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69-475: The party's leader was Nichi Vendola , a former President of Apulia . On 17 December 2016, SEL dissolved into Italian Left , which was officially launched as a party in early 2017. SEL was formed as an alliance called Left and Freedom ( Sinistra e Libertà , SL) in the run up to the 2009 European Parliament election in order to overcome the 4% threshold introduced by the new electoral law in February 2009. At

138-452: A closed list , meaning they cannot express a preference for individual candidates. Parties can choose to run in coalitions. Seats are first allocated based on coalition votes, then divided among parties belonging to the same coalition by the largest remainder method . To guarantee a working majority, the coalition or party that obtains a plurality of the vote, but fewer than 340 seats, is assigned additional seats to reach that number, which

207-500: A coalition agreement with the Northern League (LN); as part of it, PdL will support Roberto Maroni 's bid for the presidency of Lombardy , and he will run as "leader of the coalition", but suggested he could accept a role as Minister of Economy under a cabinet headed by another PdL member, such as Angelino Alfano . Later that day, LN leader Maroni confirmed his party will not support a new candidacy of Berlusconi as prime minister in

276-425: A coalition of several components. Berlusconi said the platform his party would run on includes opposition to Monti's economic performance, which he said put Italy into a "recessive spiral without end." He also told the media, on the sidelines of AC Milan 's practice session (the football club he owns along with Mediaset , the largest media outlet in the country): "I race to win. To win, everyone said there had to be

345-572: A government in his own right, as Italy Common Good won a decisive majority in the Chamber of Deputies. In Italy, unlike in most other parliamentary democracies, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have equal power. Governments must thus maintain the confidence of both houses, and require a majority in both houses to pass legislation. As Italy Common Good was 35 seats short of a majority in the Senate, it could not form government on its own. Bersani said that Italy

414-479: A new political party formed around a think tank named "Fermare il Declino" ( Stop the Decline ), on an initiative by the economic journalist Oscar Giannino and supported by various economists. On 19 December 2012, the name "FARE per Fermare il Declino" ("ACT to Stop The Decline") was chosen, and a list was presented with Oscar Giannino as PM candidate. The party's programme was also introduced, roughly inspiring to reduce

483-656: A party congress, the Greens elected a new party leader, Angelo Bonelli , and voted to opt out from the process of the foundation of the new party. However, Francescato and her faction decided to keep supporting SL as Ecologists with Left Ecology Freedom and leave the Greens. SL was also weakened by the split occurred within PS, when the United Socialists , who were opposed to the integration of PS into SL, walked out. Finally in November SL

552-612: A press conference in France that "populism" was dangerous, and he further said that a failure to pass the budget "would render more serious the government crisis, also at a European level" and that his resignation would then be "irrevocable." The two largest parties in the parliament, the PdL and the Democratic Party (PD) said they would be willing to work together to expedite passage of the budget. PD Secretary Pier Luigi Bersani said: "Faced with

621-475: A shred of evidence" and that he would appeal the ruling. During his political career, he received insults related to his homosexuality. In 2012 he was insulted by Luigi Marattin, a member of the municipal government of Ferrara affiliated with the centre-left Democratic Party . In October 2013 Alessandro Morelli , leader of the Lega Nord at the comune of Milan , published an image of Vendola on Facebook with

690-513: A sixth time. Shortly after, his party, The People of Freedom (PdL), withdrew endorsement for Monti's Cabinet and Monti announced he would resign after sending the annual budget to the Italian Parliament , which was expected by Christmas. The Constitution of Italy then requires an election to be held within 70 days of the dissolution of the parliament by President Giorgio Napolitano . Monti's resignation came after he said that, following

759-566: A southern Italian region such as Apulia, generally considered to be conservative and strongly Catholic . Vendola identifies as a "believer" (in the line of Pax Christi ): he once said that " the most important book for a communist like me is the Bible ". In the regional election in Apulia, held in April 2005, he narrowly defeated the incumbent president Raffaele Fitto , candidate for the centre-right coalition

