2005 Venetian regional election

2005 Venetian regional election

← 2000 3–4 April 2005 2010 →

All 60 seats to the Regional Council
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Giancarlo Galan Massimo Carraro
Party Forza Italia Independent
Alliance House of Freedoms The Union
Seats won 39 19
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 4
Popular vote 1,359,879 1,138,631
Percentage 50.58% 42.35%
Swing Decrease 4.36% Increase 4.13%


President before election

Giancarlo Galan
Forza Italia

Subsequent President

Giancarlo Galan
Forza Italia

The Venetian regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005.

Giancarlo Galan (Forza Italia, House of Freedoms) was re-elected for the third time in a row President of the Region, but the support for him was diminished by the presence of a third candidate, Giorgio Panto, who picked votes both from the centre-right and the Venetist camps, and of a fourth candidate representing the far right, Roberto Bussinello.

Although Forza Italia remained the largest party in the Council and also in the Region as a whole (The Olive Tree was only an electoral alliance at the time and the three parties which were part of it formed separate groups in the Council), it suffered a serious decline in term of votes, from 30.3% of 2000 to 22.7%.

Venetist parties had a very good result: the combined score of Liga Veneta (14.7%), North-East Project (5.4%) and Liga Fronte Veneto (1.2%) was 21.3%, up from the 15.6% of 2000 (Liga Veneta 12.0%, Veneti d'Europa 2.4% and Fronte Marco Polo 1.2%).

Electoral system

Regional elections in Veneto were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.

A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.

The panachage was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

Parties and candidates

Political party or alliance Constituent lists Previous result Candidate
Votes (%) Seats
House of Freedoms Forza Italia 30.4 17 Giancarlo Galan
Northern LeagueVenetian League 12.0 6
National Alliance 9.8 5
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats 6.8 3
New Italian Socialist Party 0.7
The Union The Olive Tree (incl. DS, DL, SDI) 27.2 18 Massimo Carraro
Communist Refoundation Party 3.0 2
Liga Fronte Veneto 2.5
Federation of the Greens 2.3 1
Consumers' List 1.6 1
Party of Italian Communists 1.0 1
Carraro List
Italy of Values
Union of Democrats for Europe
North-East Project
Giorgio Panto
Social Alternative (ASFTFSNFN)
Roberto Bussinello

Results

3–4 April 2005 Venetian regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seat
Giancarlo Galan 1,359,879 50.58 12
Forza Italia 523,896 22.71 12
Northern LeagueVenetian League 337,896 14.65 7
National Alliance 186,396 8.08 4
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats 147,953 6.41 3
New Italian Socialist Party – Others 32,851 1.42 1
Total 1,228,992 53.28 27
Massimo Carraro 1,138,631 42.35 1
The Olive Tree 560,629 24.30 13
For Veneto with Carraro 107,333 4.65 2
Communist Refoundation Party 80,424 3.49 1
Federation of the Greens 69,191 3.00 1
Party of Italian Communists 35,067 1.52 1
Italy of Values 29,607 1.28
Liga Fronte Veneto 27,524 1.19
Consumers' List 15,658 0.68
Union of Democrats for Europe 6,265 0.27
Total 931,698 40.39 18
Giorgio Panto 161,642 6.01 North-East Project 125,690 5.45 2
Roberto Bussinello 28,565 1.06 Social Alternative 20,434 0.89
Total candidates 2,688,717 100.00 13 Total parties 2,306,814 100.00 47
Source: Ministry of the Interior


Council composition


Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council
Political Group Leader 2005 2010
Forza Italia Remo Sernagiotto 16 16
The Olive Tree – Venetian Democratic Party Giovanni Gallo - 12
Liga VenetaLega Nord Franco Manzato / Roberto Ciambetti 11 10
National Alliance Piergiorgio Cortelazzo 6 6
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats Onorio De Boni 5 4
Italy of Values Damiano Rossato - 2
North-East Project Mariangelo Foggiato 2 1
For Veneto with Carraro Marco Zabotti 2 1
Communist Refoundation Party Pietrangelo Pettenò 1 1
Federation of the Greens Gianfranco Bettin 1 1
New Italian Socialist Party Nereo Laroni 1 1
Party of Italian Communists Nicola Atalmi 1 1
Veneto for the European People's Party Raffaele Grazia - 1
Venetian Agreement Carlo Covi - 1
Venetian People's Movement Francesco Piccolo - 1
Forum of Venetians Diego Cancian - 1
Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Achille Variati 7 -
Democrats of the Left Giovanni Gallo 5 -
Italian Democratic Socialists Carlo Covi 1 -
United for Carraro Massimo Carraro 1 -

Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members

Aftermath

After the election, Giancarlo Galan formed his third government. Due to the new strength of Liga Veneta, which received about 2/3 of the vote for Forza Italia, the coalition balance was clearly changed in favour of Liga Veneta. This party had both the post of President of the Regional Council for Marino Finozzi and the most important ministry, the Health ministry, for Flavio Tosi (who was replaced by Francesca Martini in 2007).

Also the post of Vice President of Veneto went to a lighista, Luca Zaia, in place of Fabio Gava (Forza Italia), who had been also Minister of Health in second term. Forza Italia was indeed far less strong than in 2000, when it won 30.3% of the vote: in comparison with 2000, Forza Italia lost three regional deputies, while Liga Veneta had a net gain of four.


Third Galan government[1]
Office Name Party
President Giancarlo Galan FI
Under-Secretary Leonardo Padrin (since 12 June 2007)[2] FI
Vice President Luca Zaia (until 6 June 2008)
Franco Manzato (since 6 June 2008)
LVLN
Minister of Economy, Development and Innovation Fabio Gava (until 9 July 2008)
Vendemiano Sartor (since 9 July 2008)
FI
Minister of Budget, Finances, International Relations Maria Luisa Coppola AN
Minister of Health Flavio Tosi (until 26 June 2007)
Francesca Martini (26 June 2007 – 6 June 2008)
Sandro Sandri (since 6 June 2008)
LVLN
Minister of Security and Public Works Massimo Giorgetti AN
Minister of Social Affairs Antonio De Poli (until 28 July 2006)
Stefano Valdegamberi (since 9 November 2006)
UDC
Minister of Education Elena Donazzan AN
Minister of Transports and Infrastructures Renato Chisso FI
Minister of Agriculture and Tourism Luca Zaia (until 6 June 2008)
Franco Manzato (since 6 June 2008)
LVLN
Minister of Environment Giancarlo Conta FI
Minister of Immigration Oscar De Bona NPSI
Minister of Territorial Affairs Renzo Marangon FI
Minister of Local Affairs Stefano Valdegamberi (until 9 November 2006)
Flavio Silvestrin (since 9 November 2006)
UDC

References

  1. ^ "Veneto Region". Archived from the original on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  2. ^ Dettaglio Deliberazione della Giunta Regionale - Bollettino Ufficiale della Regione del Veneto