Previous primary election in Apulia

Primary elections had never been held on a national level before in Italy, and only once at a regional level, in Apulia: in that occasion, Nichi Vendola, a communist and gay Catholic, became the candidate for the centre-left coalition in a region reputed to be conservative and with deep religious roots. The institute of primary election came under criticism from some centre-left moderates, as in their opinion it had produced a useless candidate doomed to failure. However, Vendola's victory against the incumbent governor and centre-right candidate Raffaele Fitto, a much more conventional and moderate young man, vindicated the primary elections in the internal argumentations of The Union.

Candidates

When the primary elections were first proposed, they were mostly meant as a plebiscite for Romano Prodi, since there were no other candidates to the leadership of the coalition. The secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party, Fausto Bertinotti, then announced he would run for the leadership, even if only to act as a symbolic candidate, to avoid a one-candidate election. After some time, more candidates were presented.

The seven candidates for the leadership of The Union were, in the order in which they appear on the electoral ballot:

• Fausto Bertinotti, secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party.
• Antonio Di Pietro, former anti-corruption prosecutor in the Mani Pulite investigation, leader of Italy of Values.
• Ivan Scalfarotto, a manager living in London and a blogger, running as an independent candidate. He is openly bisexual.
• The faceless candidate, formally represented in person by Simona Panzino. This was a symbolic candidate from the anti-globalization movement. Some priests close to these movements were initially suggested for the actual name to place on the ballots, but they were retreated in face of likely backfire from the Holy See.
• Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, secretary of the Federation of the Greens. Other than environmentalism, he had a civil rights-oriented and pacifist agenda. He is openly bisexual.
• Romano Prodi, leader of The Olive Tree coalition; former Prime Minister of Italy and president of the European Commission. Prodi was supported by DS, DL and PdCI.
• Clemente Mastella, leader of the Union of Democrats for Europe. A former ally of Silvio Berlusconi, he was considered the most Catholic and centrist candidate.

The primary election may have been foreseen an easy win for Romano Prodi, with the other candidates running mostly to "measure their strengths" in the coalition, and they often talked about reaching a certain percentage rather than winning. However, there were rumours of supporters of the House of Freedoms trying to participate in the elections, and vote in favour of Mastella, reputed to be the least competent of the candidates and the least likely to win against Berlusconi, other than the most centrist; other rumours indicated such "fake" left-wing voters would vote for Bertinotti, because his leadership would likely lose any grip on the political centre.

The election

The primary election had been held nationwide on 16 October 2005, from 8 am to 10 pm. The primary election was open to all Italian citizens who were at least 18 during the following general election, plus regular immigrants who have lived in Italy for three years (immigrants still do not have the opportunity to vote for any other election in Italy), against a payment of (at least) 1 euro, charged to cover organisational expenses. Poll stations were mainly managed on a voluntary basis; they were hosted mainly in squares, local party quarters, schools, and even restaurants, bars, campers and a hairdresser; some polling stations were also provided outside the country for Italians abroad. Most of the party leaders claimed a result of 1 million voters would be a good success for the election. The total count was in excess of 4,300,000.

Results

59,816 poll stations

Reactions

Most reactions on the centre-left were comprehensibly enthusiastic, especially because of the high number of participants. Clemente Mastella, however, accused the organization of rigging the election and having pre-printed ballots in favour of Prodi.

On the centre-right, two main attitudes were held: some respected or even hailed the election, others contested its validity and characterised them as propaganda.

• Silvio Berlusconi said the primary elections "are the only way they can win";
• Gianfranco Fini expressed respect for voters, but suggested, on the basis of Mastella's claims, that the results may have been rigged;
• Roberto Maroni from the Lega Nord said that the elections "deserve respect in any case, but will not solve the centre-left's internal contradictions";
• Roberto Castelli, minister of justice, stygmatised the elections as a "perfect example of Soviet-style political campaign: there is no certification of the data purported by the centre-left, and knowing their methods they are certainly inflated".
• The Union of Christian and Centre Democrats expressed the most positive judgements from the centre-right, and Bruno Tabacci called for primary elections in the centre-right too, following tensions between his party and Berlusconi, no longer felt to be a strong candidate.

Italian Parliament