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828-584: A strong opponent of the Mafia and organised crime . In 2005, Vendola ran for the first primary election ever held in Italy, held by the centre-left coalition The Union to choose their candidate for the presidency of the Apulia region. He won the primary over the rival Francesco Boccia . Many moderates in the alliance criticised the choice, since it appeared impossible that a communist homosexual could be elected president of

897-423: A tested leader. It's not that we did not look for one. We did, and how! But there isn't one. ... I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility." Berlusconi and Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo criticised the euro-zone and Germany's influence on European policy. Grillo wrote that the average Italian "is literally terrified about the prospects of five more years of Monti-like rule." On 8 December 2012,

966-407: Is allocated to the most underrepresented list based on the regional votes. Six seats in the Senate are assigned to Italians living abroad and are allocated using the same system used for the Chamber of Deputies. At the end of 2013, Italy's Constitutional Court declared that this electoral law failed to meet a number of constitutional requirements. The electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies

1035-598: Is an Italian left-wing politician and LGBT activist who was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Apulia from 1992 to 2005 and President of Apulia from 2005 to 2015. Since 2023 he is the President of the Italian Left . He is one of the first openly LGBT Italian politicians and the first openly LGBT heads of a regional government in Italy . Born in Terlizzi , in the province of Bari , on 26 August 1958, Vendola

1104-470: Is led by celebrity magistrate Antonio Ingroia and Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris . FdS co-leader Paolo Ferrero said it would be a "Fourth Pole" that would bring new hope for the left. Civil Revolution attempted to solicit M5S to join them, saying "the door is open." Grillo, however, turned them down, writing on his blog "is the door for M5S open? Well, thank you, but close the door again, please." On 7 January 2013, Berlusconi announced he had penned

1173-407: Is roughly 54% of all seats. The autonomous region of Aosta Valley elects one deputy through a first-past-the-post system. Italians abroad are divided into four constituencies, which elect a total of twelve seats based on proportional representation . For the election of the upper house, a similar system is used. However, the results are based on regional, rather than national, vote. This means

1242-441: The 2011 referendums of June 2011 (on the abrogation of a law allowing the construction of nuclear power plants in Italy, the abrogation of a law allowing the privatisation of water management and the abrogation of so-called "legitimate impediment"), SEL gave full support to the "yes" committees. In May 2012, Marco Doria , another independent close to SEL, was elected Mayor of Genoa . In August 2012, Vendola announced his bid for

1311-618: The Greens of South Tyrol : one of them, Florian Kronbichler , was elected to the Chamber. On 16 March 2013, Laura Boldrini , an independent member of SEL, was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies . In September 2013, SEL expressed its intention to join the Party of European Socialists (PES), however in January 2014, the party finally endorsed Alexis Tsipras , leader of the Greek Coalition of

1380-632: The House of Freedoms . He was the first member of the Communist Refoundation Party to be elected as president of any Italian region. In the July 2008 party congress, Vendola was one of the two major candidates running for the place of Chairman of the Communist Refoundation party ; he lost to an alliance led by the other major candidate, Paolo Ferrero , formerly Minister for Social Solidarity in

1449-649: The Italian Communist Party , he fiercely opposed the dissolution of the party proposed by Achille Occhetto in 1991. This led to the formation of the Democratic Party of the Left . Vendola instead joined the Communist Refoundation Party . In 1992, Vendola was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, a seat which he held until 2005. As a member of the Antimafia Commission , he came to prominence as

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1518-599: The Prodi II Cabinet . Following the defeat, Vendola's supporters have renounced all positions as party executives. On 24 January 2009, at Chianciano Terme , Vendola split from Communist Refoundation and founded the Movement for the Left . In December 2009, Vendola became the first leader of the newly founded party Left Ecology Freedom , which the Movement for the Left had merged into. In late 2009, his candidacy for re-election

1587-571: The Union of the Centre and the Radicals that would take office and seek a vote of confidence the next day. The same day as the swearing-in a gunman opened fire at the prime minister's office, Palazzo Chigi , injuring two police officers. Letta told parliament in his inaugural speech "Italy is dying from austerity alone. Growth policies cannot wait." He added that there would not be a property tax imposed and that

