Italy 2001 General Election
Italy is a longstanding, multiparty parliamentary democracy. Executive authority is vested in the Council of Ministers, headed by the president of the Council (the Prime Minister). The Head of State (President of the Republic) nominates the Prime Minister after consulting with the leaders of all political forces in Parliament. In May the Parliament was elected in elections that were considered free and democratic. The Government respects the constitutional provision for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary's effort to provide citizens with a fair judicial process is complicated by long trial delays and the impact of organized crime on the criminal justice system.
The country has an advanced, industrialized market economy, and the standard of living is high for the country's population of approximately 57.8 million; in 2000 the per capita gross national product was $22,100. Small and midsized companies employ from 70 to 80 percent of the work force. Major products include machinery, textiles, apparel, transportation equipment, and food and agricultural products. The Government owns a substantial number of enterprises in finance, communications, industry, transportation, and services, but privatization continued to move forward at a measured pace.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of individual abuse; however, there were problems in some areas. There were some reports of police abuse of detainees, and use of excessive force against ethnic minorities and demonstrators. There were reports that police denied some detainees arrested after antiglobalization protests access to a lawyer. Accusations of police abuse are investigated by the judiciary. Prisons are overcrowded. The pace of justice is slow, and perpetrators of some serious crimes avoid punishment due to trials that exceed the statute of limitations. Lengthy pretrial detention is a serious problem.
On 8 March 2001, President Ciampi dissolved the Parliament, which was only the fifth since World War II to complete its full five-year term. In an unexpected reversal of his previous intention not to be a candidate in the elections, outgoing Prime Minister Giuliano Amato announced that he would stand for election to the Senate in his home town of Grosseto in Tuscany.
The candidature of Berlusconi, the leader of the right-wing coalition the House of Freedoms, reported to be one of the world's richest men, stoked controversy over the undue political advantage his dominant position in Italy's communications industry gave him. Studies before the election revealed that his networks gave him considerably more attention than they did to Olive Tree leader Francesco Rutelli. There was criticism in Europe, during the electoral campaign, over the media magnate's vast business interests and the numerous criminal charges brought against him, including tax fraud, bribery and illegal party funding, which he denied.
His alliance with far-right political parties, notably the anti-immigration Northern League, also caused concern elsewhere in the European Union, which had imposed controversial sanctions against Austria in 2000, after that country had taken its far-right Freedom Party into the government.
In a "contract" with the Italian people, Berlusconi had promised the week before the elections to implement four of his five chief goals within his five-year term in office. The goals were enacting a large tax cut, changing the policing of urban centres, increasing minimum pensions, cutting unemployment by 50 per cent and initiating a large public works program.
After an impassioned campaign filled with bitter rhetoric from both sides, the crowds at polling stations were so thick that police were called to calm frustrated voters, after voters waited in long lines past midnight. Authorities blamed complex ballots and a reduction in the number of polling places in an effort to save money. Voting was officially prolonged for an hour on the polling day by order of the outgoing Interior Minister, but even this measure was not enough to enable everyone who turned up at polling stations to cast a valid ballot.
The results showed that most voters did not care that Berlusconi still faced trial. His coalition, the House of Freedoms, won 366 seats in the House of Representatives and 177 in the Senate, while the outgoing Olive Tree coalition obtained 242 and 125, respectively. Outgoing Prime Minister Amato was elected to the Senate.
On 30 May 2001, the new Parliament met for the first time. Pier Ferdinando Casini, the leader of the Christian Democratic Centre, was elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, while the Senate chose Marcello Pera, from the Forza Italia party, as its Speaker. On 11 June 2001, Silvio Berlusconi was sworn in as Prime Minister.
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