2006 Rome municipal election explained

Election Name:

2006 Rome municipal election

Flag Image:

Flag of Rome.svg

Type:

presidential

Ongoing:

Previous Election:

2001 Rome municipal election

Previous Year:

2001

Next Election:

2008 Rome municipal election

Next Year:

2008

Election Date:

28–29 May 2006

Turnout:

66.0% 13.4 pp

Module:

Embed:

yes

Election Name:

Mayoral election

Type:

presidential election

1Blank:

Popular vote

2Blank:

Percentage

Candidate1:

Walter Veltroni

Party1:

Colour1:

F0002B

Alliance1:

Centre-left coalition (Italy)

1Data1:

926,932

2Data1:

61.4%

Candidate2:

Gianni Alemanno

Party2:

Colour2:

0A6BE1

Alliance2:

Centre-right coalition (Italy)

1Data2:

559,810

2Data2:

37.1%

Mayor

Before Election:

Walter Veltroni

Before Party:

After Election:

Walter Veltroni

After Party:

Module:

Election Name:	City Council election
Embed:	yes
Seats For Election:	All 60 seats in City Council
Majority Seats:	31
Party1:	Centre-left
Percentage1:	61.36
Leader1:	Walter Veltroni
Seats1:	38
Last Election1:	36
Party2:	Centre-right
Percentage2:	37.03
Leader2:	Gianni Alemanno
Seats2:	22
Last Election2:	24

Municipal elections were held in Rome on 28–29 May 2006 to elect the Mayor of Rome and 60 members of the City Council, as well as the nineteen presidents and more than 400 councillors of the 19 municipi in which the municipality was divided.

The two main candidates were the incumbent left-wing Walter Veltroni and the national-conservative Minister of Agricolture Gianni Alemanno.

As a result, the incumbent mayor Walter Veltroni was re-elected for a second five-year term by a landslide.

Background

In April 2006 national general election saw a narrow victory for the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi over the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms. To prevent a possible political advantage for the centre-left coalition, Berlusconi had previously fixed the date of the general election in early April, avoiding the municipal elections (which interested Rome and many other big cities such as Milan, Naples and Turin) to take place on the same day, as it actually happened in 2001. Berlusconi stated this was due to his fear that good government by centre-left mayors could favour the centre-left coalition in the general election.^[1] The date for municipal elections was ultimately fixed by the Government for 28–29 May 2006.

Mayoral election

The incumbent mayor Walter Veltroni, whose popularity had hugely increased during his term in office,^[2] was then widely considered one of the most popular left-wing politicians in Italy. His candidacy was supported by the new centre-left platform, called The Union. His main opponent was the incumbent Minister of Agricolture Gianni Alemanno, supported by the centre-right House of Freedoms alliance.

During the campaign Alemanno was heavily criticized for the support, sought and obtained at the national level by Berlusconi, of a number of fascist movements and parties, notably the Social Alternative of Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the former dictator of Italy. Alemanno himself sparked public outrage after appearing live with a celtic cross on his neck during a TV show just a week before the election.^[3]

Voting system

The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.

The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.

Parties and candidates

This is a list of the major parties (and their respective leaders) which participated in the election.

Political party or alliance		Constituent lists		Candidate
	Centre-left coalition (The Union)			Walter Veltroni
	Veltroni List





	Others
	Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms)			Gianni Alemanno




	Others

Results

Summary of the 2006 Rome City Council and Mayoral election results
Candidates		Votes	%	Leader's seat	Parties		Votes	%	Seats