1656-469: The centre-left primary election shortly before the PdL withdrew from the government. Following a defeat in the primary, Mayor of Florence Matteo Renzi ruled out an approach, in writing, from Berlusconi's PdL to join the party during the election. In the following weeks, both PD and Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) announced their intention to hold primary elections for MP candidates on 29 and 30 December. The possibility of Monti directly involving himself in

1725-454: The primary election in order to select the candidate for Prime Minister of the PD-led centre-left coalition in the 2013 general election . On 25 November of the same year, Vendola won 15.6% of the vote and came third behind Democrats Pier Luigi Bersani (44.9%) and Matteo Renzi (35.5%). In the run-off Vendola supported Bersani, who defeated Renzi 60.9% to 39.1%. SEL selected its candidates for

1794-535: The 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 17th Italian Parliament . The centre-left alliance Italy Common Good , led by the Democratic Party (PD), obtained a clear majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies thanks to a majority bonus that effectively trebled the number of seats assigned to the winning force and narrowly defeated the centre-right alliance of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in

1863-617: The Chamber of Deputies are elected by Italians abroad. Two members are elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean ), four members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago ), five members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica ). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation. The electoral law allows for parties to form different coalitions on

1932-528: The Democratic Party, Francesco Boccia ran as Vendola's challenger. Vendola easily won the election with more than 67% of the votes, was picked again as leader of the centre-left coalition, and went on to defeat centre-right candidate Rocco Palese by a wide margin. In July 2010, during a general congress of the so-called "Factories of Nichi", Vendola announced his candidacy for the Primary Elections of

2001-634: The Interior The semi-autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige in north Italy, including South Tyrol, elects seven members to the Senate through its six constituencies. Each constituency elects one senator by first-past-the post, while the seventh seat attributed to the region is filled by the most underrepresented party based on the overall regional result ( mixed-member proportional system ). Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region. Six members of

2070-485: The Italian centre-left. This voting was expected to foreshadow what might be expected in the 2013 Italian general elections. Nationwide polls showed Vendola winning over either Democratic Party Secretary Pier Luigi Bersani or Silvio Berlusconi , then Prime Minister of Italy . But came third in the primaries held on 25 November 2012 Vendola ranked third among the 5 candidates with 485,689 votes totaling 15.6%, failing to access

2139-562: The PdL's withdrawal, he "matured [to] the conviction that we could not continue like this any longer," and that he could not govern with a loss of support for his platform. During Monti's tenure, Italy had faced tax increases and state spending cuts, as well as reforms intended to improve the competitiveness of the Italian economy . On the other hand, PdL parliamentary party leader Angelino Alfano told parliament on 7 December that Italy's debt, unemployment, and tax rates had risen in contrast to

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2208-580: The Radical Left (Syriza) and standard-bearer of the Party of European Left in the 2014 European Parliament election , as their chosen candidate for President of the European Commission , and contested the election within The Other Europe electoral list. Ahead of the 2014 European Parliament election the party participated in the formation of a left-wing joint list, The Other Europe , which

2277-553: The Senate are elected by Italians abroad. One member is elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean ), two members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago ), two members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica ). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation. The election law allow for parties to form other electoral coalitions on

2346-427: The absence of a clear majority in the Senate, with Giorgio Napolitano being unable to dissolve Parliament due to constitutional constraints forbidding a president from doing so during the last six months of his term. On 22 March, after the election of house speakers Laura Boldrini and Piero Grasso , and after two days of consultations with all the parliamentary groups, Napolitano designated Pier Luigi Bersani with

2415-540: The ballot. In the general election of 2013 Vendola was the candidate of Apulia for the Chamber of deputies , being elected for the 5th time. On 6 March 2013, however, he announced that he would remain in charge of the Puglia Region, thus renouncing the seat in the Chamber. On 10 April 2013 he formalized his resignation as a deputy. Unable to apply for a third time as president of the region, in 2015 Vendola supported

