2008 Rome municipal election explained

Election Name:2008 Rome municipal election
Flag Image:Flag of Rome.svg
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2006 Rome municipal election
Previous Year:2006
Next Election:2013 Rome municipal election
Next Year:2013
Election Date:13–14 April 2008 (first round)
27–28 April 2008 (second round)
Turnout:73.7% 7.7 pp (first round)
63.1% 10.6 pp (second round)
Module:
Embed:yes
Election Name:Mayoral election
Type:presidential election
1Blank:1st Round vote
2Blank:Percentage
3Blank:2nd Round vote
4Blank:Percentage
Candidate1:Gianni Alemanno
Party1:PdL
Colour1:0A6BE1
Alliance1:Centre-right coalition (Italy)
1Data1:675,111
2Data1:40.7%
3Data1:783,725
4Data1:53.7%
Candidate2:Francesco Rutelli
Party2:PD
Colour2:F0002B
Alliance2:Centre-left coalition (Italy)
1Data2:759,252
2Data2:45.8%
3Data2:676,850
4Data2:46.3%
Mayor
Before Election:Mario Morcone
(Special commissioner)
After Election:Gianni Alemanno
After Party:PdL
Module:
Election Name:City Council election
Embed:yes
Seats For Election:All 60 seats in City Council
Majority Seats:31
Party1:Centre-right
Percentage1:39.62
Leader1:Gianni Alemanno
Seats1:36
Last Election1:22
Party2:Centre-left
Percentage2:46.70
Leader2:Francesco Rutelli
Seats2:22
Last Election2:38
Party3:Tricolour Flame
Percentage3:3.37
Leader3:Francesco Storace
Seats3:1
Party4:Union of the Centre
Percentage4:3.31
Leader4:Luciano Ciocchetti
Seats4:1

Snap municipal elections were held in Rome on 13–14 and 27–28 April 2008 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 first round of the elections occurred on the same dates of the national general election.

The elections were called just two years after the previous ones since the incumbent mayor Walter Veltroni (PD) resigned on 13 February 2008 to run as the main candidate of the centre-left coalition in the general election.

The centre-right coalition candidate Gianni Alemanno, who was defeated by Veltroni in 2006, faced the incumbent Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli, who had previously hold the position of Mayor of Rome from 1993 to 2001.

Since none of the candidates obtained the majority of votes on the first round, a second round vote was held on 27–28 April 2008. As a result, Gianni Alemanno unexpectedly won nearly 54% of votes on the second round, becoming the first centre-right directly elected mayor of Rome.

Background

Following the fall of Prodi's government in January 2008,[1] Veltroni, as national secretary of the newborn Democratic Party (PD), was chosen to run as the main candidate for the centre-left coalition in the April snap general election and resigned to concentrate on the national campaign.[2]

Mayoral election

The centre-right coalition was led by Gianni Alemanno (PdL). Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right parties, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads.[3]

The centre-left coalition was led by Francesco Rutelli, who continued to maintain a huge popularity across the city.

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.

For municipi the voting system is the same, not referred to the mayor but to the president of the municipio.

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 allianceConstituent listsCandidate
Francesco Rutelli
The Left – The Rainbow
Others
The Right – Tricolour FlameFrancesco Storace
Union of the CentreLuciano Ciocchetti
Centre-right coalitionGianni Alemanno
Others

Results

Summary of the 2008 Rome City Council and Mayoral election results
Candidates1st round2nd roundLeader's
seat
PartiesVotes%Seats
Votes%Votes%
Gianni Alemanno675,11140.73783,72553.66The People of Freedom559,55936.5835
Alemanno for Mayor18,7341.221
The People of Life10,1940.67
Movement for Autonomy9,1850.60
The Voice of Consumers 5,196 0.34
Italian Republican Party3,3080.22
bgcolor=lightblueTotalbgcolor=lightblue align=right606,176bgcolor=lightblue align=right39.62bgcolor=lightblue align=right36
Francesco Rutelli759,25245.80676,85046.34Democratic Party520,723 34.0417
The Left – The Rainbow69,0794.522
Italy of Values50,7043.311
Rutelli List41,880 2.741
Under30 for Rutelli11,4860.75
10,4270.68
Moderates for Rome7,4700.49
2,6990.18
bgcolor=pinkTotalbgcolor=pink align=right714,468bgcolor=pink align=right46.70bgcolor=pink align=right21
Francesco Storace55,0413.32The Right – Tricolour Flame51,6143.37 1
Luciano Ciocchetti52,0553.14Union of the Centre50,6823.311
Serenetta Monti43,9662.65Friends of Beppe Grillo40,3892.64
Franco Grillini13,6040.8211,4130.75
Michele Baldi13,0020.78Baldi List11,9130.78
Mario Baccini12,1790.73bgcolor=blueThe White Rose11,659 0.76
Dario Di Francesco12,0410.73Forza Roma4,9110.32
Talking Cricket List4,8950.32
Avanti Lazio1,7920.12
Total11,5980.76
Armando Morgia8,7240.53bgcolor=redCritical Left8,2070.54
Susanna Capristo5,0110.30Workers' Communist Party4,6080.30
David Gramiccioli3,5560.21Dolphin National Movement3,309 0.22
Pietro De Stefani2,6990.16Pensions and Work1,8830.12
The Green Thing673 0.04
Total2,5560.17
Umberto Calabrese1,3420.08My Italy1,2790.08
Total1,657,583100.001,460,575100.001align=right colspan=21,529,871100.0059
Eligible voters100.00100.00
Did not vote26.3436.88
Voted73.6663.12
Blank or invalid ballots4.141.43
Total valid votes95.8698.57
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Notes

Election in the municipi

Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the first round:

MunicipioCentre-leftCentre-rightElected PresidentParty
I50.834.1Orlando CorsettiPD
III51.037.9Dario MarcucciPD
V52.735.8Ivano CaradonnaPD
VI53.835.2Gianmarco PalmieriPD
IX54.734.9Susana Ana Maria FantinoSA
X51.836.2Sandro MediciSA
XI53.132.7Andrea CatarciSA
XV53.038.7Giovanni ParisPD
XVI50.737.9Fabio BelliniPD
XVII50.041.9Antonella De GiustiPD

Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the second round:

MunicipioCentre-leftCentre-rightElected PresidentParty
II46.553.5Sara De AngelisPdL
IV49.650.4Cristiano BonelliPdL
VII51.648.4Roberto MastrantonioSA
VIII47.552.5Massimo LorenzottiPdL
XII46.653.4Pasquale CalzettaPdL
XIII48.751.3Giacomo VizzaniPdL
XVIII44.655.4Daniele GianniniPdL
XIX46.553.5Alfredo MiloniPdL
XX38.661.4Gianni GiacominiPdL
Source: Municipality of Rome - Electoral Service

References

  1. Elisabeth Rosenthal, "With Flawed System Unchanged, Italy Sets Elections for April", The New York Times, 7 February 2008.
  2. Steve Scherer, "Veltroni Resigns as Rome Mayor to Take on Berlusconi (Update1)", Bloomberg.com, 13 February 2008.
  3. News: Italian politicians 'praise' fascist era of Benito Mussolini . The Daily Telegraph . London . Nick . Squires . 2008-09-08 . 2010-05-03.