# 2005 Venetian regional election

The Venetian regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005.
Giancarlo Galan (Forza Italia, House of Freedoms) was re-elected for the third time in a row President of the Region, but the support for him was diminished by the presence of a third candidate, Giorgio Panto, who picked votes both from the centre-right and the Venetist camps, and of a fourth candidate representing the far right, Roberto Bussinello.
Although Forza Italia remained the largest party in the Council and also in the Region as a whole (The Olive Tree was only an electoral alliance at the time and the three parties which were part of it formed separate groups in the Council), it suffered a serious decline in term of votes, from 30.3% of 2000 to 22.7%.
Venetist parties had a very good result: the combined score of Liga Veneta (14.7%), North-East Project (5.4%) and Liga Fronte Veneto (1.2%) was 21.3%, up from the 15.6% of 2000 (Liga Veneta 12.0%, Veneti d'Europa 2.4% and Fronte Marco Polo 1.2%).

## Electoral system

Regional elections in Veneto were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.
A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.
The panachage was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

## Parties and candidates

| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Previous result | Previous result | Candidate |
| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Votes (%) | Seats | Candidate |
| | House of Freedoms | | Forza Italia | 30.4 | 17 | Giancarlo Galan |
| | House of Freedoms | | Northern League – Venetian League | 12.0 | 6 | Giancarlo Galan |
| | House of Freedoms | | National Alliance | 9.8 | 5 | Giancarlo Galan |
| | House of Freedoms | | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | 6.8 | 3 | Giancarlo Galan |
| | House of Freedoms | | New Italian Socialist Party | 0.7 | – | Giancarlo Galan |
| | The Union | | The Olive Tree (incl. DS, DL, SDI) | 27.2 | 18 | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Communist Refoundation Party | 3.0 | 2 | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Liga Fronte Veneto | 2.5 | – | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Federation of the Greens | 2.3 | 1 | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Consumers' List | 1.6 | 1 | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Party of Italian Communists | 1.0 | 1 | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Carraro List | — | — | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Italy of Values | — | — | Massimo Carraro |
| | The Union | | Union of Democrats for Europe | — | — | Massimo Carraro |
| | North-East Project | North-East Project | North-East Project | — | — | Giorgio Panto |
| | Social Alternative (AS – FT – FSN – FN) | Social Alternative (AS – FT – FSN – FN) | Social Alternative (AS – FT – FSN – FN) | — | — | Roberto Bussinello |

## Results

3–4 April 2005 Venetian regional election results :
| Candidates | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Parties | Votes | % | Seat |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | | Forza Italia | 523,896 | 22.71 | 12 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | | Northern League – Venetian League | 337,896 | 14.65 | 7 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | | National Alliance | 186,396 | 8.08 | 4 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | 147,953 | 6.41 | 3 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | | New Italian Socialist Party – Others | 32,851 | 1.42 | 1 |
| | Giancarlo Galan | 1,359,879 | 50.58 | 12 | Total | Total | 1,228,992 | 53.28 | 27 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | The Olive Tree | 560,629 | 24.30 | 13 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | For Veneto with Carraro | 107,333 | 4.65 | 2 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Communist Refoundation Party | 80,424 | 3.49 | 1 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Federation of the Greens | 69,191 | 3.00 | 1 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Party of Italian Communists | 35,067 | 1.52 | 1 |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Italy of Values | 29,607 | 1.28 | – |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Liga Fronte Veneto | 27,524 | 1.19 | – |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Consumers' List | 15,658 | 0.68 | – |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | | Union of Democrats for Europe | 6,265 | 0.27 | – |
| | Massimo Carraro | 1,138,631 | 42.35 | 1 | Total | Total | 931,698 | 40.39 | 18 |
| | Giorgio Panto | 161,642 | 6.01 | – | | North-East Project | 125,690 | 5.45 | 2 |
| | Roberto Bussinello | 28,565 | 1.06 | – | | Social Alternative | 20,434 | 0.89 | – |
| Total candidates | Total candidates | 2,688,717 | 100.00 | 13 | Total parties | Total parties | 2,306,814 | 100.00 | 47 |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior ||||||||||