2484-485: The case of an electoral win. The electoral system had been last reformed by Law no. 270, 21 December 2005. For the election of the lower house, all seats in the Chamber of Deputies (excluding one deputy for the region of Aosta Valley and twelve deputies for Italians residing abroad ) are allocated based on the national vote in a form of party-list proportional representation with a series of thresholds encouraging parties to form coalitions. Voters cast one vote for

2553-670: The centrists. Berlusconi and his allies withdrew support of the coalition and formed a new Forza Italia six months later, which meant that the PD dominated the government coalition until the 2018 Italian general election . Following the European sovereign debt crisis , Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned from his position in November 2011. He was replaced as prime minister by technocratic Senator for Life Mario Monti . In December 2012, Berlusconi announced his intention to run for prime minister for

2622-409: The church's social positions. On 17 October 2018, Vendola had a heart attack, but he is in no danger after being fitted with a stent at Rome's Gemelli Hospital . 2013 Italian general election Mario Monti Independent Enrico Letta Democratic The 2013 Italian general election was held on 24 and 25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and

2691-403: The coalition or party that wins a plurality of votes in each region is guaranteed a majority of the seats assigned to that region. As this mechanism is region-based, opposing parties or coalitions may benefit from the majority bonus in different regions. It therefore does not guarantee any party or coalition a majority in the Senate. Three regions have exceptions to the system detailed above. In

2760-716: The economy since Monti became prime minister. In the approximately one year since Monti took office, unemployment rose by almost two percent. Previously Monti had controversially told the rising tide of youth unemployment to forget about a steady job for life, saying such is "monotonous [anyway and] it's nice to change and take on challenges." He also called for changes to Article 18 of the 1970 Workers Statute that forbids companies with over 15 employees from sacking an employee without "just cause", saying that it "can be pernicious for Italy's growth." The same reforms and austerity-focused policies which upset many Italians are perceived to have improved international confidence in Italy. Monti

2829-489: The election through a closed primary in December 2012. In the 2013 general election , which took place in February 2013, the party was part of the centre-left Italy. Common Good coalition, which supported PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani as candidate for Prime Minister . In the election SEL won 3.2% of the vote, returning 37 deputies and 7 senators. In its Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol 's list SEL included some representatives of

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2898-456: The election was seen as increasingly likely after the government crisis in December later that year, as Monti was invited to a European People's Party meeting at which Berlusconi was present too. A few days later, Monti published a political agenda for Italy, dubbed the "Monti agenda", and offered it to all political parties. After the Third Pole promptly agreed to use it as their own platform for

2967-414: The euro-zone [but] expect[ed] Italy to keep going forward by respecting its European commitments." In reaction, financial markets fell on speculation of further instability; specifically, Italian 10-year bond yields rose by 0.4% to reach 4.87% and the Italian stock exchange's flagship index dropped by over 3.5%. From the summer of 2012, a number of parties and movements from the so-called "Third Pole" of

3036-490: The former mayor of Bari Michele Emiliano who would go on to win the election with 47% of the votes. On 17 December 2016, Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) was dissolved and merged with the Italian Left , on 19 February 2017. Since 26 November 2023, he has been the president of Sinistra Italiana . In May 2021, Vendola was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, due to involvement in the Ilva scandal . He said he had been "condemned without

3105-401: The irresponsibility of the right that betrayed a commitment it made a year ago before the whole country, ... Monti responded with an act of dignity that we profoundly respect." PD Deputy Secretary Enrico Letta said of the PdL's withdrawal from the government that "the financial markets will judge this latest outburst by Berlusconi and they certainly will not judge it positively." Bersani had won

3174-471: The legislature. On 26 February, La Repubblica ran the headline "Boost for Grillo: Italy ungovernable", whilst Il Giornale described Berlusconi's result as a miracle. Il Messaggero declared: "The winner is ungovernability." Formal talks to form a new government were expected to start on 10 March with the official confirmation of the results and the convening of the Italian Parliament . The formation task immediately turned out to be tough due to

