Parliamentary Elections in Italy 2013 Struggle Between Demagogy and Pragmatism

Abstract

Parliamentary elections in Italy, which took place on 24 – 25 February 2013 in a very specific political circumstances caused by economical crisis and the internal situation of the Italian State.The fall of the Silvio Berlusconi’s government and replacement it with a technical government did not improve the internal situation of the country, and indeed it has deepened. The withdrawal of support by the Popolo della Libertàto the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti has caused the need for early parliamentary elections. On the political scene appeared new political parties, including Movimento Cinque Stelle (Five Stars Movement), which stood out from the traditionally corrupt politics and proposed a new form of campaign, using such means as the Internet, blogs, and tour around the country. The new group has also set up outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti called Scelta Civica (Civic Choice) aided by the smaller parties which were in the Parliament and supported of the European Union austerity policies. In addition, in the election participated the Democratic Party, the Northern League and the Popolo della Libertà (People of Freedom). In total, their participation in the elections reported 215 political parties. Elections minimally won leftist Democratic Party with a score of 29.54% (Chamber of Deputies). Surprisingly Popolo dellaLibertà of Silvio Berlusconi received 29.13% (Chamber of Deputies). But the biggest winner was the Five Star Movement, which won 25.55% of the seats, while the biggest loser was the group of Mario Monti, because he received only 10.54% of votes. The result above shows that the creation of the coalition will be very difficult. Political class will have to regain the trust of the society to be able to make the necessary reforms to cure the economical situation of Italy and they should focus on the problems of the country and not the Silvio Berlusconi’s excesses.