1995 Venetian regional election

The Venetian regional election of 1995 took place on 23 April 1995.

1995 Venetian regional election

← 1990 23 April 1995 2000 →

All 65 seats to the Regional Council
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Giancarlo Galan Ettore Bentsik Alberto Lembo
Party Forza Italia Independent Northern League
Alliance Centre-right Centre-left
Seats won 36 20 9
Popular vote 1,117,377 945,753 512,578
Percentage 38.22% 32.35% 17.46%


President before election

Aldo Bottin
People's Party

Subsequent President

Giancarlo Galan
Forza Italia

For the first time the President of the Region was directly elected by the people, although the election was not yet binding and the President-elect could have been replaced during the term.

Giancarlo Galan (Forza Italia) was elected President of the Region over the centre-left candidate Ettore Bentsik (Italian People's Party), despite the presence of a third candidate, Alberto Lembo (Northern League).

Among party lists, the joint list formed by Forza Italia and the People's Pole (the right wing of the People's Party replaced Christian Democracy, which was disbanded in 1994, as the largest political force in the Region. Liga Veneta came second, while the Democratic Party of the Left, heir of the Italian Communist Party, had its best result ever in a regional election.

Electoral system

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Regional elections in Veneto were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.

A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.

The panachage was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

Parties and candidates

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Political party or alliance Constituent lists Previous result Candidate
Votes (%) Seats
Centre-left coalition Italian People's Party 42.4 27 Ettore Bentsik
Democratic Party of the Left 15.6 10
Federation of the Greens 7.1 4
Italian Republican PartyLabour Federation 2.6 1
Pact of Democrats
Northern League 5.9 3
Alberto Lembo
Centre-right coalition National Alliance 2.7 1 Giancarlo Galan
Forza Italia
Christian Democratic Centre
Pannella List 1.1 1
Emilio Vesce
Communist Refoundation Party
Paolo Cacciari
New Italy–Venetian Autonomy
Giorgio Panto

Results

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23 April 1995 Venetian regional election results
 
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seat
Giancarlo Galan 1,117,377 38.22 12
Forza Italia – The People's Pole 606,977 23.97 15
National Alliance 271,835 10.73 6
Christian Democratic Centre 90,285 3.56 3
Total 969,097 38.27 24
Ettore Bentsik 945,753 32.35
Democratic Party of the Left 416,799 16.46 9
Italian People's Party 271,423 10.72 5
Pact of Democrats 109,778 4.33 2
Federation of the Greens 102,156 4.03 2
Italian Republican PartyLabour Federation 11,686 0.46
Total 911,842 36.01 18
Alberto Lembo 512,578 17.46 Northern LeagueVenetian League 422,410 16.68 9
Paolo Cacciari 200,649 6.86 Communist Refoundation Party 126,594 5.00 2
Giorgio Panto 108,072 3.70 New Italy–Venetian Autonomy 73,342 2.90
Emilio Vesce 41,142 1.41 Pannella List 29,254 1.16
Total candidates 2,925,971 100.00 12 Total parties 2,532,539 100.00 53
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aftermath

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After the election, Giancarlo Galan formed his first government, while Amalia Sartori (Forza Italia) was elected President of the Regional Council.


First Galan government
Office Name Party
President Giancarlo Galan FI
Vice President Bruno Canella AN
Minister of Economy and Development Floriano Pra FI
Minister of Budget and Finances Fabio Gava FI
Minister of Health Iles Braghetto CDU
Minister of Social Affairs Raffaele Zanon AN
Minister of Agriculture Sergio Berlato (until 19 July 1999)
Luca Bellotti (since 16 September 1999)
AN
Minister of Transports Raffaele Bazzoni FI
Minister of Environment Massimo Giorgetti AN
Minister of Tourism and Productive Activities Pierluigi Bolla (until 14 December 1999) FI
Minister of Labour and Sports Cesare Campa FI
Minister of Local Affairs and Cities Franco Bozzolin CCD
Minister of Territorial Affairs Gaetano Fontana CDU
Minister of the Treasury, Parks and European Affairs Francesco Piccolo (since 23 September 1998) CDU

Source: Veneto Region