The politics of Veneto, a region of Italy, takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
The Statute of Veneto was promulgated in 1971 and largely rewritten in 2011. Article 1 defines Veneto as an "autonomous Region", "constituted by the Venetian people and the lands of the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza", while maintaining "bonds with Venetians in the world". Article 2 sets forth the principle of the "self-government of the Venetian people" and mandates the Region to "promote the historical identity of the Venetian people and civilisation".[1]
On 22 October 2017 an autonomy referendum took place in Veneto: 57.2% of Venetians participated and 98.1% voted "yes".
The president of Veneto is Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega, by far the largest party in the Regional Council.
Political history
editPrior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Veneto were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades, but also the main opposition parties, namely the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party, had a good sway among Venetian voters. In the 1919 general election, the first held with proportional representation, the Catholic-inspired Italian People's Party came first with 42.6% (gaining at least 10% more than in any other region) and the Socialists were in second place with 36.2%. In the 1924 general election, which led Italy to dictatorship, Veneto was one of the few regions, along with Lombardy and Piedmont, which did not return an absolute majority to the National Fascist Party.[2]
From World War II to 1994 Veneto was the heartland of Christian Democracy, which polled 60.5% in the 1953 general election and steadily above 50% until the late 1970s, and led the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In the 1990s Veneto became a stronghold of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition, which governed the region from 1995 to 2010 under Giancarlo Galan of Forza Italia. In 2010 Galan was replaced by Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who obtained a hefty and record-breaking 60.2% of the vote and whose coalition government included The People of Freedom/Forza Italia and, since 2013, the New Centre-Right;[3] Liga Veneta was the largest party with 35.2% of the vote. Zaia and Liga Veneta were confirmed in 2015, with a reduced but more cohesive majority, due to the split of Tosi List for Veneto and the diminishment of Forza Italia: Zaia won 50.1% of the vote, while Liga Veneta a thumping 40.9%, largely ahead of the opposition Democratic Party's 20.5%.
Veneto is home to Venetian nationalism (or Venetism), a political movement that appeared in the 1970s, demanding political and fiscal autonomy for the region (which is felt by Venetists to be a nation in its own right) and promoting Venetian culture, language and history. This was the background from which Liga Veneta emerged in 1980. In the 1990s and 2000s other Venetist parties (the Union of the Venetian People, the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, Lega Autonomia Veneta, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project, etc.) emerged, but they never touched the popularity of Liga Veneta, which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Some Venetists have campaigned for federal reform and/or autonomy, others (notably including the Venetian National Party, the Party of the Venetians, Veneto State, Venetian Independence, Veneto First, Plebiscito.eu, Venetian Left, Independence We Veneto and We Are Veneto) for outright independence.
Executive branch
editThe Regional Government is led by the President of Veneto and composed of the President and ten Ministers (Assessori), including a Vice President.
Current composition
editThe current regional government has been in office 16 October 2020, under the leadership of President Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.
| Office | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Luca Zaia | Liga Veneta | |
| Vice President | Elisa De Berti | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of Legal Affairs, Public Works, Infrastructures and Transports | Elisa De Berti | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of Planning, Budget, Patrimony and Local Government | Francesco Calzavara | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of Health, Social Affairs and Social Programs | Manuela Lanzarin | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of Economic Development, Energy and Special Status for Venice | Roberto Marcato | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of EU Programs, Agriculture, Tourism and International Trade | Federico Caner | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister Minister of Education, Formation, Labour and Equal Opportunities | Elena Donazzan (until July 2024) | Brothers of Italy | |
| Valeria Mantovan (since September 2024) | Brothers of Italy | ||
| Minister of Environment, Climate and Civil Protection | Gianpaolo Bottacin | Liga Veneta | |
| Minister of Culture, City Planning, Security, Hunting and Fishing | Cristiano Corazzari | Liga Veneta | |
Source: Veneto Region – Regional Government
List of previous Governments
editSource: Region of Veneto
- ^ The PSDI joined the government in 1981.
- ^ The PDS succeeded to the PCI in 1991.
- ^ The PPI succeeded to the DC in 1994.
- ^ Some members of the disbanded DC formed FI in 1994.
- ^ The regional councillors of the CDU were elected from a joint list with FI.
- ^ a b The CDU and the CCD were merged into the UDC in 2002.
- ^ a b FI and AN were merged into the PdL in 2009.
- ^ The PdL was disbanded in 2013; its members joined either FI or the NCD. Vice President Marino Zorzato joined the NCD.
- ^ The party's sole regional minister, Elena Donazzan left in 2018 and joined FdI in 2019.
