Editing Romano Prodi (section)

==Second term as Prime Minister (2006–2008)==
===Italian 2006 general election===
After having won the centre-left primary election, Prodi led The Union coalition in the [[2006 Italian general election|2006 election]]. The Union was a heterogeneous alliance, which was formed by centrist parties like [[Union of Democrats for Europe|UDEUR]] and communists like PRC and [[Party of Italian Communists]].

Prodi led his coalition to the electoral campaign preceding the election, eventually on 9 and 10 April won by a very narrow margin of 25,000 votes, and a final majority of two seats in the [[Senate of Italy|Senate]]. Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed.  On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory;<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4897994.stm Centre-left claims Italy victory], [[BBC News]]</ref> Berlusconi never conceded defeat explicitly but this is not required by the [[Italian law]].

[[2006 Italian general election#Results|Preliminary results]] showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]], with 340 seats to 277, thanks to obtaining a majority bonus (actual votes were distributed 49.81% to 49.74%). One more seat is allied with The Union ([[Aosta Valley]]) and 7 more seats in the foreign constituency. The House of Freedoms had secured a slight majority of Senate seats elected within Italy (155 seats to 154), but The Union won 4 of the 6 seats allocated to [[#Vote abroad|voters outside Italy]], giving them control of both chambers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/11/italy.elections/index.html |title=Berlusconi refuses to concede |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=11 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412121023/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/11/italy.elections/index.html |archive-date=12 April 2006}}</ref>

On 19 April 2006, Italy's [[Court of Cassation (Italy)|Supreme Court of Cassation]] ruled that Prodi had indeed won the election, winning control of the Chamber of Deputies by only 24,755 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast, and winning 158 seats in the Senate to 156 for Berlusconi's coalition. Even so, Berlusconi refused to concede defeat, claiming unproven fraud.

===Government formation===
Prodi's appointment was somewhat delayed, as the outgoing president of the Republic, [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]], ended his mandate in May, not having enough time for the usual procedure (consultations made by the president, appointment of a prime minister, the motion of confidence and oath of office). After the acrimonious [[2006 Italian presidential election|election]] of [[Giorgio Napolitano]] to replace Ciampi, Prodi could proceed with his transition to government. On 16 May he was invited by Napolitano to form a government. The following day, 17 May 2006, Prodi and his [[Prodi II Cabinet|second cabinet]] were sworn into office.

Prodi's new cabinet drew in politicians from across his centre-left winning coalition, in addition to [[Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa]], an unelected former official of the [[European Central Bank]] with no partisan membership. Romano Prodi obtained the support for his cabinet on 19 May at the [[Senate of Italy|Senate]] and on 23 May at the [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]].

The coalition led by Prodi, thanks to the electoral law which gave the winner a sixty-seat majority, can count on a good majority in the Chamber of Deputies but only on a very narrow majority in the Senate. The composition of the coalition was heterogeneous, combining parties of [[communism|communist]] ideology, the [[Party of Italian Communists]] and [[Communist Refoundation Party]], within the same government as parties of [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] inspiration, [[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy]] and [[UDEUR]]. The latter was led by [[Clemente Mastella]], former chairman of Christian Democracy. Therefore, according to critics,{{by whom|date=November 2011}} it was difficult to have a single policy in different key areas, such as economics and foreign politics (for instance, Italian military presence in [[Afghanistan]]).

===Foreign policy===
[[File:33rdG8Leaders.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi at the [[33rd G8 summit|Helligendamm G8 Summit]], June 2007]]
In foreign policy, the Prodi II Cabinet continued the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|engagement in Afghanistan]], under UN command, while withdrawing troops from post-invasion [[Iraq]] on 18 May 2006, when Prodi laid out some sense of his new [[foreign policy]], pledging to withdraw Italian troops from [[Iraq]] and called the [[Iraq War]] a "grave mistake that has not solved but increased the problem of security".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,,1778041,00.html |title=Prodi condemns Iraq war as 'grave mistake' |access-date=25 February 2007 |date=18 May 2006 |author=Sturcke, James|work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref>

