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  • Facts & Stories

    Italy's Run-Off Vote For 136 Town Administrations

    Judith Harris(June 10, 2019)
    In the final run-off vote for local administrations June 9, affecting 3.5 million voters in 136 townships, participation dropped by a quarter, from a healthy 68.2% to 52%. Some historic left-wing administrations fell to the Lega, but in some cases 5-Star Movement (M5S) voters chose to vote for the center-left instead of Lega candidates.
  • No TAP Commitee
    Op-Eds

    When Money Talks, Even for Governments, Who Listens?

    Judith Harris(October 15, 2018)
    The clash between Italy's Minister for the economy and finance Giovanni Tria and the top political players overshadows all other arguments within the government. On the agenda are in-house quarrels over dropping the euro and the amount of monthly pensions, and going forward with the gas pipeline from Azerbaijan.
  • Op-Eds

    Early Elections Loom - But So Do Gloomy Warnings

    Judith Harris(June 05, 2017)
    Three powerful forces are lobbying for national general elections to be held this autumn, 6 months before the slated end of the legislature: Matteo Renzi's PD, Beppe Grillo's M5S and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. But if so, they will leave serious unfinished business and may bring a possibly chaotic future.
  • Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns following referendum defeat
    Op-Eds

    Renzi Loses His Bet. But Now What?

    Judith Harris(December 06, 2016)
    Within hours of losing the constitutional referendum Dec. 4, Matteo Renzi submitted his resignation as Premier, one of the few in Italian postwar history whose government lasted over 1,000 days. The huge turnout and the massive 60% vote against the referendum caught pundits by surprise.
  • Op-Eds

    Elections, Expulsions and the Polls

    Judith Harris(March 07, 2014)
    The proposal for a revision of the election process finally made it into the Chamber of Deputies this week, as neo-Premier Matteo Renzi had promised, but it does not quite resemble the deal expected after he and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi had a widely publicized (and widely criticized) meeting to hash it out. In the Senate, Beppe Grillo, head of the Movimento Cinque Stelle, went on a North Korean-style warpath, casting out dissidents. New polls show center-right and center-left neck and neck, and, for Grillo, disapproval.
  • Facts & Stories

    Letta Seeks a "Slim and Sober" Cabinet

    Judith Harris(April 26, 2013)
    In his attempt to weld together governing partners so as to end over two months of dangerous political void, Premier Designate Enrico Letta, 46, of the Partito Democratico (PD) has called for a "slim and sober" cabinet that will hit the ground running. Letta was called upon to try to form a government only l7 hours after Napolitano's re-election to succeed himself as president. His program points for a "service government" reflect some of the advice put forward by the so-called "sages" appointed last month by President Giorgio Napolitano. If he succeeds, a new government is expected within the week.
  • Op-Eds

    Angelino Alfano: "The House on Fire"

    judith harris(April 02, 2013)
    Right and left in Italy agree on the gravity of the problem. "The house is on fire," thundered Angelino Alfano, titular secretary of the rightist Freedom Party (PdL). "Italy is starting to be frightened - yes, frightened," intoned the moderate leftist professor Ernesto Galli della Loggia, writing in Corriere della Sera. Both lament the politicians' failure to move toward formation of a new government. But there agreement ends, and the impasse over what to do to avoid a dangerous power vacuum continues. Fighting to gain time as the end of his mandate approaches, President Giorgio Napolitano has appointed a 10-man committee of "sages" to try to excogitate points of convergence on reforms.