'', ''liberista'' nd''lib ...

participated directly, and the first government supported by the entire parliamentary left wing since the De Gasperi III Cabinet in 1947.

Formation

Romano Prodi led his coalition to the electoral campaign preceding the election, eventually won by a very narrow margin of 25,000 votes, and a final majority of two seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, on 10 April. Prodi's appointment was somewhat delayed, as the outgoing President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, ended his mandate in May, not having enough time for the usual procedure (consultations made by the President, appointment of a Prime Minister, motion of confidence and oath of office). After the acrimonious election of

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

to replace Ciampi, Prodi could proceed with his transition to government. On 16 May he was invited by Napolitano to form a government. The following day, 17 May 2006, Prodi and his second cabinet were sworn into office. Romano Prodi obtained the support for his cabinet on 19 May at the

and on 23 May at the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. Also on 18 May, Prodi laid out some sense of his new

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

when he pledged to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq and called the Iraq War a "grave mistake that has not solved but increased the problem of security".

First crisis

The coalition led by Romano Prodi, thanks to the electoral law which gave the winner a sixty-seat majority, can count on a good majority in the Chamber of Deputies but only on a very narrow majority in the Senate. The composition of the coalition was heterogeneous, combining parties of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

ideology, the Party of Italian Communists and

, within the same government as parties of Catholic inspiration, The Daisy and UDEUR. The latter was led by Clemente Mastella, former chairman of Christian Democracy. Therefore, according to critics, it was difficult to have a single policy in different key areas, such as economics and foreign politics (for instance, Italian military presence in Afghanistan). In his earlier months as PM, Prodi had a key role in the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon following the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

. Prodi's government faced a crisis over policies in early 2007, after just nine months of government. Three ministers in Prodi's Cabinet boycotted a vote in January to continue funding for Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan. Lawmakers approved the expansion of the US military base Caserma Ederle at the end of January, but the victory was so narrow that Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli criticised members of the coalition who had not supported the government. At around the same time, Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, of the coalition member UDEUR, said he would rather see the government fall than support its unwed couples legislation. Tens of thousands of people marched in Vicenza against the expansion of Caserma Ederle, which saw the participation of some leading far-left members of the government. Harsh debates followed in the Italian Senate on 20 February 2007. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Massimo D'Alema declared during an official visit in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

, Spain that, without a majority on foreign policy affairs, the government would resign. The following day, D'Alema gave a speech at the Senate representing the government, clarifying his foreign policy and asking the

to vote for or against it. In spite of the fear of many senators that Prodi's defeat would return Silvio Berlusconi to power, the Senate did not approve a motion backing Prodi's government foreign policy, two votes shy of the required majority of 160. After a Government meeting on 21 February, Romano Prodi tendered his resignation to the President

, who cut short an official visit to Bologna in order to receive the Prime Minister. Prodi's spokesman indicated that he would only agree to form a new Government "if, and only if, he is guaranteed the full support of all the parties in the majority from now on". On 22 February, centre-left coalition party leaders backed a non-negotiable list of twelve political conditions given by Prodi as conditions of his remaining in office. President Napolitano held talks with political leaders on 23 February to decide whether to confirm Prodi's Government, ask Prodi to form a new government or call fresh elections. Following these talks, on 24 February, President Napolitano asked Prodi to remain in office but to submit to a vote of confidence in both houses. On 28 February, the Senate voted to grant confidence to Prodi's Government. Though facing strong opposition from the centre-right coalition, the vote resulted in a 162–157 victory. Prodi then faced a vote of confidence in the lower house on 2 March, which he won as expected with a large majority of 342–198. On 14 October 2007, Prodi oversaw the merger of two main parties of the Italian centre-left, Democrats of the Left and The Daisy, creating 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 ...

. Prodi himself led the merger of the two parties, which had been planned over a twelve-year period, and became the first President of the party. He announced his resignation from that post on 16 April 2008, two days after the Democratic Party's defeat in the general election.

Fall

On 24 January 2008 Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi lost a vote of confidence in the

by a vote of 161 to 156 votes, causing the downfall of his government. Prodi's resignation led President

to request the President of the Senate, Franco Marini, to assess the possibility to form a

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

. The other possibility would have been to call for early elections immediately. Marini acknowledged impossibility to form an interim government due to the unavailability of the centre-right parties, and early elections were scheduled for 13 and 14 April 2008.

Investiture votes

Party breakdown

Beginning of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Independents ( Olive Tree area): Prime minister, 1 minister, 4 undersecretaries * Democrats of the Left (DS): 9 ministers, 5 deputy ministers, 23 undersecretaries * Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL): 8 ministers, 3 deputy ministers, 18 undersecretaries *

(PRC): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 6 undersecretaries *

Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist ( it, Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) was a political alliance of parties in Italy. The RnP was composed of the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI; a social-democratic party led by Enrico Boselli and Roberto Villetti), the Italian R ...

(RnP): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 3 undersecretaries **

(RI): 1 minister **

Italian Democratic Socialists The Italian Democratic Socialists ( it, Socialisti Democratici Italiani, SDI) were a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Socia ...

(SDI): 1 deputy minister, 3 undersecretaries * Italy of Values (IdV): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries * Independents ( PdCI area): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries * Federation of the Greens (FdV): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries * Independents: 1 ministers, 6 undersecretaries * Union of Democrats for Europe (UDEUR): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries *

Lega per l'Autonomia – Alleanza Lombarda Lega per l'Autonomia – Alleanza Lombarda (''League for Autonomy – Lombard Alliance'', LAL), also known as Lega per l'Autonomia Lombarda (''League for the Lombard Autonomy''), was a left-wing regionalist political party in Italy, based in Lomba ...

(LAL): 1 undersecretary * The Socialists: 1 undersecretary *

United Democratic Christians The United Democratic Christians (''Democratic Cristiani Unity'', DCU) was a Christian-democratic Italian political party based in the Italian region of Apulia. The party was founded by Giovanni Mongiello, formerly a Christian Democrat, who had ...

(DCU): 1 undersecretary

End of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

(PD): Prime minister, 18 ministers, 8 deputy ministers, 40 undersecretaries *

(PRC): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 6 undersecretaries * Democratic Left (SD): 1 minister, 3 undersecretaries * Federation of the Greens (FdV): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries * Italy of Values (IdV): 1 minister, 2 undersecretaries * Independents: 1 ministers, 2 undersecretaries * Independents ( PdCI area): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary *

(RI): 1 minister * Socialist Party (PS): 1 deputy minister, 3 undersecretaries *

(LAL): 1 undersecretary * The Italian Socialists (SI): 1 undersecretary *

(DCU): 1 undersecretary

Council of Ministers

Composition

Sources

Italian Government - Prodi II Cabinet

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prodi Ii Cabinet Italian governments 2006 establishments in Italy 2008 disestablishments in Italy Cabinets established in 2006 Cabinets disestablished in 2008 History of the Communist Refoundation Party Romano Prodi