Politics of Marche

The Politics of Marche, Italy takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of the Region is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Regional Council, while executive power is exercised by the Regional Government led by the President, who is directly elected by the people. The current Statute, which regulates the functioning of the regional institutions, has been in force since 2004.

Prior to the rise of Fascism, most of the deputies elected in Marche were part of the liberal establishment (see Historical Right, Historical Left and Liberals), which governed Italy for decades. The region, especially its northern part (largely inhabited by Romagnoli), was also a stronghold of the Italian Republican Party. In the 1919 general election Marche was one of the regions in which the Italian People's Party, while in the 1924 general election the National Fascist Party took more than 60%.[1]

After World War II Marche was an early stronghold of Christian Democracy and later one of the few regions where the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party were close in terms of the popular vote. However, from 1970 to 1995 the Italian Socialist Party teamed up with the Christian Democrats and long held the presidency, leaving the Communists out of the regional government. Since 1995 the region has been a stronghold of the post-Communist parties, from the Democratic Party of the Left to the present-day Democratic Party, and became part of the so-called "Red belt", along with Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria.[2][3][4]

Executive branch

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed by the President and the Ministers (Assessori), who cannot be more than ten, including a vice president.[5]

List of presidents

President Term of office Party Coalition Administration Legislature
Presidents elected by the Regional Council of Marche (1970–1995)
1 Giuseppe Serrini
(1917–1994)
1 August
1970
19 December
1972
DC DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Serrini I
(1970)
2 Dino Tiberi
(1923–2013)
19 December
1972
10 September
1975
DC DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Tiberi
3 Adriano Ciaffi
(b. 1936)
10 September
1975
7 September
1978
DC DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Ciaffi II
(1975)
4 Emidio Massi
(1922–2016)
7 September
1978
18 November
1980
PSI DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Massi I
18 November
1980
21 October
1985
DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Massi II III
(1980)
21 October
1985
22 July
1990
DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Massi III IV
(1985)
5 Rodolfo Giampaoli
(b. 1939)
22 July
1990
29 July
1993
DC DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI Gianpaoli V
(1990)
6 Gaetano Recchi
(b. 1934)
29 July
1993
19 June
1995
PSI DC • PSI • FdV Recchi
Directly-elected presidents (since 1995)
7 Vito D'Ambrosio
(b. 1943)
19 June
1995
17 April
2000
PDS
DS
PDS • PRC • FdV D'Ambrosio I VI
(1995)
17 April
2000
5 April
2005
DS • PRC • PPI • FdV D'Ambrosio II VII
(2000)
8 Gian Mario Spacca
(b. 1953)
5 April
2005
30 March
2010
DL
PD
DS • DL • PRC • FdV • PdCI Spacca I VIII
(2005)
30 March
2010
12 June
2015
PD • IdV • UDC • FdV Spacca II IX
(2010)
9 Luca Ceriscioli
(b. 1966)
12 June
2015
30 September
2020
PD PD • IdV • UDC • FdV • PSI Ceriscioli X
(2015)
10 Francesco Acquaroli
(b. 1974)
30 September
2020
In office FdI League • FdI • FI Acquaroli XI
(2020)

Legislative branch

The Regional Legislative Assembly of Marche (Assemblea Legislativa Regionale delle Marche) is composed of 40 members. 32 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while 8 councillors (elected in bloc) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the Council with PR, only 4 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 36. If the winning coalition receives less than 40% of votes special seats are added to the Council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition.[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 clause introduced in 1999 (literally they will stand together or they will fall together), also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.[7]

Local government

Provinces

Province Inhabitants President Party Election
Ancona 482,886 Daniele Carnevali Independent (centre-right) 2021
Pesaro and Urbino 364,896 Giuseppe Paolini Democratic Party 2018
Macerata 324,188 Antonio Pettinari Union of the Centre 2016
Ascoli Piceno 214,014 Sergio Fabiani Democratic Party 2018
Fermo 177,993 Moira Canigola Democratic Party 2016

Municipalities

Provincial capitals

Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Ancona 102,500 Valeria Mancinelli Democratic Party 2018
Ascoli Piceno 51,168 Marco Fioravanti Brothers of Italy 2019
Fermo 37,869 Paolo Calcinaro Civic list 2020
Macerata 43,000 Sandro Parcaroli Lega Nord 2020
Pesaro 98,438 Matteo Ricci Democratic Party 2019

Other notable municipalities

Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Fano 63,922 Massimo Seri Democratic Party 2019
San Benedetto del Tronto 48,036 Pasqualino Piunti Forza Italia 2016
Senigallia 44,673 Massimo Olivetti Independent (centre-right) 2020
Jesi 40,502 Massimo Bacci Independent 2017
Civitanova Marche 40,400 Fabrizio Ciarapica Forza Italia 2017
Urbino 15,501 Maurizio Gambini Independent (centre-right) 2019

Parties and elections

Latest regional election

In the latest regional election, which took place on 20–21 September 2020, Francesco Acquaroli of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) was elected president, giving to the centre-right coalition its first victory in the region.

20–21 September 2020 Marche regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats
Francesco Acquaroli 361,186 49.13 1 League 139,438 22.38 8
Brothers of Italy 116,231 18.66 7
Forza Italia – Civics for Marche 36,716 5.89 2
Populars Marche – Union of the Centre 14,067 2.26 1
Civitas – Civics 12,958 2.08 1
Movement for Marche 5,730 0.92
Total 325,140 52.19 19
Maurizio Mangialardi 274,152 37.29 1 Democratic Party 156,394 25.11 7
Italia Viva 19,742 3.17
Rebirth Marche 17,268 2.77 1
Mangialardi for President List 12,884 2.07
Our Marche and the Centre 11,625 1.87
Brave Marche 9,270 1.49
Total 227,183 36.48 8
Gian Mario Mercorelli 63,355 8.62 Five Star Movement 44,330 7.12 2
Roberto Mancini 16,879 2.30 Depends on Us 11,834 1.90
Fabio Pasquinelli 10,381 1.41 Communist! 8,184 1.31
Sabrina Paola Banzato 4,121 0.56 Vox Italia 2,954 0.47
Anna Rita Ianetti 3,984 0.54 3V Movement 2,689 0.43
Alessandra Contigiani 1,142 0.16 Reconquer Italy 640 0.10
Blank and invalid votes
Total candidates 735,200 100.00 2 Total parties 622,954 100.00 29
Registered voters/turnout 59.75
Source: Marche Region – Results


References

  1. ^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
  2. ^ Ceccarini, Luigi; Newell, James L. (2019). The Italian General Election of 2018: Italy in Uncharted Territory. Springer. p. 252. ISBN 9783030136178. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  3. ^ Newell, James L. (2010). The Politics of Italy: Governance in a Normal Country. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ISBN 9781139788892. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  4. ^ Barbieri, Giovanni (2012). "The Northern League in the 'Red Belt' of Italy" (PDF). Bulletin of Italian Politics. 4 (2). University of Glasgow: 277–294. ISSN 1759-3077. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Regione Marche > Entra in Regione > Istituzione > Assessorati".
  6. ^ La Repubblica – Regional electoral law
  7. ^ "Regional Council of Lombardy – 1999 Constitutional law" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.