Legislative branch
editThe Regional Council of Veneto (Consiglio Regionale del Veneto) is composed of 51 members. 49 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the remaining two are the elected President and the candidate for President who comes second. The winning coalition wins a bonus of seats in order to make sure the elected President has a majority in the Council.[4][5][6]
The Council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent (literally: "they will stand together or they will fall together") clause introduced in 1999, also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.[7]
Current composition
edit| Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Group | Leader | 2020 | Now | |
| Zaia for President[a][b] | Alberto Villanova | 23 | 17 | |
| Liga Veneta | Giuseppe Pan | 10 | 13 | |
| Democratic Party | Giacomo Possamai / Vanessa Camani | 6 | 6 | |
| Brothers of Italy | Raffaele Speranzon / Daniele Polato / Enoch Soranzo / Daniele Polato / Enoch Soranzo | 5 | 5 | |
| Forza Italia[c] | Elisa Venturini | 2 | 2 | |
| Five Star Movement | Erika Baldin | 1 | 1 | |
| Venetian Autonomy List[d] | Tomas Piccinini | 1 | 1 | |
| Veneto We Want | Elena Ostanel | 1 | 1 | |
| Green Europe | Cristina Guarda | 1 | 1 | |
| Mixed Group[e] | Stefano Valdegamberi | 1 | 4 | |
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members
- ^ This group and "Liga Veneta" are united in a joint group named "Lega – Liga Veneta". See https://www.vipiu.it/leggi/villanova-e-pan-lega-lv-intergruppo-lega-liga-veneta-non-piu-due-gruppi-separati-ma-ununica-squadra-di-militanti-leghisti-con-obiettivi-comuni.
- ^ All the group members are affiliated to Liga Veneta–Lega.
- ^ A third regional councillor, Fabrizio Boron, who joined the party in December 2023, sits in the Mixed Group for technical reasons.
- ^ The group's only member, Tomas Piccinini, is a member of Liga Veneta. See https://legaonline.it/veneto
- ^ Current members: Fabiano Barbisan and Stefano Valdegamberi, both originally members of Liga Veneta, who switched to the group for technical reasons soon after the election and are no longer party members for different reasons, Arturo Lorenzoni, the centre-left candidate for President, who is close to both the Democratic Party and Veneto We Want (Art.1, SI, etc.), and Fabrizio Boron, another former member of Liga Veneta, who joined Forza Italia in December 2023, without changing group affiliation thereafter.
Local government
editProvinces
editVeneto is subdivided into seven provinces, including Venice which has functioned as a metropolitan city, with the mayor of Venice functioning also as metropolitan mayor, since 2015.
All the seven provinces, but especially Vicenza, Verona and Padua, were long Christian Democratic heartlands. In the early 1990s, when the Venetian and Italian party systems experienced huge realignments, Treviso, Vicenza and Verona became strongholds of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, while in Padua, the region's most populated, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia was the dominant political force; only two provinces, Venice and Rovigo, have traditionally been the powerbases of the centre-left coalition and, more recently, the Democratic Party, while Belluno was long a swing province. In the 2020 regional election Liga Veneta, which fielded two lists, came largely first in each and every province.
After a reform was enacted in 2014, provinces have lost most powers to the region and the municipalities, and, contextually, provincial presidents have been elected by mayors and municipal councillors, whose votes are weighted according to the population of their municipalities. In some cases, elected presidents represent bipartisan or trans-party coalitions. For instance, in 2014 Enoch Soranzo was elected in Padua thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party, while the majority of the centre-right coalition had endorsed another candidate.[8] Contextually, Achille Variati was endorsed both by the Democrats and Forza Italia in Vicenza[9] and, more recently, Sergio Giordani was the joint candidate of all running parties in 2022.[10]
In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures.[11]
| Province | Inhabitants | President | Party | Election | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of Padua | 931,572 | Sergio Giordani | Independent (Democratic Party) | 2022 | |
| Province of Verona | 927,862 | Flavio Massimo Pasini | Liga Veneta | 2023 | |
| Province of Treviso | 878,424 | Stefano Marcon | Liga Veneta | 2021 | |
| Province of Vicenza | 854,683 | Andrea Nardin | Independent (Democratic Party) | 2023 | |
| Province of Venice Metropolitan City of Venice |
834,632 | Luigi Brugnaro (metropolitan mayor) |
Coraggio Italia | 2020 | |
| Province of Rovigo | 227,535 | Enrico Ferrarese | Liga Veneta | 2021 | |
| Province of Belluno | 197,645 | Roberto Padrin | Forza Italia | 2018 | |
Municipalities
editTwenty-six comuni, hence municipalities, of Veneto have more than 25,000 inhabitants.