### Council composition

Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council :
| Political Group | Leader | 2005 | 2010 |
| Forza Italia | Remo Sernagiotto | 16 | 16 |
| The Olive Tree – Venetian Democratic Party | Giovanni Gallo | - | 12 |
| Liga Veneta–Lega Nord | Franco Manzato / Roberto Ciambetti | 11 | 10 |
| National Alliance | Piergiorgio Cortelazzo | 6 | 6 |
| Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | Onorio De Boni | 5 | 4 |
| Italy of Values | Damiano Rossato | - | 2 |
| North-East Project | Mariangelo Foggiato | 2 | 1 |
| For Veneto with Carraro | Marco Zabotti | 2 | 1 |
| Communist Refoundation Party | Pietrangelo Pettenò | 1 | 1 |
| Federation of the Greens | Gianfranco Bettin | 1 | 1 |
| New Italian Socialist Party | Nereo Laroni | 1 | 1 |
| Party of Italian Communists | Nicola Atalmi | 1 | 1 |
| Veneto for the European People's Party | Raffaele Grazia | - | 1 |
| Venetian Agreement | Carlo Covi | - | 1 |
| Venetian People's Movement | Francesco Piccolo | - | 1 |
| Forum of Venetians | Diego Cancian | - | 1 |
| Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy | Achille Variati | 7 | - |
| Democrats of the Left | Giovanni Gallo | 5 | - |
| Italian Democratic Socialists | Carlo Covi | 1 | - |
| United for Carraro | Massimo Carraro | 1 | - |
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members

## Aftermath

After the election, Giancarlo Galan formed his third government. Due to the new strength of Liga Veneta, which received about 2/3 of the vote for Forza Italia, the coalition balance was clearly changed in favour of Liga Veneta. This party had both the post of President of the Regional Council for Marino Finozzi and the most important ministry, the Health ministry, for Flavio Tosi (who was replaced by Francesca Martini in 2007).
Also the post of Vice President of Veneto went to a lighista, Luca Zaia, in place of Fabio Gava (Forza Italia), who had been also Minister of Health in second term. Forza Italia was indeed far less strong than in 2000, when it won 30.3% of the vote: in comparison with 2000, Forza Italia lost three regional deputies, while Liga Veneta had a net gain of four.
Third Galan government :
| Office | Name | Party |
| President | Giancarlo Galan | FI |
| Under-Secretary | Leonardo Padrin (since 12 June 2007) | FI |
| Vice President | Luca Zaia (until 6 June 2008) Franco Manzato (since 6 June 2008) | LV–LN |
| Minister of Economy, Development and Innovation | Fabio Gava (until 9 July 2008) Vendemiano Sartor (since 9 July 2008) | FI |
| Minister of Budget, Finances, International Relations | Maria Luisa Coppola | AN |
| Minister of Health | Flavio Tosi (until 26 June 2007) Francesca Martini (26 June 2007 – 6 June 2008) Sandro Sandri (since 6 June 2008) | LV–LN |
| Minister of Security and Public Works | Massimo Giorgetti | AN |
| Minister of Social Affairs | Antonio De Poli (until 28 July 2006) Stefano Valdegamberi (since 9 November 2006) | UDC |
| Minister of Education | Elena Donazzan | AN |
| Minister of Transports and Infrastructures | Renato Chisso | FI |
| Minister of Agriculture and Tourism | Luca Zaia (until 6 June 2008) Franco Manzato (since 6 June 2008) | LV–LN |
| Minister of Environment | Giancarlo Conta | FI |
| Minister of Immigration | Oscar De Bona | NPSI |
| Minister of Territorial Affairs | Renzo Marangon | FI |
| Minister of Local Affairs | Stefano Valdegamberi (until 9 November 2006) Flavio Silvestrin (since 9 November 2006) | UDC |