3243-594: The lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 election, this freedom was used by Left Ecology Freedom to provide a list as an independent party, instead of making themselves available as part of the mainlands coalition with Democratic Party . The semi-autonomous region of Aosta Valley , in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Senate through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region. Source: Ministry of

3312-445: The lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 electional list for the Senate all parties were listed independently without any coalitions formed. None of the parties were neither in internal coalitions at the mainland; so in 2013 the electoral situation abroad actually was not different compared to the electoral situation at the mainland. In most of the rest of Europe, Bersani would have had more than enough support to form

3381-638: The party over disagreements with the party's line and started to support the Renzi Cabinet . The bulk of the splinters joined forces in Freedom and Rights – European Socialists , while some others directly joined Renzi's Democratic Party . In November 2015, SEL formed a joint parliamentary group in the Chamber, named Italian Left (SI), with splinters from the PD (see Future to the Left ) and other parties. In February 2016, SI held its constituent assembly in Rome, where it

3450-563: The party's name, in December 2009 Left Ecology and Freedom (SEL) held a constituent assembly in Rome . The new symbol was presented and Vendola was confirmed as spokesperson. SEL, often in coalition with the PS, did well in the 2010 regional elections , especially in Central and Southern Italy . Overall, SEL won 3.0% of the vote, with the PS at 0.7% and the Greens at 0.2%. In the Apulian election Vendola

3519-549: The political spectrum, including Pier Ferdinando Casini 's Union of the Centre (UdC), Gianfranco Fini 's Future and Freedom (FLI), Luca Cordero di Montezemolo 's Toward the Third Republic (VTR), as well as a number of other politicians from both PD and PdL, pushed for direct involvement of Mario Monti in an election. Monti's statement that he would resign after the budget was passed, was suggested by Reuters to be indicative of him seeking to run for office. Monti also told

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3588-477: The popular vote. Close behind, the new anti-establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo became the third force, well ahead of the centrist coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti . In the Senate, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament . In April 2013 a grand coalition was formed, consisting of Italy Common Good, the Berlusconi coalition and

3657-405: The region of Molise , that is granted two seats in the Senate, seats are allocated proportionally, with no majority bonus. The region of Aosta Valley , which elects one senator, uses a first-past-the-post system. Finally, the region of Trentino-South Tyrol elects seven senators with a limited compensatory system : six senators are elected in six single-member constituencies , while the seventh

3726-465: The role of the State in the economy, reduce the national debt through disposing redundant assets, and to propose market liberalizations and privatizations. On 29 December 2012, a new coalition, Civil Revolution (RC), was formed with the support of Italy of Values (IdV), Orange Movement (MA), Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and Federation of the Greens (FdV). It

3795-448: The sixth ballot, in an unprecedented move, Napolitano was elected for a second term as Italian president. Successively, Napolitano started talks again and on 24 April appointed the Democratic Party's deputy secretary Enrico Letta as designated prime minister on 28 April, he announced that he had managed to form a grand coalition of his Democratic Party, the People of Freedom, Civic Choice,

3864-478: The task of agreeing on a number of shared reforms. At the same time, a new presidential election was called for 18 April. However, the lack of a clear majority turned out to be problematic also in this scenario, as the first five ballots failed to elect a candidate. The Democratic Party split into several factions due to internal conflicts involving the support of party candidates Franco Marini and Romano Prodi , leading to Bersani's resignation as party leader. On

3933-537: The task of forming a new government. Bersani immediately ruled out the possibility of a grand coalition with Berlusconi's right-wing coalition, and instead tried to form a minority government supported by the Five Star Movement. On 28 March, after formal talks with Napolitano, Bersani admitted there was no chance to form such a government. Given the troubles in forming a majority coalition, Napolitano then decided to directly form two informal bipartisan commissions with

4002-616: The time of formation, on 16 March 2009, SL included: The electoral symbol for the 2009 election included the logos of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Federation of the Greens (a member of the European Greens ), the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE–NGL). In the election, SL failed to pass the 4% threshold. Despite that, it was decided that SL would become a party. In October 2009, during

