In the political system of Italy, a president of the province ( ''Italian'': presidente della provincia) is the single-member at the head of the government of a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, who has the power to appoint the Provincial Council.

History

The figure of the President of the Province was introduced for the first time by the , which placed him at the top of the in place of the , as had happened in the first thirty years of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. The President was appointed by the Provincial Council with an annual mandate. The President's mandate was then increased to three years and coordinated with that of the Deputation following the changes voted in

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

, and applied from

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

following the announcement of the general administrative elections. A further expansion was decided in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

, making the mandate four years. The rise of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

meant the temporary abolition of the figure of the President, replaced by the Dean and the strengthened

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

, until the provisional reintroduction by nomination of the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

(CLN) after the fall of the regime. It was only in 1951 that the government decided to resume the democratic role of the provinces, at the same time retouching the figure of the President of the Council who was from that moment placed at the head of the Council, with which he was linked by a

vote of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

according to the ordinary dynamics of

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...

. The introduction of

autonomous regions An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree o ...

had however caused some peculiarities in this matter, given that if this reform had already seen the light in 1948 in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

and

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

and, in the form of a regional presidency, in 1949 in

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

, for the provinces of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

it was necessary to wait until 1964. The real historical change was however the result of the law of 25 March 1993, n. 81, which established the

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and

absolute majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...

of the President, who was given the power to nominate the Provincial Council external to the Council, for which the separate figure of its own assembly president was recreated. The duration of the presidential mandate was set at four years, on the American model, with no more than two consecutive mandates. The of

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

confirmed the simultaneous election of the Council and the President, whose mandate was increased to five years. The President and the Executive ceased to hold office in the event of the approval of a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

voted by the absolute majority of provincial councillors: in this case the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

was also dissolved and, pending the elections, a Commissioner was appointed who was entrusted with the administration of the institution. The same principle, known as '' simul stabunt vel simul cadent'', was also applied in the event of permanent impediment, removal, dismissal or

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

of the President. Law no. 56 of 7 April 2014 cancelled the election by universal suffrage and the simultaneous election of the

and the President, and reduced their

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

to four years. The law was applied to the administrations as they expired: the presidents elected in office, for the remainder of their mandate, were appointed commissioners.

Characteristics

Elections

In the , the methods of electing the president have been radically modified by law no. 56 of 7 April 2014. Passive suffrage has been restricted to mayors in office, with the addition, on a temporary basis, of outgoing provincial presidents; active voting rights have instead been limited to mayors and municipal councillors in office. The vote is weighted according to the population segment of the commune represented by the

voter Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representatives ...

. The new legislation has also made a relative

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

sufficient for the victory of the new President. In

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

, an alternative reform was passed that simply abolished the popular election of the president, restoring his appointment by the Provincial Council as it happened in the 20th century. In

and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, elections were suspended until further notice, resorting if necessary to the appointment of . A subsequent reform in

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

completely abolished the office in 2016. The President of the

Province of Bolzano South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province ...

is still elected (and possibly censured) by the Provincial Council as it happened in the other provinces until 1993. The election of the President of the Province of Trento therefore remains the only one in Italy to take place by

and absolute majority. In 2024, the regional government of

approved a bill to restore the provinces, which is now under consideration by the national parliament.

Mandate

In the regions with ordinary statutes, the President remains in office for four years following the entry into force of law no. 56 of 2014. The new legislation no longer provides for a bond of trust with the Council , introducing in the Italian provinces a form of government of pure

presidentialism A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled "president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and legi ...

that has never existed in Italy under a democratic regime, while the expiration of the term is provided for in the event of the loss of one's office as mayor: the combination of the current legal system therefore makes the president of the province in fact responsible to his own

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

, unless it is an outgoing president re-elected by virtue of the transitional provision that takes place at the time of the first application of the new legislation. In Trentino-Alto Adige the President's term remains fixed at five years, unless a

is approved by the Council. In

and

, however, there are no more presidents, pending the reform by the regional authorities.

Functions

According to art. 99 of Legislative Decree 267/2000, the President appoints the , who functionally depends on him, choosing him from among those registered in the appropriate register. The secretary automatically ceases from office with the cessation of the mandate of the president of the province who appointed him, unless he is confirmed by the new president. The President can appoint a

general director A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

, outside the organic endowment and with a fixed-term contract, who is responsible for implementing the directions and objectives established by the governing bodies of the institution, and who supervises the management of the institution. The general director can be revoked by the president of the province, following a resolution of the provincial council; the duration of his office cannot exceed that of the presidential mandate. In the exercise of his functions, the President of the Province adopts , usually in the form of a decree. It should be remembered, however, that, by virtue of the principle of separation between and management functions, the President's measures, like those of other political bodies, cannot invade the scope of management functions, reserved for managers , except for the exceptions expressly provided for by law. For the same reason, the President is no longer entitled to stipulate contracts for the province, while he can stipulate given their political nature. In

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

the President's power to form and nominate the Provincial Council is confirmed , while in the

the role of presidency of a Council formed by the Council is confirmed. According to Law No. 56 of 2014, the President of the Province represents the institution, convenes and presides over the Provincial Council and the , supervises the functioning of the services and offices and the execution of the acts, and exercises the other functions attributed to him by the statute. The law in question abolished the Provincial Council, redistributing the government

delegation Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person.Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2017). ''Management'' (6th ed., pp. 282–286). Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia. ...

s within the Provincial Council, greatly reduced in the number of its members, and thus introducing an unprecedented form of pure

presidential government A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled "president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and legi ...

, completely new to the political life of the Italian Republic. The President may appoint a , chosen from among the provincial councillors, establishing the functions delegated to him, immediately communicating them to the Council. The President may also assign delegations to provincial councillors, in compliance with the principle of collegiality. Pursuant to Law No. 121/1981, the President of the Province is entitled to participate in the .

Trentino-Alto Adige

For the presidents of the autonomous provinces of

and

there is a different discipline, which gives them a much more incisive role compared to those of the other provinces. This discipline is contained in the Regional Statute of Trentino-Alto Adige, which has the rank of constitutional law. In these provinces the president has typical attributions of the president of the regional council, such as for example that of promulgating provincial laws, and part of the attributions elsewhere belonging to the prefect, not foreseen in this region, including some competences of the public safety authority.

Distinctions

The current describes the badge of the president of the province as a light blue band with the coat of arms of the Republic and the coat of arms of the province embroidered at the two ends, to be worn over the right shoulder.

List

* President of the Provincial Council (Italy) * President of the Province of Genoa * President of the Province of Florence