| Election Name: | 1994 Italian general election |
| Country: | Italy |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1992 Italian general election |
| Previous Year: | 1992 |
| Outgoing Members: | Legislature XI of Italy |
| Next Election: | 1996 Italian general election |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
| Elected Members: | Legislature XII of Italy |
| Seats For Election: | All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies316 seats needed for a majorityAll 315 elective seats in the Senate163 seats needed for a majority |
| Election Date: | 27–28 March 1994 |
| Registered: | 48,135,041 41,795,730 |
| Turnout: | 41,546,290 86.3% (1.1 pp) 35,873,375 85.8% (1.0 pp) |
| 1Blank: | Constituency vote |
| 2Blank: | % and swing |
| 3Blank: | Party vote |
| 4Blank: | % and swing |
| Leader1: | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Party1: | Forza Italia |
| Alliance1: | PdL – PdBG |
| Color1: | 0A6BE1 |
| Leader Since1: | 18 January 1994 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Roma Centrale |
| Seats1: | 366 / 156 |
| 1Data1: | 17,746,612 14,110,705 |
| 2Data1: | 46.1% 42.6% |
| 3Data1: | 16,585,516 |
| 4Data1: | 42.8% |
| Leader2: | Achille Occhetto |
| Party2: | Democratic Party of the Left |
| Alliance2: | Progressives |
| Color2: | D90000 |
| Leader Since2: | 21 June 1988 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Borgo Panigale |
| Seats2: | 213 / 122 |
| 1Data2: | 12.632,680 10,881,320 |
| 2Data2: | 32.8% 32.9% |
| 3Data2: | 13,308,244 |
| 4Data2: | 34.3% |
| Leader3: | Mario Segni |
| Party3: | Segni Pact |
| Alliance3: | Pact for Italy |
| Color3: | FFD700 |
| Leader Since3: | 5 January 1994 |
| Leaders Seat3: | Sardegna |
| Seats3: | 46 / 31 |
| 1Data3: | 6,019,038 5,519,090 |
| 2Data3: | 15.6% 16.7% |
| 3Data3: | 6,098,986 |
| 4Data3: | 15.8% |
| Map Size: | 450px |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after the election |
| Before Election: | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi |
| Before Party: | Independent |
| After Election: | Silvio Berlusconi |
| After Party: | Forza Italia |
The 1994 Italian general election was held on 27 and 28 March 1994 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic for the 12th legislature. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition won a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies but just missed winning a majority in the Senate.
The Italian People's Party, the renamed Christian Democracy (DC), which had dominated Italian politics for almost half a century, was decimated. It took only 29 seats versus 206 for the DC two years earlier—easily the worst defeat a sitting government in Italy has ever suffered, and one of the worst ever suffered by a Western European governing party.
A new electoral system was introduced in these elections, after a referendum in 1993 which repealed the "supermajority clause" concerning Senate elections. The clause had meant that Senate elections were conducted using de facto pure proportional representation. As a result of this change, the Senate now elected 75% of its seats via plurality voting system in single-member constituencies, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a compensatory nature. Parliament passed a new electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies to bring it more in line with the Senate, assigning 75% of the seats via plurality voting, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a supplementary manner using a minimum threshold of 4% of the vote. The new electoral system was nicknamed Mattarellum after Sergio Mattarella, who was the official proponent.
See also: Mani pulite and Political career of Silvio Berlusconi. In 1992, the five pro-Western governing parties (Christian Democracy, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Social-Democratic Party, the Italian Republican Party, and the Italian Liberal Party) lost much of their electoral strength almost overnight due to a large number of judicial investigations concerning the financial corruption of many of their foremost members. This led to a general expectation that upcoming elections would be won by the Democratic Party of the Left, the heirs to the former Italian Communist Party, and their Progressives coalition unless there was an alternative.