	Walter Veltroni	926,932	61.42	–		The Olive Tree	441,914	33.82	23
Veltroni List		80,328	6.15	4
Communist Refoundation Party		70,918	5.43	3
Federation of the Greens		62,262	4.76	3
Moderates		57,339	4.39	2
Italy of Values		29,822	2.28	1
		25,695	1.97	1
Party of Italian Communists		19,883	1.52	1
Rainbow Rome		8,524	0.65	–
Consumers' List		2,046	0.16	–
United Consumers		1,943	0.15	–
Italian Democratic Socialist Party		1,157	0.09	–
bgcolor=pink		Total	bgcolor=pink align=right	801,831	bgcolor=pink align=right	61.36	bgcolor=pink align=right	38
	Gianni Alemanno	559,810	37.09			National Alliance	254,337	19.46	13
Forza Italia		132,869	10.17	6
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats		56,763	4.34	2
Love for Rome		10,150	0.78	–
Social Action		7,553	0.58	–
Christian Democracy for Autonomies		7,276	0.56	–
New Italian Socialist Party		5,333	0.41	–
Forza Roma		3,466	0.27	–
Italian Republican Party		2,057	0.16	–
Avanti Lazio		1,327	0.10	–
Independent Movement for Animal Rights		850	0.07	–
Pensions, Houses and Work		698	0.05	–
New Generation		661	0.05	–
Real Democratic Party		538	0.04	–
bgcolor=lightblue		Total	bgcolor=lightblue align=right	483,878	bgcolor=lightblue align=right	37.03	bgcolor=lightblue align=right	21
	Rita Casillo	5,816	0.39	–		Communist Initiative	5,334	0.41
	Luca Romagnoli	4,015	0.27	–		Tricolour Flame	3,848	0.29	–
	David Gramiccioli	3,530	0.23	–		Dolphin National Movement	3,149	0.24	–
	Alessandra Sarti Magi	2,655	0.18	–		New Force – National Social Front	2,603	0.20	–
	Valentina Valenti	2,593	0.17	–			2,650	0.20	–
	Roberto De Santis	1,091	0.07	–		Ecologists	943	0.07	–
	Umberto Nardinocchi	1,076	0.07	–		Active Democracy	985	0.08	–
	Marina Larena	707	0.05	–		Humanist Party	631	0.05	–
	Stefano Fuccelli	618	0.04	–		European Animalist Party	562	0.04	–
	Maurizio Giorgetti	351	0.02	–		Italian Dream	303	0.02	–
Total		1,509,194	100.00	1	align=right colspan=2		1,306,717	100.00	59
Eligible voters			100.00
Did not vote			34.02
Voted			65.98
Blank or invalid ballots			2.32
Total valid votes			97.68
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Municipi election

All the presidents of each municipio were elected on the first round. Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition:

Municipio	The Olive Tree	House of Freedoms	Elected President	Party
Municipio			Elected President	Party
I	61.8	37.3	Giuseppe Lobefaro	DL
II	53.9	44.7	Guido Bottini	DS
III	62.8	36.5	Orlando Corsetti	DL
IV	60.7	37.5	Alessandro Cardente	FdV
V	66.0	32.0	Ivano Caradonna	DS
VI	65.5	33.3	Teodoro Giannini	RnP
VII	64.1	34.2	Roberto Mastrantonio	IdV
VIII	62.2	35.9	Fabrizio Scorzoni	DS
IX	60.8	36.2	Susana Ana Maria Fantino	PRC
X	65.4	33.3	Sandro Medici	PRC
XI	64.1	34.3	Andrea Catarci	PRC
XII	57.7	41.8	Patrizia Prestipino	DL
XIII	59.3	39.3	Paolo Ornelli	DS
XV	61.6	37.2	Giovanni Paris	DL
XVI	61.2	37.4	Fabio Bellini	DS
XVII	54.5	44.3	Antonella De Giusti	DL
XVIII	52.1	46.9	Maria Giovanna Filardi	DS
XIX	57.8	40.2	Fabio Lazzara	DS
XX	48.1	50.0	Massimiliano Fasoli	UDC

Source: Municipality of Rome - Electoral Service

References

News: 10 October 2005. Berlusconi a Prodi: «No all'election day». it. Corriere della Sera. 16 July 2022.
News: 12 October 2003. Ha fiducia nel sindaco Veltroni? E dopo l'estate il 76% dice sì. it. la Repubblica. 16 July 2022.
News: 19 May 2006. Alemanno mostra la croce celtica. Scontro in TV con Daria Bignardi. it. la Repubblica. 16 July 2022.