1997 Milan municipal election

Election held for Milan legislature 1997 Milan municipal election presidential no 1993 Milan municipal election 1993 2001 Milan municipal election 2001 71.9% 6.2 pp (first round) 65.8% 6.1 pp (second round) 27 April 1997 (first round) 11 May 1997 (second round) yes Mayoral election presidential election 1st Round vote Percentage 2nd Round vote Percentage 120px Gabriele Albertini Forza Italia (1994) 0A6BE1 Centre-right coalition (Italy) 318,063 40.7% 385,496 53.1% 120px Aldo Fumagalli Independent politician F0002B Centre-left coalition (Italy) 214,728 27.5% 339,942 46.9% Mayor Marco Formentini LN Gabriele Albertini FI City Council election yes All 60 seats in City Council 31 Centre-right 43.75 Gabriele Albertini 36 0 Centre-left 25.54 Aldo Fumagalli 12 13 LN 16.23 Marco Formentini 8 36 PRC 9.12 Umberto Gay 4 6 Municipal elections were held in Milan on 27 April and 11 May 1997 to elect the Mayor of Milan and the 60 members of the City Council. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates – Gabriele Albertini, a businessman close to Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) and Aldo Fumagalli, a young businessman and former president of Milan Young Entrepreneurs' Confederation, supported by The Olive Tree coalition – which Albertini won by a decisive margin.12 May 1997 Castellani sindaco, Milano al Polo it La Stampa http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,1/articleid,0596_01_1997_0129_0001_7964364/ 4 April 2021 The incumbent Mayor Marco Formentini came third and couldn't access to the second round of the election. Background During the previous years, the incumbent mayor Marco Formentini was repeatedly criticized for his controversial administrative choices. In August 1994 his decision to move the far-left self-managed social centre Leoncavallo from its historic headquarters to a small warehouse resulted in many violent clashes between activists and police in several streets across the city.10 August 1994 Sgomberato il Leoncavallo. "Un vero atto di pirateria" it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/08/10/sgomberato-il-leoncavallo-un-vero-atto.html 4 April 2021 In November 1995 he struggled to handle an unprecedented waste management crisis which resulted in mountains of garbage left not collected in the streets.27 November 1995 Milano sotto l'assedio dei rifiuti it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1995/11/27/milano-sotto-assedio-dei-rifiuti.html 4 April 2021 In February 1996 his administration was put at risk by an inquiry on an alleged abuse of power which overwhelmed the deputy Mayor and some members of the municipal executive: in May 1996 Formentini hardly survived a motion of no confidence in the City Council thanks to the support of two councillors of the opposition parties.15 May 1996 Milano, la giunta appesa a un filo it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1996/05/15/milano-la-giunta-appesa-un-filo.html 4 April 2021 His decision to seek re-election was seen by many as a hard and unrealistic move. Against the Mayor, the newborn Forza Italia party (FI) presented its own mayoral candidate: the businessman Gabriele Albertini, president of the Italian Mechanical Engineers' Trade Union Federation. Seen as a member of the catholic milanese middle class, Albertini was the right profile for represent the new political experiment led by the milanese successful businessman and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.3 March 1997 Albertini senza il simbolo del Polo? it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/03/03/albertini-senza-il-simbolo-del-polo.html?ref=search 4 April 2021 Forza Italia and Pole for Freedoms coalition's aim was to attract moderate voters who were "disoriented, political orphans and who risked being unrepresented" (as Berlusconi described them), especially after the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) (the direct heir of the Italian Communist Party) had been able to win the 1996 national general election and enter in government for the first time since 1947. At the same time in March 1997 the centre-left government's popularity was sinking, especially because of its handling of the Albanian unrest which resulted in a huge number of Albanian refugees admitted to Italy and redistributed across the country with the subsequent protest of many right-wing parties and movements.19 March 1997 L'assedio dei poveri