Of these, eight have mayors representing Liga Veneta, five the Democratic Party, four the Brothers of Italy and three Forza Italia. Six mayors are non-party independents: two of these are supported by the Democratic Party and its centre-left allies, two jointly by Liga Veneta, the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia, and two by local non-partisan coalitions.
In the following table, inhabitants are updated according to April 2024 ISTAT figures[11] and, in case of non-party independent mayors supported by partisan coalitions, the party to which the mayor is closest or the largest party in the coalition is indicated in brackets.
Political parties and elections
editLatest regional election
editThe latest regional election took place on 20–21 September 2020.
Luca Zaia of Liga Veneta–Lega (formerly Lega Nord) was re-elected President by a landslide 76.8% of the vote, while his main rival Arturo Lorenzoni stopped at 15.7%. Liga Veneta, which ran an official party list and a list named after Zaia, was confirmed the largest in the region with a combined 61.5% of the vote. The Democratic Party came second with 11.9% and the Brothers of Italy third with 9.6%. The total score of Venetist parties was 65.6%, the highest ever.
 | |||||||||
| Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Votes | % | Seat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luca Zaia | 1,883,959 | 76.79 | 1 | Zaia for President | 916,087 | 44.57 | 23 | ||
| League – Venetian League[12] | 347,832 | 16.92 | 9 | ||||||
| Brothers of Italy | 196,310 | 9.55 | 5 | ||||||
| Forza Italia | 73,244 | 3.56 | 2 | ||||||
| Venetian Autonomy List | 48,932 | 2.38 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 1,582,405 | 77.00 | 40 | ||||||
| Arturo Lorenzoni | 385,768 | 15.72 | 1 | Democratic Party | 244,881 | 11.92 | 6 | ||
| Veneto We Want | 41,275 | 2.01 | 1 | ||||||
| Green Europe | 34,647 | 1.69 | 1 | ||||||
| More Veneto in Europe – Volt | 14,246 | 0.69 | – | ||||||
| Venetian Left | 2,405 | 0.12 | – | ||||||
| Total | 337,454 | 16.42 | 8 | ||||||
| Enrico Cappelletti | 79,662 | 3.25 | – | Five Star Movement | 55,281 | 2.69 | 1 | ||
| Paolo Girotto | 21,679 | 0.88 | – | 3V Movement | 14,916 | 0.73 | – | ||
| Antonio Guadagnini | 20,502 | 0.84 | – | Party of Venetians | 19,756 | 0.96 | – | ||
| Paolo Benvegnù | 18,529 | 0.76 | – | Solidarity Environment Work | 11,846 | 0.58 | – | ||
| Daniela Sbrollini | 15,198 | 0.62 | – | Italia Viva – PSI – PRI | 12,426 | 0.60 | – | ||
| Patrizia Bertelle | 14,518 | 0.59 | – | Veneto Ecology Solidarity | 9,061 | 0.44 | – | ||
| Simonetta Rubinato | 13,703 | 0.56 | – | Veneto for the Autonomies | 12,028 | 0.59 | – | ||
| Total candidates | 2,453,518 | 100.00 | 2 | Total parties | 2,055,173 | 100.00 | 49 | ||
| Source: Ministry of the Interior – Electoral Archive | |||||||||
Latest general election in Veneto
editThe centre-right coalition (56.3%), this time dominated by the Brothers of Italy, obtained a far larger victory than four years before over the centre-left coalition (23.0%), Action – Italia Viva (8.4%) and the Five Star Movement (5.8%). One third of deputies and senators were elected in single-seat constituencies and, as in 2018, the centre-right won all such constituencies. Among parties, the Brothers of Italy came largely first with 32.7% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party (16.3%) and Lega (14.5%). The biggest turnaround happened within the centre-right, as Lega lost more than half of the votes obtained in 2018 (–17.7pp) and the Brothers of Italy jumped from 4.2% to virtually eight times that share (+28.5pp).