The major effort of foreign minister [[Massimo D'Alema]] concerned the aftermath of the [[2006 Lebanon War]], being the first to offer troops to the UN for the constitution of the [[UNIFIL]] force, and assuming its command in February 2007. In fact, Prodi had a key role in the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force in [[Lebanon]] following the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Italy led negotiations with the Israeli foreign minister [[Tzipi Livni]] and was proposed by Israel to head the multinational peacekeeping mission, although the dangers of the mission for Italian troops sparked warnings from the center-right opposition that it could prove a "kamikaze" mission, with the peacekeepers sandwiched between Israel and the well-armed [[Hezbollah]].<ref name=Haaretz-08-22>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/753518.html|title=Italy to send up to 3,000 troops to Lebanon, largest pledge so far|work=[[Haaretz]]|date=22 August 2006|access-date=22 August 2006|archive-date=1 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901034954/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/753518.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Prodi and D'Alema pledged Italy's willingness to enforce the United Nations resolution on Lebanon and urged other European Union member states to do the same because the stability of the Middle East should be a chief concern for Europeans.<ref name=NewYorkTimes-08-24>{{cite news|title=France Pledges More Troops to Lebanon|date=24 August 2006|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24cnd-force.html?hp&ex=1156478400&en=46313588d9065f6f&ei=5094&partner=homepage|first=Craig S.|last=Smith|access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref>

===Coalition's troubles===
Prodi's government faced a crisis over policies in early 2007, after just nine months of government. Three ministers in Prodi's Cabinet boycotted a vote in January to continue funding for Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan. Lawmakers approved the expansion of the US military base [[Caserma Ederle]] at the end of January, but the victory was so narrow that Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli criticised members of the coalition who had not supported the government. At around the same time, [[Italian Minister of Justice|Justice Minister]] [[Clemente Mastella]], of the coalition member UDEUR, said he would rather see the government fall than support its unwed couples legislation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6324829.stm|title=Rift threatens Italian coalition|access-date=25 February 2007 |date=2 February 2007 |work=BBC News }}</ref>

Tens of thousands of people marched in [[Vicenza]] against the expansion of Caserma Ederle, which saw the participation of some leading far-left members of the government.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6370671.stm|title=Italians march in US base protest|access-date=25 February 2007 |date=17 February 2007 |work=BBC News }}</ref> Harsh debates followed in the Italian Senate on 20 February 2007. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister [[Massimo D'Alema]] declared during an official visit in [[Ibiza]], Spain, that, without a majority on foreign policy affairs, the government would resign. The following day, D'Alema gave a speech at the Senate representing the government, clarifying his foreign policy and asking the [[Italian Senate|Senate]] to vote for or against it. In spite of the fear of many senators that Prodi's defeat would return [[Silvio Berlusconi]] to power, the Senate did not approve a motion backing Prodi's government foreign policy, two votes shy of the required majority of 160.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/italian-pm-prodi-resigns-after-foreign-policy-defeat-1.651945|title=Italian PM Prodi resigns after foreign policy defeat|access-date=25 February 2007 |date=21 February 2007 |work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>

[[File:Prodi Napolitano.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Prodi with President [[Giorgio Napolitano]]]]
After a government meeting on 21 February, Romano Prodi tendered his resignation to the president, [[Giorgio Napolitano]], who cut short an official visit to [[Bologna]] in order to receive the prime minister. Prodi's spokesman indicated that he would only agree to form a new Government "if, and only if, he is guaranteed the full support of all the parties in the majority from now on."<ref name="Italian PM hands in resignation">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/6383051.stm |title=Italian PM hands in resignation |access-date=24 February 2007 |date=21 February 2007 |work=BBC News }}</ref> On 22 February, centre-left coalition party leaders backed a non-negotiable list of twelve political conditions given by Prodi as conditions of his remaining in office. President Napolitano held talks with political leaders on 23 February to decide whether to confirm Prodi's Government, ask Prodi to form a new government or call fresh elections.<ref name="Italian coalition 'to back Prodi'">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6388455.stm |title=Italian coalition 'to back Prodi|access-date=24 February 2007 |date=23 February 2007 |work=BBC News }}</ref>

Following these talks, on 24 February, President Napolitano asked Prodi to remain in office but to submit to a vote of confidence in both houses.<ref name="Italian coalition 'to back Prodi'"/><ref name="Italian PM asked to resume duties">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6391669.stm |title=Italian PM asked to resume duties |access-date=24 February 2007 |date=24 February 2007 |work=BBC News }}</ref> On 28 February, the Senate voted to grant confidence to Prodi's Government. Though facing strong opposition from the centre-right coalition, the vote resulted in a 162–157 victory. Prodi then faced a vote of confidence in the lower house on 2 March, which he won as expected with a large majority of 342–198.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/02/italy.prodi.reut/index.html]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

On 14 October 2007, Prodi oversaw the merger of two main parties of the Italian centre-left, [[Democrats of the Left]] and [[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy]], creating the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]]. Prodi himself led the merger of the two parties, which had been planned over a twelve-year period, and became the first President of the party. He announced his resignation from that post on 16 April 2008, two days after the Democratic Party's defeat in the general election.