it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/03/19/assedio-dei-poveri.html?ref=search 4 April 2021 Despite a common position upon the Albanian refugees problem, at the local level right-wing forces were unable to find a deal. In December 1994 Northern League leader Umberto Bossi had broken the alliance with Berlusconi, causing his government to fall. As a consequence of this political split which was still unresolved after three years and because of Formentini's unstable administration, the centre-right Pole for Freedoms coalition finally decided to rule out a possible alliance with the Northern League (LN). The centre-left coalition decided to present the 38-years old independent businessman Aldo Fumagalli as its mayoral candidate. As a consequence of the frequent tensions with Prime Minister Romano Prodi, the far-left Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) decided to broke the alliance with the centre-left at the local level and presented the civil rights activistic Umberto Gay as candidate for Mayor.13 December 1996 Bertinotti lancia la sfida al PDS it la Repubblica https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1996/12/13/bertinotti-lancia-la-sfida-al-pds.html?ref=search 4 April 2021 Voting system The semipresidential voting system was the one used for all mayoral elections in Italy of cities with a population higher than 15,000 for the second time. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the Mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives at least 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support. The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each losing party is determined proportionally. Parties and candidates This is a list of the major parties (and their respective leaders) which participated in the election. Political party or allianceConstituent listsCandidate Communist Refoundation Party Umberto Gay Centre-left coalition(The Olive Tree) Democratic Party of the Left Aldo Fumagalli Italian People's Party Federation of the Greens Others Northern League Marco Formentini Centre-right coalition(Pole for Freedoms) Forza Italia Gabriele Albertini National Alliance Christian Democratic Centre Others Results Gabriele Albertini won the election on the second round and on 12 May 1997 he was officially declared the new Mayor of Milan. At that time he led the very first right-wing municipal administration in the history of the city. + Summary of the 1997 Milan City Council and Mayoral election resultscenter|300px Candidates 1st round 2nd round Leader'sseat Parties Votes % Seats Votes % Votes %Gabriele Albertini 318,063 40.71 385,496 53.14 – Forza Italia – United Christian Democrats 192,814 29.76 25 National Alliance 77,134 11.90 10 Christian Democratic Centre 9,337 1.44 1 Federalist Party – Liberals – Union of the Centre 2,314 0.36 – Pensioners' Party 1,879 0.29 –Total 283,478 43.75 36 Aldo Fumagalli 214,728 27.48 339,942 46.86 15 Democratic Party of the Left 120,999 18.67 9 Italian People's Party 18,239 2.82 1 Federation of the Greens 17,148 2.65 1 Democratic Italy 5,929 0.92 – Pact for Milan 3,191 0.49 –Total 165,506 25.54 11 Marco Formentini 149,501 19.14 – – 15 Northern League 100,184 15.46 7 Padanian Workers 2,141 0.33 – Padania Safe Pension 1,611 0.25 – Craftsmen Traders Industrialists 1,200 0.19 –Total 105,136 16.23 7 Umberto Gay 62,897 8.05 – – 15 Communist Refoundation Party 59,101 9.12 3 Giorgio Santerini 7,154 0.92 – – – United Socialists (SI – PS) 7,337 1.13 – Giancarlo Cito 5,879 0.75 – – – Southern Action League 5,539 0.85 –Tomaso Staitidi Cuddia delle Chiuse 5,020 0.64 – – – Tricolour Flame 4,686 0.72 – Antonio Marinoni 4,864 0.62 – – – Italian Renewal 4,570 0.71 – Giorgio Schultze 3,248 0.42 – – – Humanist Party 2,963 0.46 – Marco Tordelli 2,758 0.35 – – – Federal Italy 2,594 0.40 – Giovanni Bucci 2,005 0.26 – – – FederItalia 1,895 0.29 – Ugo Sarao 1,956 0.25 – – – Pensions and Work 1,864 0.29 – Giovanni Fabbrini 1,487 0.19 – – – Out of the Lie 1,536 0.24 – Sergio Bontempelli 947 0.12 – – – Civil City 1,019 0.16 – Ugo Frisoli 754 0.10 – – – United Italy 697 0.11 – Total 781,261 100.00 725,438 100.00 3 647,921 100.00 57Eligible voters100.00100.00Did not vote28.0834.16Voted71.9265.84Blank or invalid ballots1.52.1Total valid votes98.597.9Source: Ministry of the Interior References Milan municipal election Milan municipal election Milan municipal election Milan Milan Category:Elections in Milan