Il Popolo della Libertà 22.3%27.4% Partido Democrático
  1. Rome, Italy at night, June 20, 2009

    Deadlock Looms After Italians Return Divided Parliament

    Italy faces political paralysis as neither the left nor the right wins an absolute majority.

    Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's right wing coalition emerged from Italy's two day election with a plurality of the seats in the Senate while the left wing Partito Democrático and its allies took control of the lower house of parliament. The southern European country that just over…
  1. Secretary of the Italian Partito Democrático Pier Luigi Bersani speaks in Turin, Piedmont, August 28, 2010

    Italy’s Left Struggles to Take Control of Legislature

    Italy’s left wing parties are ahead in the polls but may fall short of a majority.

    Although Italy's largest left wing party is expected to emerge with a plurality of the votes from Sunday's and Monday's election, it will likely struggle to take a majority in the upper chamber of parliament where centrist parties…
  1. The Vinschgau Valley in South Tyrol, Italy, August 10, 2009

    South Tyrolean Separatists Reject Left Wing Alliance

    German speaking populists in Italy’s far north criticize an election pact with the left.

    When Italians elect a new parliament later this month, a German speaking minority in the far north of the country will be contemplating secession. As in other wealthy regions in Europe, inhabitants of South Tyrol feel that they're unfairly paying for the revitalization of…
  1. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble confers with his Spanish and French counterparts Luis de Guindos Jurado and Pierre Moscovici during a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, July 9, 2012

    British, Germans Fear Italians to Return Berlusconi

    The German finance minister urges Italians not to “repeat the error” of voting for Berlusconi.

    The German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble was quoted on Friday as saying that Silvio Berlusconi's return to the premiership…
  1. Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi arrives for a European Council meeting in Brussels, October 26, 2011

    Berlusconi Makes Italians Offer They Can’t Refuse

    The former premier promises Italians tax relief and surges in preelection polls.

    Italy's right wing leader Silvio Berlusconi on Sunday promised sweeping tax reductions if his party is elected to government later this month. Notably, he advocated the elimination of a hated property tax implemented by…
  1. Italian left wing leader Pier Luigi Bersani addresses a Partito Democrático congress in Rome, January 17, 2013

    Italy’s Left Rules Out Centrist Coalition After Election

    Italy’s left wing leaders do not intended to prop up another Mario Monti government.

    Italy's left wing leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Thursday dismissed the possibility of breaking his alliance with smaller Green and socialist parties in favor of a centrist coalition that includes the supporters of incumbent prime minister Mario Monti's…