On 26 January 1994, the media magnate Silvio Berlusconi announced his decision to enter politics, ("enter the field", in his own words) presenting his own political party, Forza Italia, on a platform focused on defeating "the communists". His political aim was to convince the voters of the Pentapartito, i.e. the usual five governing parties who were shocked and confused by Mani Pulite scandals, that Forza Italia offered both novelty and the continuation of the pro-Western free-market policies followed by Italy since the end of World War II.
Shortly after he decided to enter the political arena, investigators into the Mani Pulite affair were said to be close to issuing warrants for the arrest of Berlusconi and senior executives of his business group. During his years of political career Berlusconi has repeatedly stated that the Mani Pulite investigations were led by communist prosecutors who wanted to establish a Soviet-style government in Italy.[1] [2]
In order to win the election, Berlusconi formed two separate electoral alliances: Pole of Freedoms (Polo delle Libertà) with the Northern League (Lega Nord) in northern Italian districts, and another, the Pole of Good Government (Polo del Buon Governo), with the post-fascist National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale; heir to the Italian Social Movement) in central and southern regions.[3] In a shrewd pragmatic move, he did not ally with the latter in the North because the League disliked them. As a result, Forza Italia was allied with two parties that were not allied with each other.
Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks. He subsequently won the elections, with Forza Italia garnering 21% of the popular vote, the highest percentage of any single party.[4] One of the most significant promises that he made in order to secure victory was that his government would create "one million more jobs".
On the other side, the center-left Progressives led by Achille Occhetto, also called "the Joyful War Machine", was composed by the two party born from the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party: the Democratic Party of the Left and Communist Refoundation Party. Since the alliance was sure of victory, based his campaign accusing the communicative power of Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi's coalition won a decisive victory over the progressive one, becoming the first centre-right alliance to win a general election in Italy since the end of the Second World War. The Pole of Freedoms won in the main regions of Italy: in the North the strongest parties were the regionalist Northern League and Forza Italia, which was also able to win in all provinces of Sicily, while in the South the National Alliance received more votes. The Alliance of Progressive confirmed its predominance in the "Red Belt" regions of central Italy, and in the South.
| align=left colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Coalition | Party | Proportional | First-past-the-post | align=left rowspan=2 | Total seats | align=left rowspan=2 | +/– | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||||||
| Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government | Forza Italia (FI) | 8,136,135 | 21.01 | 30 | 17,746,612 | 46.09 | 87 | 111 | New | |||
| Christian Democratic Centre (CCD) | 21 | 27 | New | |||||||||
| National Alliance (AN) | 5,214,133 | 13.47 | 23 | 87 | 110 | +75 | ||||||
| Northern League (LN) | 3,235,248 | 8.36 | 11 | 107 | 118 | +62 | ||||||
| Total seats | 64 | 302 | 366 | – | ||||||||
| Progressives | Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) | 7,881,646 | 20.36 | 38 | 12.632,680 | 32.81 | 87 | 125 | +17 | |||
| 2,343,946 | 6.05 | 11 | 27 | 38 | +4 | |||||||
| Federation of the Greens (FdV) | 1,047,268 | 2.70 | 0 | 11 | 11 | −5 | ||||||
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI) | 849,429 | 2.19 | 0 | 15 | 15 | −77 | ||||||
| The Network (LR) | 719,841 | 1.86 | 0 | 8 | 8 | −4 | ||||||
| Democratic Alliance (AD) | 456,114 | 1.18 | 0 | 16 | 16 | New | ||||||
| Total seats | 49 | 164 | 213 | – | ||||||||
| Pact for Italy | Italian People's Party (PPI) | 4,287,172 | 11.07 | 29 | 6,019,038 | 15.63 | 4 | 33 | −146 | |||
| Segni Pact (PS) | 1,811,814 | 4.68 | 13 | 0 | 13 | New | ||||||
| Total seats | 42 | 4 | 46 | – | ||||||||
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) | 231,842 | 0.60 | 0 | 188,017 | 0.49 | 3 | 3 | ±0 | ||||
| Southern Action League (LAM) | 59,873 | 0.15 | 0 | 46,820 | 0.13 | 1 | 1 | +1 | ||||
