The politics of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

is conducted through a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

, democratic autonomous province with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the ''Landesregierung'', which is led by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, referred to as "Landeshauptmann" in German. Legislative power is vested in the ''Landtag'' primarily, and secondarily on the provincial government. The

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. South Tyrol has been an autonomous province within the Italian Republic since 1948, when the Gruber – De Gasperi Agreement was agreed upon between Austria and Italy. The current ''Landeshauptmann'' is

Arno Kompatscher The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...

Provincial government

The local government system is based upon the provisions of the Italian Constitution and the Autonomy Statute of the Region

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official ...

. The 1972 second Statute of Autonomy for Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol devolved most legislative and executive competences from the regional level to the provincial level, creating ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' two separate regions. The executive powers are attributed to the provincial government (German: ''Landesregierung''; Italian: ''Giunta Provinciale'') headed by the ''

Landeshauptmann Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute'') is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol an ...

, who has been in power since 2014. He belongs to the ''South Tyrolean People's Party''.

List of governors

Provincial council

The considerable legislative power of the province is vested in a provincial assembly called ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

'' (German: ''Südtiroler Landtag''; Italian: ''Consiglio della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano''; Ladin: ''Cunsëi dla Provinzia Autonoma de Bulsan''). The legislative powers of the assembly cover all those subject matters that are not expressly reserved to the exclusive legislative power of the Italian State or to concurrent legislation per article 117 of the Italian Constitution.

Last provincial elections

Political parties and elections

The independence controversy is especially an issue of the German parties

Die Freiheitlichen ''Die Freiheitlichen'' (), abbreviated dF, is a Regionalism (politics), regionalist, Separatism, separatist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in South Tyrol, political party in South Tyrol, Italy. The pa ...

South Tyrolean Freedom South Tyrolean Freedom (german: Süd-Tiroler Freiheit, STF) is a regionalist, separatist and national-conservative political party in South Tyrol, Italy. The party, which is part of the South Tyrolean independence movement, seeks to represent th ...

and

Union for South Tyrol The Citizens' Union for South Tyrol (german: BürgerUnion für Südtirol, BUfS), formerly Union for South Tyrol (''Union für Südtirol'', UfS), was a national-conservative political party active in South Tyrol, Italy. The party was committed to ...

. With the

2008 Kosovo declaration of independence The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Republic of Kosovo to be a state independent from Serbia, was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the P ...

, the idea of a ''Freistaat'' (free state) resurfaced again.

Eva Klotz Eva Klotz (born 4 June 1951) is an Italian politician. She was a member of the Landtag of South Tyrol for 31 years, from 1983 until 2014. She represented several parties during that time, latterly (from 2007) the South Tyrolean Freedom. Life a ...

and her party

, which launched the campaign ''South Tyrol is not Italy!'', are among the strongest advocates of

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

. During the 2008 regional elections, the incumbent South Tyrolean People's Party lost votes to her party, the regionalist

Lega Nord Alto Adige – Südtirol Lega may refer to: Geography * Lega (river) in Poland * Lega, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Lega, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, town in north Poland * Lega, an earlier name for Street, Somerset, a village in England People * Lega (su ...

and

, who have close ties to the nationalist Freedom Party of Austria.

Autonomy issues

The ''Südtiroler Heimatbund'' asked the Soffi-Institute in Innsbruck to conduct an

opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

on the future of South Tyrol. The poll was conducted at the end of 2005 in which only German-speaking South Tyroleans were asked. 45.33% of those asked were in favour of remaining with Italy, 54.67% were against remaining. The latter group comprised 33.40% in favour of an independent state and 21.27% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria. Another poll conducted in August 2008 by the apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling in Bolzano asked 502 Italian-speaking South Tyroleans of their opinion. The poll consisted of three parts. To the first question if a referendum about remaining with Italy should be held at all, 41% said yes and 59% no. In the event of a referendum, 78% wished to remain with Italy, 20% were in favour of an independent state and 2% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria. A poll conducted in 2013 among German and Ladin speakers by the Austrian ''Kasmarin'' agency showed the following results: To the question "If a referendum were conducted also in South Tyrol and you had a choice, how would you decide?", 26% would opt for staying within Italy, and 54% for independence from Italy. Across the border in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the ''Tiroler Tageszeitung'' conducted a poll in January 2009 to gauge the opinion of the inhabitants of North and East Tyrol. 500 people were asked in the poll. In 2008, 45% wished a reunification with South Tyrol, that number increased in 2009 by 4% to 49% in favour. 36.6% were against reunification while 14.1% had no opinion. In the age group of 15- to 29-year-olds, 71% were in favour of reunification. The highest support by district was in the Oberland with 67% while Innsbruck city and district was lowest with 42%.

References

{{Reflist, 2