Politics of Umbria

The Politics of Umbria, one of the 20 regions of Italy, takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy, whereby the president of the region is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly of Umbria, while executive power is exercised by the Regional Cabinet led by the President, who is directly elected by the people. The current statute, which regulates the functioning of regional institutions, has been in force since 2005.

After World War II Umbria became a stronghold of the Italian Communist Party. The Communists and their successors (the Democratic Party of the Left, the Democrats of the Left and finally the Democratic Party) have governed the region since 1970. For these reasons, Umbria was long considered part of the so-called "Red belt".[1][2][3] The centre-left's dominance ended with the 2019 regional election, in which Donatella Tesei of Lega NordUmbria was elected President of Umbria by a landslide.[4][5]

Legislative branch

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The Legislative Assembly of Umbria (Assemblea Legislativa dell'Umbria) is composed of 30 members. 24 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while 6 councillors (elected in bloc) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the council with PR, only 3 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 26. If the winning coalition receives less than 40% of votes special seats are added to the council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition.[6]

The council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent clause introduced in 1999 (literally they will stand together or they will fall together), also the council is dissolved and a snap election is called.[7]

Executive branch

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The regional government (giunta regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed of the president and the ministers or assessors (assessori), who are currently five, including a vice president.[8]

List of presidents

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President Term of office Party Coalition Administration Legislature
Presidents elected by the Regional Council of Umbria (1970–1995)
1 Pietro Conti
(1928–1988)
8 June
1970
16 June
1975
PCI PCI • PSI • PSIUP Conti I I
(1970)
16 June
1975
5 July
1976
PCI • PSI Conti II II
(1975)
2 Germano Marri
(b. 1932)
5 July
1976
9 June
1980
PCI PCI • PSI Marri I
9 June
1980
13 May
1985
Marri II III
(1980)
13 May
1985
11 May
1987
Marri III IV
(1985)
3 Francesco Mandarini
(b. 1942)
11 May
1987
17 July
1990
PCI
PDS
PCI • PSI Mandarini I
17 July
1990
22 July
1992
Mandarini II V
(1990)
4 Francesco Ghirelli
(b. 1948)
22 July
1992
31 March
1993
PDS PDS • PSI Ghirelli
5 Claudio Carnieri
(b. 1944)
31 March
1993
5 June
1995
PDS PDS • PSI Carnieri
Directly-elected Presidents (since 1995)
6 Bruno Bracalente
(b. 1949)
5 June
1995
17 April
2000
PDS
DS
PDS • PRC • PPI Bracalente VI
(1995)
7 Maria Rita Lorenzetti
(b. 1953)
17 April
2000
5 April
2005
DS
PD
DS • PRC • PPI Lorenzetti I VII
(2000)
5 April
2005
30 March
2010
DS • DL • PRC • PdCI Lorenzetti II VIII
(2005)
8 Catiuscia Marini
(b. 1967)
30 March
2010
10 June
2015
PD PD • IdV • FdS Marini I IX
(2010)
10 June
2015
28 May
2019[9]
PD • PSI • SEL Marini II X
(2015)
9 Donatella Tesei
(b. 1958)
11 November
2019
Incumbent LN LN • FdI • FI Tesei XI
(2019)


Local government

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Provinces

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Umbria is divided in two provinces, which have been a traditional heartland of the left, from the Italian Communist Party to the current Democratic Party.

Province Inhabitants President Party Election
Perugia 671,821 Nando Mismetti Democratic Party 2014
Terni 234,665 Leopoldo Di Girolamo Democratic Party 2014

Municipalities

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Umbria is also divided in 92 comuni (municipalities), most of which were established in the Middle Ages. A large majority of them are controlled by the Democratic Party.

Provincial capitals

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Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Perugia 168,169 Andrea Romizi Forza Italia 2019
Terni 113,324 Leonardo Latini Lega Nord Umbria 2018

Other municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants

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Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Foligno 58,162 Stefano Zuccarini Independent (centre-right) 2014
Città di Castello 40,567 Luciano Bacchetta Italian Socialist Party 2016
Spoleto 39,574 Umberto De Augustinis Forza Italia 2018
Gubbio 32,998 Filippo Mario Stirati Left Ecology Freedom 2014
Assisi 28,143 Stefania Proietti Democratic Party 2016
Bastia Umbra 21,874 Stefano Ansideri Forza Italia 2014
Corciano 21,332 Cristian Betti Democratic Party 2018
Orvieto 21,130 Roberta Tardani Independent (centre-right) 2019

Parties and elections

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Latest regional election

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In the latest regional election, which took place on 27 October 2019, Donatella Tesei of Lega Nord (Lega Nord Umbria) was elected president by a landslide, ending 49 years of uninterrupted "reign" by the Italian Communist Party and its successors. The League was largely the largest party.

27 October 2019 Umbrian regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats
Donatella Tesei 255,158 57.55 1 League 154,413 36.95 8
Brothers of Italy 43,443 10.40 2
Forza Italia 22,991 5.50 1
Tesei for Umbria 16,424 3.93 1
Civic Umbria 8,608 2.06
Total 245,879 58.84 12
Vincenzo Bianconi 166,179 37.48 1 Democratic Party 93,296 22.33 5
Five Star Movement 30,953 7.41 1
Bianconi for President 16,833 4.03 1
Green Civic Left 6,727 1.61
Green Europe 5,975 1.43
Total 153,784 36.80 7
Claudio Ricci 11,718 2.64 Ricci for President 5,261 1.26
Civic Italy 2,175 0.52
Umbria Proposal 1,475 0.35
Total 8,911 2.13
Rossano Rubicondi 4,484 1.01 Communist Party 4,108 0.98
Emiliano Camuzzi 3,846 0.87 Italian Communist Party 2,098 0.50
Power to the People 1,345 0.32
Total 3,443 0.82
Martina Carletti 910 0.21 Reconquer Italy 808 0.19
Antonio Pappalardo 587 0.13 Orange Vests 524 0.13
Giuseppe Cirillo 461 0.10 Party of Good Manners 420 0.10
Blank and invalid votes 11,841 2.60 - - -
Total candidates 443,343 100.00 2 Total parties 417,877 100.00 19
Registered voters/turnout 703,595 64.69 - - -
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Results

References

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  1. ^ Ceccarini, Luigi; Newell, James L. (2019). The Italian General Election of 2018: Italy in Uncharted Territory. Springer. p. 252. ISBN 9783030136178. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. ^ Newell, James L. (2010). The Politics of Italy: Governance in a Normal Country. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ISBN 9781139788892. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  3. ^ Barbieri, Giovanni (2012). "The Northern League in the 'Red Belt' of Italy" (PDF). Bulletin of Italian Politics. 4 (2). University of Glasgow: 277–294. ISSN 1759-3077. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  4. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (28 October 2019). "Salvini's coalition sweeps to power in Umbria elections". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Centre-right wins Umbria election with landslide - English". ANSA.it. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Speciale elezioni 2005". www.repubblica.it.
  7. ^ "Regional Council of Lombardy – 1999 Constitutional law" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  8. ^ "Giunta Regionale". Regione Umbria (in Italian). Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  9. ^ Resigned. The post was held by the vice-president Fabio Paparelli (PD) till a new regional election was called.
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