| Aosta Valley (VdA) | 0 | 43,700 | 0.11 | 1 | 1 | ±0 | ||||||
| Total | 630 | – | ||||||||||
| Party or coalition | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressives (P) | 12,632,680 | 32.81 | 164 | |
| Pole of Freedoms (PdL) | 8,767,720 | 22.77 | 164 | |
| Pact for Italy (PpI) | 6,019,038 | 15.63 | 4 | |
| Pole of Good Government (PdBG) | 5,732,890 | 14.89 | 129 | |
| National Alliance (AN) | 2,566,848 | 6.67 | 8 | |
| Forza Italia (FI) | 679,154 | 1.76 | 1 | |
| Pannella List (LP) | 432,667 | 1.12 | 0 | |
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) | 188,017 | 0.49 | 3 | |
| Social Democracy for the Freedoms (PSDI–FDS) | 147,493 | 0.38 | 0 | |
| Southern Action League (LAM) | 46,820 | 0.13 | 1 | |
| Aosta Valley (VdA) | 43,700 | 0.11 | 1 | |
| Others | 1,247,131 | 3.24 | 0 | |
| Total | 38,504,158 | 100.00 | 475 | |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Italia (FI) | 8,136,135 | 21.01 | 30 | |
| Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) | 7,881,646 | 20.36 | 38 | |
| National Alliance (AN) | 5,214,133 | 13.47 | 23 | |
| Italian People's Party (PPI) | 4,287,172 | 11.07 | 29 | |
| Northern League (LN) | 3,235,248 | 8.36 | 11 | |
| Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) | 2,343,946 | 6.05 | 11 | |
| Segni Pact (PS) | 1,811,814 | 4.68 | 13 | |
| Pannella List (LP) | 1,359,283 | 3.51 | 0 | |
| Federation of the Greens (FdV) | 1,047,268 | 2.70 | 0 | |
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI) | 849,429 | 2.19 | 0 | |
| The Network (LR) | 719,841 | 1.86 | 0 | |
| Democratic Alliance (AD) | 456,114 | 1.18 | 0 | |
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) | 231,842 | 0.60 | 0 | |
| Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS) | 179,495 | 0.46 | 0 | |
| Program Italy (PI) | 151,328 | 0.39 | 0 | |
| Lombard Alpine League (LAL) | 136,782 | 0.35 | 0 | |
| Venetian Autonomy League (LAV) | 103,764 | 0.27 | 0 | |
| Southern Action League (LAM) | 59,873 | 0.15 | 0 | |
| Others | 517,780 | 1.34 | 0 | |
| Total | 38,720,893 | 100.00 | 155 | |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||
| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PdL–PdBG | P | PpI | Others | |||
| Abruzzo | 11 | 1 | 10 | |||
| Aosta Valley | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Apulia | 34 | 23 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Basilicata | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Calabria | 17 | 7 | 10 | |||
| Campania 1 | 25 | 10 | 15 | |||
| Campania 2 | 22 | 7 | 12 | 3 | ||
| Emilia-Romagna | 32 | 3 | 29 | |||
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 10 | 10 | ||||
| Lazio 1 | 32 | 29 | 3 | |||
| Lazio 2 | 11 | 11 | ||||
| Liguria | 14 | 7 | 7 | |||
| Lombardy 1 | 31 | 31 | ||||
| Lombardy 2 | 32 | 32 | ||||
| Lombardy 3 | 11 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Marche | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Molise | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Piedmont 1 | 19 | 14 | 5 | |||
| Piedmont 2 | 17 | 17 | ||||
| Sardinia | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Sicily 1 | 20 | 16 | 4 | |||
| Sicily 2 | 21 | 21 | ||||
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 8 | 5 | 3 | |||
| Tuscany | 29 | 29 | ||||
| Umbria | 7 | 7 | ||||
| Veneto 1 | 22 | 22 | ||||
| Veneto 2 | 15 | 14 | 1 | |||
| Total | 475 | 302 | 164 | 4 | 5 | |
| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PdL–PdBG | P | PpI | |||
| Abruzzo | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Apulia | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| Basilicata | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Calabria | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Campania 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Campania 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| Emilia-Romagna | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lazio 1 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | |
| Lazio 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Liguria | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Lombardy 1 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| Lombardy 2 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |
| Lombardy 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Marche | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Molise | 1 | 1 | |||