- Chamber of Deputies
| Coalition | Party | Proportional | First-past-the-post | Total seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
| Centre-right coalition | Brothers of Italy | 821,583 | 32.7 | 7 | 1,413,108 | 56.3 | 5 | 12 | ||
| Lega (incl. Liga Veneta) | 365,190 | 14.5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | |||||
| Forza Italia | 175,057 | 7.0 | 2 | – | 2 | |||||
| Us Moderates | 51,278 | 2.0 | – | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 12 | 12 | 24 | ||||||||
| Centre-left coalition | Democratic Party | 409,001 | 16.3 | 4 | 578,406 | 23.0 | – | 4 | ||
| Greens and Left Alliance | 83,426 | 3.3 | 1 | – | 1 | |||||
| More Europe | 77,238 | 3.1 | – | – | – | |||||
| Civic Commitment | 8,741 | 0.3 | – | – | – | |||||
| 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||
| Action – Italia Viva | 210,720 | 8.4 | 2 | 210,720 | 8.4 | – | 2 | |||
| Five Star Movement | 146,319 | 5.8 | 1 | 146,319 | 5.8 | – | 1 | |||
| Italexit | 62,557 | 2.5 | – | 62,557 | 2.5 | – | – | |||
| Vita | 44,430 | 1.8 | – | 44,430 | 1.8 | – | – | |||
| Sovereign and Popular Italy | 27,853 | 1.1 | – | 27,853 | 1.1 | – | – | |||
| People's Union | 24,724 | 1.0 | – | 24,724 | 1.0 | – | – | |||
| Alternative for Italy | 3,674 | 0.1 | – | 3,674 | 0.1 | – | – | |||
| Total | 2,511,881 | 100.0 | 20 | 2,511,881 | 100.0 | 12 | 32 | |||
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera
- Senate
| Coalition | Party | Proportional | First-past-the-post | Total seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
| Centre-right coalition | Brothers of Italy | 817,771 | 32.6 | 3 | 1,410,353 | 56.2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Lega (incl. Liga Veneta) | 366,266 | 14.6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Forza Italia | 174,377 | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Us Moderates | 51,939 | 2.1 | – | – | – | |||||
| 6 | 5 | 11 | ||||||||
| Centre-left coalition | Democratic Party | 404,957 | 16.1 | 2 | 582,005 | 23.2 | – | 2 | ||
| Greens and Left Alliance | 87,476 | 3.5 | 1 | – | 1 | |||||
| More Europe | 81,708 | 3.3 | – | – | – | |||||
| Civic Commitment | 7,864 | 0.3 | – | – | – | |||||
| 3 | – | 3 | ||||||||
| Action – Italia Viva | 210,033 | 8.4 | 1 | 210,033 | 8.4 | – | 1 | |||
| Five Star Movement | 145,545 | 5.8 | 1 | 145,545 | 5.8 | – | 1 | |||
| Italexit | 61,777 | 2.5 | – | 61,777 | 2.5 | – | – | |||
| Vita | 42,537 | 1.7 | – | 42,537 | 1.7 | – | – | |||
| Sovereign and Popular Italy | 26,627 | 1.1 | – | 26,627 | 1.1 | – | – | |||
| People's Union | 23,303 | 0.9 | – | 23,303 | 0.9 | – | – | |||
| Alternative for Italy | 8,604 | 0.3 | – | 8,604 | 0.3 | – | – | |||
| Total | 2,510,784 | 100.0 | 11 | 2,510,784 | 100.0 | 5 | 16 | |||
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto, Ministry of the Interior and Corriere della Sera
Latest EP election in Veneto
edit| Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brothers of Italy | 774,624 | 37.6 | |
| Democratic Party | 389,053 | 18.9 | |
| Lega | 271,142 | 13.2 | |
| Forza Italia–Us Moderates | 176,891 | 8.6 | |
| Greens and Left Alliance | 125,487 | 6.1 | |
| Five Star Movement | 99,866 | 4.8 | |
| Action | 84,580 | 4.1 | |
| United States of Europe | 65,992 | 3.2 | |
| Peace Land Dignity | 41,868 | 2.0 | |
| Freedom | 17,635 | 0.9 | |
| South Tyrolean People's Party | 7,418 | 0.4 | |
| Popular Alternative | 6,632 | 0.3 | |
| Total | 2,061,188 | 100.00 | |
Source: Ministry of the Interior
References
edit- ^ "Consiglio Regionale Veneto – Leggi Regionali".
- ^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
- ^ In 2009 Forza Italia was merged into The People of Freedom, which was transformed into the new Forza Italia in 2013, causing the split of the New Centre-Right.
- ^ "Elezioni Regione Veneto 2015".
- ^ "COME SI VOTA/ Video, Elezioni Regionali Veneto 2015: fac-simile scheda, seggi speciali e i documenti necessari (oggi, domenica 31 maggio)".
- ^ "Sette leggi per sette regioni. Le differenze fra i sistemi elettorali". 25 May 2015.
- ^ "Home – Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia" (PDF).
- ^ "Enoch Soranzo eletto presidente della Provincia di Padova – Cronaca – Il Mattino di Padova". 13 October 2014.
- ^ "Province: Soranzo, Pastorello, Variati, Trombini i nuovi presidenti". 13 October 2014.
- ^ "Sergio Giordani è il nuovo presidente della Provincia di Padova".
- ^ a b "Bilancio demografico mensile".
- ^ "Lists and Candidates by province" (PDF). consiglioveneto.it. Retrieved 25 September 2020.