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Viewing cable 06ROME141, ITALY: ELECTORAL REFORM COULD BRING DIVIDED

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ROME141 2006-01-17 09:47 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Rome
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 000141 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2015 
TAGS: PGOV IT ITALIAN POLITICS ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: ITALY: ELECTORAL REFORM COULD BRING DIVIDED 
GOVERNMENT 
 
REF: A. ROME 3996 
     B. ROME 3442 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor David D. Pearce for reasons 
 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: In addition to impacts reported REF A and B, 
Italy's controversial electoral reform law introduces 
different systems for calculating results in the Chamber of 
Deputies and the Senate.  In the Chamber of Deputies, the 
winning coalition receives a majority premium guaranteeing 
that it will have at least 54 percent of Chamber seats. 
Because the Italian Senate represents the regions, 
percentages of seats assigned per party will be based on 
results in individual regions.  The two different methods of 
calculation could result in different party coalitions 
winning the Italian Chamber and the Senate. Such an outcome 
likely would result in a protracted period of unstable 
government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------- 
ELECTORAL REFORM: MULTIPLE IMPACTS 
---------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) President Ciampi signed into law electoral reform 
legislation on December 23 that changes Italy's national 
electoral system from a mixed proportional/majoritarian 
voting system to a purely proportional system.  REFS A and B 
report on how the reform will strengthen party bosses, 
increase the electoral chances for the current Center-Right 
coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi and dramatize 
intra-coalition rivalries.  Because of constitutional 
concerns raised by President Ciampi, drafters of electoral 
reform were forced to design different implementing mechanics 
for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.  This change 
could also result in different majorities winning the two 
chambers. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
DIFFERENT CALCULATIONS FOR THE CHAMBER AND THE SENATE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
3. (U) Members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will 
be elected differently.  Italy is divided into 20 electoral 
districts, corresponding to Italy's 20 regions, for the 
Senate; and it is divided into 27 districts for the Chamber 
of Deputies.  Each district has a predefined number of 
Parliamentarians according to the population. 
 
4. (C) Drafters of the legislation wanted to ensure the 
winning coalition had a sufficiently strong majority to 
ensure effective governability.  As a result, the winning 
coalition will be assigned a "majority premium."  In the 
Chamber, the winning coalition of parties will automatically 
be given at least 54 percent of Chamber seats. However, this 
system does not achieve the same effect in the Senate. 
Majority premiums in the Senate are granted on a regional 
basis so that the winning coalition in Lazio receives 55 
percent of the Lazio seats and the winning coalition in 
Puglia receives 55 percent of the Puglia seats.  Majority 
premiums won in different regions might cancel each other 
out.  Referring to the Senate system, a Forza Italia campaign 
manager said it "is relatively easy to see that the new 
electoral system will create a situation of difficult 
governability" in the Senate. 
 
----------------- 
A U.S. COMPARISON 
----------------- 
 
5. (SBU) For comparative purposes, if the Italian system were 
applied to the U.S., whichever party wins the popular vote 
would receive 54 percent of the seats in the House of 
Representatives.  The Senate would be voted in a system more 
analogous to the U.S. Electoral College.  Each party would 
run to win individual states.  For example, the 
party/coalition winning California would win 55 percent of 
the seats for California and the party/coalition winning 
Montana would win 55 percent of Montana's seats.  Since 
California is more populous than Montana and the number of 
seats assigned to each state is apportioned based on 
population, winning California is more important politically. 
 
-------------------------------- 
POTENTIALLY INCONSISTENT RESULTS 
-------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) As experience has shown, it is possible for one 
party to win the popular vote but not win the Electoral 
College.  Translated back into the Italian system, one 
party/coalition could win the Chamber of Deputies by virtue 
of winning the plurality of votes and another party could win 
the Senate based on a success in key regions. 
7. (C) A Forza Italia campaign manager described several 
scenarios to Poloff.  He said it is relatively certain that 
the Center-Right will win Lombardy, Veneto and Sicily and 
that the Center-Left will win in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, 
Marche, Umbria, Campania and Basilicata.  Per the new system, 
the winning coalition will receive at least 55 percent of the 
seats for each region.  In one scenario, he posited that the 
Center-Left wins all the remaining regions.  Under that 
scenario, the Center-Left would win 52.4 percent of the 
Senate seats (165 of 315).  In a scenario in which the 
Center-Right wins all the marginal districts, it would gain 
161 seats, or 51 percent of the total. He concluded, "The 
situation becomes worse if we consider the more realistic 
situation in which neither the Union (Center-Left) nor the 
Casa de la Liberta (Center-Right) wins in all the marginal 
districts." He stated that the Center-Right has a fair chance 
of winning in Lazio, Puglia and Piedmont which would result 
in a "situation in which a majority would not be certain 
without taking into account the results of seats assigned to 
Italians abroad." 
------------------------------------- 
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR GOVERNABILITY 
------------------------------------- 
 