4071-518: The upcoming elections, talks started regarding a direct involvement of Monti as premiership candidate. On 28 December 2012, following a 4-hour meeting and after being publicly backed by the Vatican regarding a potential bid, Monti publicly announced his candidacy as head of the Third Pole, which ran in the Senate as a unique component provisionally named " Monti's Agenda for Italy ", and in the Lower House as

4140-504: The words "Gay and paedophile". Morelli apologized the next day. Vendola has lived with his partner Edward "Ed" Testa since 2004. In 2016, the couple used surrogacy in California to have a baby, Tobia Antonio. Vendola is also a poet: some of his poems have been collected in a book, named L'ultimo mare ("The last sea"). His figure has inspired a biographical film, Nichi . Vendola is a devout Roman Catholic , although he opposes many of

4209-558: Was a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation from the age of fourteen. He went on to study literature at his university, presenting a dissertation on the poet and film director Pier Paolo Pasolini . Vendola became a journalist for l'Unità . He came out as gay in 1978, and became an activist and a leading member of the Italian gay organisation Arcigay . A member of the National Secretariat of

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4278-603: Was announced that SI will be founded as a full-fledged party in December. In March 2016, SI was established as a sub-group within the Mixed Group in the Senate: five SEL senators joined, while other two (including Sardist Luciano Uras ) refused to do so. On 17 December 2016, SEL was merged into SI, which would be officially launched as a party in early 2017. Nichi Vendola Nicola "Nichi" Vendola ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈniːki ˈvɛndola] ; born 26 August 1958)

4347-412: Was endorsed by Alexis Tsipras and included several intellectuals and the Communist Refoundation Party . In the election the list obtained 4.0% of the vote and 3 MEPs. Right after the election, the party suffered a severe split in its parliamentary ranks as 12 deputies out of 37, including the floor leader Gennaro Migliore (who was replaced by Nicola Fratoianni and, soon after, Arturo Scotto ), left

4416-554: Was hit by the sudden opt-out of the whole PS. Since November 2009 SL was thus composed of MpS, SD, UlS, the Ecologists and Socialism and Left , a small minority of PS that wanted to continue the experience of SL. In December SL was officially launched as a party, and Vendola was elected spokesperson. After an important meeting in September in Naples , where it was decided to add "Ecology" to

4485-470: Was in a "dramatic situation". Italian and global shares fell as the result became clear, with the value of the euro also dropping. Strong results for anti-austerity parties were interpreted as showing popular opposition to the austerity measures of the Monti government, with the populist Five Star Movement considered to have had a strong election. Analysts were uncertain as to how this new party would behave in

4554-413: Was later reformed by Law no. 52, 6 May 2015 (commonly called Italicum ). The autonomous region of Aosta Valley , in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Chamber of Deputies through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region. Twelve members of

4623-509: Was questioned by his centre-left allies from the Democratic Party . They asked him to step down to allow the choice of a candidate able to achieve wider support from other political parties, namely the Christian-democratic Union of the Centre . After Vendola refused to step down, the chances of having a new primary election quickly increased. After some weeks of heated debate, elections were called for 24 January 2010. Supported by

4692-967: Was re-elected President of the Region and trailed SEL to 9.7%, its best regional result. The party was officially founded in a congress in Florence on 22–24 October 2010. Vendola was elected president. In 2011 and 2012, the party offered a strong competition to the Democratic Party (PD) in coalition primaries in many cities. In May 2011 Giuliano Pisapia and Massimo Zedda , who had been supported by SEL in primaries, were elected mayors of Milan and Cagliari , respectively. The party gained 5% in Milan, 6% in Turin , 10% in Bologna , 6% in Trieste , 4% in Naples and 7% in Cagliari. In occasion of

4761-462: Was supported by other Eurozone leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy . Merkel's spokesman, Georg Streiter, said that she had "always worked well" with Monti and "had a relationship of esteem"; however, when asked about Berlusconi, he said it was not up to him to decide domestic politics of other countries. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble added that he did not foresee "any destabilization in

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