===2008 crisis and resignation===
{{see also|2008 Italian political crisis}}
In early January 2008, [[Italian Minister of Justice|Justice Minister]] and [[Union of Democrats for Europe]]'s leader [[Clemente Mastella]] resigned after his wife Sandra Lonardo was put under house arrest for [[political corruption|corruption]] charges. With three Senators, UDEUR was instrumental in ensuring a narrow centre-left majority in the Italian Senate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7194342.stm|publisher=BBC News |title=Italy's ruling coalition weakened|date=17 January 2008|access-date=24 January 2008}}</ref>

After first promising to support the government, he later retracted this support, and his party followed, in part also due to pressure from the [[Holy See|Vatican]], for which the government's proposed laws in regards to [[registered partnership]]s of same-sex couples, and other liberal reforms were objectionable.<ref name="TIME">{{cite web | url = http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1706790,00.html?xid=rss-world | title = How An Italian Government Falls | publisher = [[Time (magazine)|TIME]] | author = Jeff Israely | date = 24 January 2008 | access-date = 27 January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080129005649/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1706790%2C00.html?xid=rss-world | archive-date = 29 January 2008 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Mastella also cited lack of solidarity from the majority parties after the arrest of his wife, and declared that his party would vote against the government bills since then.

The decision of former Minister of Justice Mastella arrived a few days after the confirmation of the [[Constitutional Court of Italy|Constitutional Court]] which confirmed the [[Referendum in Italy|referendum]] to modify the electoral system.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSL1685828620080116 "Italian court okays referendum on election law"] Reuters, 16 January 2008</ref> As stated many times by Minister Mastella, if the referendum had been confirmed, it would lead directly to the fall of the government<ref>[http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2007/04_Aprile/10/legge_elettorale_mastella_referendum.shtml "Legge elettorale, Mastella minaccia la crisi"] ''Corriere della Sera'', 10 April 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200704articoli/20302girata.asp "Mastella: Se c'è referendum si rischia la crisi di governo"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828192601/http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200704articoli/20302girata.asp |date=28 August 2007 }} ''La Stampa'', 10 April 2007</ref>
and it happened.<br /> The fall of the government would disrupt a pending election-law referendum that, if passed, would make it harder for small parties like Mastella's to gain seats in parliament.<ref>
[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEv_XkZP2lg0&refer=home "Prodi Likely to Quit, Prompt Vote or Election Reform"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613163056/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 |date=13 June 2010 }} Bloomberg.com</ref>

The UDEUR defection forced caused Prodi to ask for a confidence vote in both Chambers: he won a clear majority in the Chamber of Deputies on 23 January,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7205578.stm|publisher=BBC News |title=Embattled Italy PM backed by MPs|date=23 January 2008|access-date=24 January 2008}}</ref> but was defeated 156 to 161 (with 1 abstention)<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://it.wikinews.org/wiki/Crisi_di_governo:_il_Senato_sfiducia_Prodi Crisi di governo: il Senato sfiducia Prodi – Wikinotizie]. It.wikinews.org. Retrieved on 24 August 2013.</ref> in the Senate the next day. He therefore tendered his resignation as prime minister to President [[Giorgio Napolitano]], who accepted it and appointed the President of the Senate, [[Franco Marini]], with the task of evaluating possibilities for forming interim government to implement electoral reforms prior to holding elections. Marini, after consultation with all major political forces, acknowledged the impossibility of doing so on 5 February, forcing Napolitano to announce the end of the legislature.<ref name="Ansa scioglimento">{{cite web|url=http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/visualizza_fdg.html_12342748.html|title=Domani Lo Scioglimento Delle Camere |publisher=[[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata|Ansa]]|date=5 February 2008|access-date=5 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204214404/http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/visualizza_fdg.html_12342748.html|archive-date=4 February 2008|language=it}}</ref> Prodi said that he would not seek to lead a new government and snap election were called.<ref>Andrew Davis and Steve Scherer, [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a773AGctFECE&refer=home "Prodi Government Near Collapse After Key Ally Defects (Update2)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613163056/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 |date=13 June 2010 }}, Bloomberg.com, 22 January 2008.</ref> In the [[2008 Italian general election|election]] that followed in April 2008, Berlusconi's centre-right [[The People of Freedom]] and allies defeated the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7347618.stm |title=Berlusconi declares election win |publisher=BBC News |date=14 April 2008}}</ref>