| Piedmont 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Piedmont 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Sardinia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sicily 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Sicily 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tuscany | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| Umbria | 2 | 2 | |||
| Veneto 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| Veneto 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 155 | 64 | 49 | 42 | |
| align=left colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Coalition | Party | First-past-the-post | Proportional Seats | Total seats | align=left rowspan=2 | +/– | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | |||||||
| Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government | Northern League (LN) | 13,342,940 | 40.34 | 128 | 28 | 60 | +35 | ||
| National Alliance (AN) | 48 | +32 | |||||||
| Forza Italia (FI) | 36 | New | |||||||
| Christian Democratic Centre (CCD) | 12 | New | |||||||
| Total seats | 156 | – | |||||||
| Progressives | Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) | 10,881,320 | 32.90 | 96 | 26 | 76 | +12 | ||
| 18 | −2 | ||||||||
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI) | 9 | −40 | |||||||
| Federation of the Greens (FdV) | 7 | +3 | |||||||
| Democratic Alliance (AD) | 6 | New | |||||||
| The Network (LR) | 6 | +3 | |||||||
| Total seats | 122 | – | |||||||
| Pact for Italy (PpI) | 5,519,090 | 16.69 | 3 | 28 | 31 | −64 | |||
| Pannella List (LP) | 767,765 | 2.32 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | |||
| Lombard Alpine League (LAL) | 246,046 | 0.74 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ±0 | |||
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) | 217,137 | 0.66 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ±0 | |||
| Magris List (Magris) | 61,400 | 0.19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | New | |||
| Aosta Valley (VdA) | 27,493 | 0.08 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ±0 | |||
| Total | 315 | – | |||||||
| align=left colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Party or coalition | Votes | % | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FPTP | Proportional | |||||
| Progressives (P) | 10,881,320 | 32.90 | 96 | 26 | ||
| Pole of Freedoms (PdL) | 6,570,468 | 19.87 | 74 | 8 | ||
| Pact for Italy (PpI) | 5,519,090 | 16.69 | 3 | 28 | ||
| Pole of Good Government (PdBG) | 4,544,573 | 13.74 | 56 | 19 | ||
| National Alliance (AN) | 2,077,934 | 6.28 | 0 | 8 | ||
| Pannella List (LP) | 767,765 | 2.32 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Pensioners' Party (PP) | 250,637 | 0.76 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Lombard Alpine League (LAL) | 246,046 | 0.74 | 0 | 1 | ||
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) | 217,137 | 0.66 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Venetian Autonomy League (LAV) | 165,370 | 0.50 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Federalist Greens (VF) | 100,418 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az) | 88,225 | 0.27 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Natural Law Party (PLN) | 86,579 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS) | 80,264 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | ||
| The League of Angela Bossi | 72,455 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Greens Greens (VV) | 68,218 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Veneto Autonomous Region Movement (MVRA) | 64,149 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Magris List (Magris) | 61,400 | 0.19 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Southern Action League (LAM) | 54,395 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | ||
| League for Piedmont | 49,505 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Aosta Valley (VdA) | 27,493 | 0.08 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Others | 931,143 | 2.82 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 33,074,549 | 100.00 | 232 | 83 | ||
| Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||||
| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PdL–PdBG | P | PpI | Others | |||
| Piedmont | 17 | 12 | 5 | |||
| Aosta Valley | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Lombardy | 35 | 35 | ||||
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 6 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Veneto | 17 | 17 | ||||
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Liguria | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Emilia-Romagna | 15 | 1 | 14 | |||
