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The 1992 Italian presidential election was held in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on 13–25 May 1992, following the resignation of President
Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; , ; 1928 – 2010)
.
was an Italian politician who served as President of ...
on 28 April 1992. Only members of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and regional delegates were entitled to vote, most of these electors having been elected in the 1992 general election and in the 1990 regional elections. As
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of the
Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, the president has a role of representation of national unity and guarantees that
Italian politics The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly, formed by ...
comply with the
Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...
, in the framework of a
parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...
.


Procedure

In accordance with the
Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...
, the election was held in the form of a secret ballot, with the Senators and the Deputies entitled to vote. The election was held in the
Palazzo Montecitorio Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament. History The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mons Ci ...
, home of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
, with the capacity of the building expanded for the purpose. The first three ballots required a two-thirds majority of the 1,014 voters in order to elect a president, or 676 votes. Starting from the fourth ballot, an absolute majority was required for candidates to be elected, or 508 votes. The presidential mandate lasts seven years. The election was presided over by the
president of the Chamber of Deputies President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1 ...
, who proceeded to the public counting of the votes (with the exception of the last ballot when the count was made by the vice president
Stefano Rodotà Stefano Rodotà (30 May 1933 – 23 June 2017) was an Italian jurist and politician. Early life Born in 1933 in Cosenza, to a middle-class family of Arbëreshë origin from San Benedetto Ullano, he attended Liceo classico Bernardino Telesio in ...
), and by the vice president of the Senate Luigi Granelli, since the Senate president
Giovanni Spadolini Giovanni Spadolini (; 21 June 1925 – 4 August 1994) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th prime minister of Italy. He had been a leading figure in the Republican Party and the first head of a government to not be ...
was serving as acting president of the Republic.


Candidates

*
Giorgio De Giuseppe Giorgio De Giuseppe (born 20 March 1930) is an Italian politician who served as Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancie ...
, Vice President of the Senate, was the official candidate of
Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
in the first three ballots; *
Nilde Iotti Leonilde "Nilde" Iotti (; 10 April 1920 – 4 December 1999) was an Italian politician, member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Towards the end of World War Two, she fought as a partisan for the Italian resistance. She was the first and o ...
, former President of the Chamber of Deputies, was the candidate of the
Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the A ...
; *
Giuliano Vassalli Giuliano Vassalli (25 April 1915 – 21 October 2009) was an Italian politician, lecturer and lawyer. Life He was born in Perugia, son of Filippo Vassalli, a famous lecturer and lawyer. During World War II, Vassalli was imprisoned by Nazi forc ...
was the candidate of the
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...
; *
Gianfranco Miglio Gianfranco Miglio (11 January 1918 – 10 August 2001) was an Italian jurist, political scientist, and politician. He was a founder of the Federalist Party. For thirty years, he presided over the political science faculty of Milan's Universit� ...
was the candidate of the Northern League; *
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1 ...
, President of the Chamber of Deputies, backed on the last ballot by almost all parties.