8. (C) A well-placed Forza Italia official in Palazzo Chigi 
told Poloff that Italian politics does not share the American 
tradition of political compromise and that a divided 
government would not work well in Italy. She predicted there 
is a fair likelihood, according to current polls, that the 
Center-Left will win the national vote and obtain a 54 
percent majority in the Chamber of Deputies. She continued 
that it is very possible that the Center-Right wins a 
majority in the Senate. 
 
9. (C) According to this official, this electoral result 
would yield two unattractive governing options: (1) a Grand 
Coalition like the one currently in Germany, (2) Romano Prodi 
leads an extremely weak Center-Left government that falls 
after less than a year.  She said Italy's political tradition 
would not naturally support a Grand Coalition so the second 
option is more likely.  After the Prodi government falls, 
either new elections would be called or the parties of the 
center will try to piece together a coalition of the center. 
 
10. (C) COMMENT: Italian national elections remain three 
months away, and it is not yet possible to predict a clear 
winner of the national vote, even if the Center-Left appears 
to be maintaining a slight lead.  However, design flaws in 
Italy's electoral reform legislation have created the 
possibility that the true winner will remain unclear even 
after the votes are tallied.  We agree that a split outcome 
could result in a protracted period of unstable government. 
END COMMENT. 
 
11. (U) Following are the mechanics of Italy's new voting 
system. 
 
-Voters receive two ballots, one for the Senate and one for 
the Chamber of Deputies.  The ballots show only symbols, 
representing single political parties, or coalitions of 
parties grouped together under one symbol.  The candidates 
per party for that voting district are listed on posters 
outside the voting booth. 
 
-Italy is divided into 20 electoral districts, corresponding 
to Italy's 20 regions, for the Senate, and 27 districts for 
the Chamber of Deputies.  Each district has a predefined 
number of Parliamentarians according to the population. 
 
-Seats are assigned in proportion to votes received with an 
extra number of seats (governing premium) assigned to the 
winning coalition. 
 
-In the Chamber, coalitions must receive 10 percent of the 
national vote to qualify for seats.  Independent parties need 
4 percent, while parties within coalitions need only 2 
percent.  An exception is made for the best of the 
non-qualifying parties, that is, the party under 2 percent 
that gets the highest percentage participates in the 
proportional distribution. 
 
-In the Senate, coalitions will need 20 percent of the vote, 
independent parties 8 percent and coalition parties 3 percent 
to get seats assigned in the region. 
 
-The new law also awards a governing premium to ensure that 
the winning coalition has a working majority of seats. 
Different calculation systems are used in the Chamber and 
Senate. 
-In the Chamber the winning coalition is guaranteed a minimum 
of 340 seats (54 percent), based on the majority of votes 
obtained nationally.  (If the winning coalition obtains that 
number of seats, or more, from electors, there will be no 
governing premium.) 
 
-In the Senate the governing premium (for a total minimum of 
55 percent) will be assigned on a region-by-region basis, to 
the coalition with most votes in each of the regions. 
 
-The above does not include 12 seats in the Chamber of 
Deputies, and 6 in the Senate, which are allotted to the 
"overseas districts", where Italian citizens living abroad 
will be able to vote for their preferred candidates from 
their regional countries (outside of Italy). 
 
-Parties must register, declaring their campaign alliances, 
indicating at the same time the name of the person they 
choose as Prime Minister candidate. 
 
-In the case of a government crisis, and when it becomes 
impossible to put together a governing majority, parliament 
is dismissed and early elections are held. 
SPOGLI