| Tuscany | 14 | 14 | ||||
| Umbria | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Marche | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Lazio | 21 | 16 | 5 | |||
| Abruzzo | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Molise | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Campania | 22 | 7 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Apulia | 16 | 9 | 7 | |||
| Basilicata | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Calabria | 8 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Sicily | 20 | 17 | 3 | |||
| Sardinia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Total | 232 | 128 | 96 | 3 | 5 | |
| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PpI | PdL–PdBG | P | Others | |||
| Piedmont | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Lombardy | 12 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Veneto | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Liguria | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Emilia-Romagna | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Tuscany | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Umbria | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Marche | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Lazio | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Abruzzo | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Campania | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Apulia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Basilicata | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Calabria | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Sicily | 7 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Sardinia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 83 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 2 | |
| 1994 Italian general election (C): Rome Centre | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Coalition | Party | Votes | % | |
| Silvio Berlusconi | Pole | FI | 34,354 | 46.29 | |
| Luigi Spaventa | Progressives | PDS | 29,914 | 40.10 | |
| Alberto Michelini | Pact for Italy | PS | 9,566 | 12.82 | |
| align=left colspan=2 | Others | 593 | 0.79 | ||
| align=left colspan=4 | Total | 74,607 | 100.0 | ||
| align=left colspan=4 | Turnout | 77,562 | 77.19 | ||
| align=left colspan=5 | Pole gain | ||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||
| 1994 Italian general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Coalition | Party | Votes | % | |
| Achille Occhetto | Progressives | PDS | 52,997 | 59.77 | |
| Pier Ferdinando Casini | Pole | CCD | 17,925 | 20.22 | |
| Alfredo Ruocco | None | AN | 7,388 | 8.33 | |
| Maria Gualandi | Pact for Italy | PPI | 7,133 | 8.04 | |
| Oliviero Toscani | None | LP | 3,225 | 3.64 | |
| align=left colspan=4 | Total | 88,668 | 100.0 | ||
| align=left colspan=4 | Turnout | 91,571 | 95.03 | ||
| align=left colspan=5 | Progressives gain | ||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||
| 1994 Italian general election (C): Sassari | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Coalition | Party | Votes | % | |
| Carmelo Porcu | Pole | AN | 30,623 | 36.14 | |
| Mario Segni | Pact for Italy | PS | 26,776 | 31.60 | |
| Gavino Angius | Progressives | PDS | 17,570 | 20.73 | |
| Giacomo Spissu | None | PSd'Az | 6,952 | 8.20 | |
| Gavino Sale | None | ParIS | 1,185 | 1.40 | |
| Giovanni Conoci | None | LR | 966 | 1.14 | |
| align=left colspan=2 | Others | 664 | 0.78 | ||
| align=left colspan=4 | Total | 84,736 | 100.0 | ||
| align=left colspan=4 | Turnout | 89,504 | 86.02 | ||
| align=left colspan=5 | Pole gain | ||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: Ministry of the Interior | ||||
Contrary to its success in the Chamber, the Pole failed to win a majority in the Senate. Nevertheless, the Berlusconi I Cabinet obtained a vote of confidence also in the Senate, thanks to the abstention of four PPI senators (Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Stefano Cusumano, Luigi Grillo and Tomaso Zanoletti), who decided not to take part in the vote. The vote of the Senators for life was not decisive, as three (Gianni Agnelli, Francesco Cossiga and Giovanni Leone) voted in favour of the government, three were absent (Carlo Bo, Norberto Bobbio and Amintore Fanfani) and five voted against (Giulio Andreotti, Francesco De Martino, Giovanni Spadolini, Paolo Emilio Taviani and Leo Valiani). The Senate finally gave Berlusconi 159 votes in favour and 153 against.[5]