Political background

On 28 April 1992 President
Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; , ; 1928 – 2010)
.
was an Italian politician who served as President of ...
resigned two months before the end of his term. The reason of his resignation was related to a growing tension between Cossiga and Prime Minister
Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...
. This tension emerged in October 1990 when Andreotti revealed the existence of
Gladio Operation Gladio was the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU; founded in 1948), and subsequently by NATO (formed in 1949) and by the CIA (established in 1947), in c ...
, a
stay-behind A stay-behind operation is one where a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case of a later enemy occupation. The stay-behind operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, and act as ...
organization with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Cossiga acknowledged his involvement in the establishment of the organization. Subsequently in 1991 the
Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the A ...
asked to start a procedure of
impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...
against him (Presidents of Italy can be impeached only for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
against the State or for an
attempt An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur.''Criminal Law - ...
to overthrow the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
). Although he threatened to prevent the impeachment procedure by dissolving Parliament, the impeachment request was ultimately dismissed. At the beginning of the 1990s, Italian politics was undergoing a period of instability and growing tensions. In February 1991, the Northern League, which was first launched as an upgrade of the Northern Alliance in December 1989, was officially transformed into a party through the merger of various regional parties, notably including ''Lombard League'' and ''Venetian League'', under the leadership of
Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has four sons, ...
. These continue to exist as "national sections" of the federal party, which presents itself in regional and local contests as "Northern League–Lombard League", "Northern League–Venetian League", "Northern League Piedmont", and so on. The League exploited resentment against the
centralised Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...
, Rome-based Italian government (with the famous slogan ''Roma ladrona'', "Rome (is a) robber"), common in the North as many there felt that the government wasted resources collected mostly from northerners' taxes. Cultural influences from bordering countries in the North and resentment against
illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...
were also exploited. The party's electoral successes began roughly at a time when public disillusionment with the established political parties was at its height. The ''
Tangentopoli (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...
'' corruption scandals, which invested most of the established parties, were unveiled from 1992 on. However, contrarily to what many pundits observed at the beginning of the 1990s, LN became a stable political force and it is by far the oldest party among those represented in the
Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...
. The Northern League's first electoral breakthrough was at the 1990 regional elections, but it was with the 1992 general election that the party emerged as a leading political actor. Having gained 8.7% of the vote, 56 deputies and 26 senators, it became the fourth largest party of the country and within Parliament. In 1991 the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...
split into the
Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the A ...
, led by
Achille Occhetto Achille Leone Occhetto (; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian political figure. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and was the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PD ...
, and the
Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party (, PRC) is a Communism, communist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who r ...
, headed by
Armando Cossutta Armando Cossutta (2 September 1926 – 14 December 2015) was an Italian communist politician. After World War II, Cossutta became one of the leading members of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), representing the most pro-Soviet Union tendency; h ...
. Occhetto, leader of the communists since 1988, stunned the party faithfully assembled in a working-class section of Bologna with a speech heralding the end of communism, a move now referred to in Italian politics as the ''svolta della Bolognina'' (Bolognina turning point). The collapse of the communist governments in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had convinced Occhetto that the era of
Eurocommunism Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...
was over, and he transformed the Communist Party into a progressive left-wing party, the Democratic Party of the Left. A third of the Communist Party's former members, led by Cossutta, refused to join the PDS, and instead founded the Communist Refoundation Party. On 17 February 1992, judge
Antonio Di Pietro Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor in the ''Mani pulite'' corruption ...
had Mario Chiesa, a member of the
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...
, arrested for accepting a bribe from a Milan cleaning firm. The
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...
distanced themselves from Chiesa.
Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( ; ; ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from 1 ...
called Mario Chiesa ''mariuolo'', or "villain", a "wild splinter" of the otherwise clean PSI. Upset over this treatment by his former colleagues, Chiesa began to give information about corruption implicating his colleagues. This marked the beginning of the ''
Mani pulite (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...
'' investigation; news of political corruption began spreading in the press. The 1992 general election, held on 5 April that year, marked a huge earthquake for the Italian politics.
Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
suffered a significant swing against it, but the coalition it had led prior to the elections managed to retain a small majority. Opposition parties won a significant amount of support. The resulting parliament was therefore weak and difficult to bring to an agreement. The so called "CAF" alliance (the Craxi-Andreotti-Forlani axis), a pact to revive the ''
Pentapartito The Pentapartito (from Greek , "five", and Italian , "party"), commonly shortened to CAF (from the initials of Craxi, Andreotti and Forlani), refers to the coalition government of five Italian political parties that formed between June 1981 ...
'' coalition—the scheme was conceived in 1991 to allow
Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...
to become the next President of the Italian Republic and
Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( ; ; ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from 1 ...
to become the next Prime Minister—had been heavily crushed by the popular vote. In this context, the
Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...
convened to elect the new President on 13 May 1992. As the count progressed no candidate was able to emerge, not even
Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...
whose candidacy was soon made to sink, and the voting process ended up in a real political deadlock. While the count was still ongoing, on 23 May 1992 the popular anti-Mafia magistrate
Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...
, his wife and three police escort agents were killed by a bomb put on the Highway A29 by the
Sicilian mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...
near
Capaci Capaci () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. In 2011 the comune had a population of 11,045, with a density of 1,804.7 people per square kilometre. The A29 ''autostrada'' running from Palermo to Punta ...
. The huge wave of public indignation and anger for this crime forced the Parliament to quickly elect a new President and solve the political deadlock. On 25 May 1992, the President of the Chamber of Deputies
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1 ...
, seen as a man above the parts and as a true defender of the republican institutions, was finally elected President and officially sworn in on 28 May 1992.


Results


Notes


References

{{Italian presidential elections Presidential elections in Italy 1992 elections in Italy May 1992 in Italy