Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

The Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy) takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government and Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council. However, since a constitutional reform in 1972, almost all the executive and legislative powers are devolved to the two provinces of which the region is composed: Trentino and the South Tyrol.

The politics of Trentino takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the governor is heads of government, while the politics of South Tyrol retains a parliamentary system, in which the governor is usually the most voted provincial deputy and heads the provincial government.

Regional government

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale, Landesregierung) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione, Landeshauptmann) and is composed by the President and the Ministers (Assessori), who are currently 5, including two Vice Presidents. Since 2001, the Presidents of the two Provinces alternate as President of the Region, with the one who's not in charge serving as First Vice President.

Current composition

List of presidents

Presidents of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
President	Party	Term	Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi	DC	1948–1953	I Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi	DC	1953–1957	II Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi	DC	1957–1961	III Legislature
Luigi Dalvit	DC	1961–1965	IV Legislature
Luigi Dalvit	DC	1965–1967	V Legislature
Giorgio Grigolli	DC	1967–1969	V Legislature
Giorgio Grigolli	DC	1969–1973	VI Legislature
Bruno Kessler	DC	1974–1976	VII Legislature
Flavio Mengoni	DC	1976–1977
Spartaco Marziani	DC	1977–1979
Enrico Pancheri	DC	1979–1984	VIII Legislature
Pierluigi Angeli	DC	1984–1987	IX Legislature
Gianni Bazzanella	DC	1987–1989	IX Legislature
Gianni Bazzanella	DC	1989–1992	X Legislature
Tarcisio Andreolli	DC	1992–1994	X Legislature
Tarcisio Grandi	PPI	1994–1999	XI Legislature
Margherita Cogo	DS	1999–2002	XII Legislature
Carlo Andreotti	PATT	2002–2004	XII Legislature
Luis Durnwalder	SVP	2004–2006	XIII Legislature
Lorenzo Dellai	Civica	2006–2008	XIII Legislature
Luis Durnwalder	SVP	2008–2011	XIV Legislature
Lorenzo Dellai	UpT	2011–2013
Alberto Pacher	PD	2013–2014
Ugo Rossi	PATT	2014–2016	XV Legislature
Arno Kompatscher	SVP	2016–2018	XV Legislature
Arno Kompatscher	SVP	2018–2021	XVI Legislature
Maurizio Fugatti	LT	2021–2024	XVI Legislature
Arno Kompatscher	SVP	2024–present	XVII Legislature

Regional Council

The Regional Council of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is composed of 70 members, 35 from Trentino and 35 from South Tyrol. The regional deputies are elected separately as provincial deputies. In practice the Regional Council is the meeting of the two Provincial Councils.

Political parties and elections

The Region has actually two different system of parties: one for each Province. Since the constitutional reform of 2001, regional elections are nothing more than two separate provincial elections and the Region does not provide anymore vote totals region-wide.

Politics of Trentino

Provincial government

List of presidents

This is the list of presidents of Trentino (Italian: Presidente, German: Landeshauptmann) since 1948.

President		Term of office		Party	Administration	Coalition	Legislature
President		Duration in years, months and days		Party	Administration	Coalition	Legislature
1	Giuseppe Balista (1901–1977)	20 December 1948	19 December 1952	DC	Balista I	DC	I (1948)
1	Giuseppe Balista (1901–1977)	4 years		DC	Balista II	DC	I (1948)
2	Remo Albertini (1920–2005)	19 December 1952	14 December 1956	DC	Albertini	DC	II (1952)
2	Remo Albertini (1920–2005)	3 years, 11 months and 26 days		DC	Albertini	DC	II (1952)
3	Riccardo Rosa (1902–1970)	14 December 1956	30 December 1960	DC	Rosa	DC	III (1956)
3	Riccardo Rosa (1902–1970)	4 years and 17 days		DC	Rosa	DC	III (1956)
4	Bruno Kessler (1924–1991)	30 December 1960	13 March 1974	DC	Kessler I	DC	IV (1960)
		30 December 1960	13 March 1974		Kessler II	DC • PSI	V (1964)
		13 years, 2 months and 14 days			Kessler III	DC	VI (1968)
5	Giorgio Grigolli (1927–2016)	13 March 1974	15 March 1979	DC	Grigolli I	DC • PSDI • PRI	VII (1973)
5	Giorgio Grigolli (1927–2016)	5 years and 3 days		DC	Grigolli II	DC	VII (1973)
6	Flavio Mengoni (1929–2013)	15 March 1979	30 October 1985	DC	Mengoni I	DC • PRI	VIII (1978)
					Mengoni II	DC • PRI
					Mengoni III	DC • PSDI • PLI
					Mengoni IV	DC • PSDI • PLI
		6 years, 7 months and 16 days			Mengoni V	DC • PRI • PLI	IX (1983)
7	Pierluigi Angeli (born 1938)	30 October 1985	16 February 1989	DC	Angeli	DC • PSI • PRI
7	Pierluigi Angeli (born 1938)	3 years, 3 months and 18 days		DC	Angeli	DC • PSI • PRI
8	Mario Malossini (born 1947)	16 February 1989	4 June 1992	DC	Malossini	DC • PSI	X (1988)
8	Mario Malossini (born 1947)	3 years, 3 months and 20 days		DC	Malossini	DC • PSI
9	Gianni Bazzanella (born 1940)	4 June 1992	4 March 1994	DC	Bazzanella	DC • PSI • PSDI
9	Gianni Bazzanella (born 1940)	1 year, 9 months and 1 day		DC	Bazzanella	DC • PSI • PSDI
10	Carlo Andreotti (born 1943)	4 March 1994	24 February 1999	PATT	Andreotti	PATT • PRI • PSDI	XI (1993)
10	Carlo Andreotti (born 1943)	4 years, 11 months and 21 days		PATT	Andreotti	PATT • PRI • PSDI	XI (1993)
11	Lorenzo Dellai (born 1959)	24 February 1999	29 December 2012	DL	Dellai I	The Olive Tree (DL • DS • FdV)	XII (1998)
				DL	Dellai II	The Olive Tree (DL • DS)	XIII (2003)
				UpT	Dellai III	PD • UpT • PATT	XIV (2008)
		13 years, 10 months and 6 days		UpT	Dellai III	PD • UpT • PATT
-	Alberto Pacher^[1] (born 1956)	29 December 2012	9 November 2013	PD	Pacher	PD • UpT • PATT
-	Alberto Pacher^[1] (born 1956)	10 months and 12 days		PD	Pacher	PD • UpT • PATT
12	Ugo Rossi (born 1963)	9 November 2013	2 November 2018	PATT	Rossi	PD • UpT • PATT	XV (2013)
12	Ugo Rossi (born 1963)	4 years, 11 months and 25 days		PATT	Rossi	PD • UpT • PATT	XV (2013)
13	Maurizio Fugatti (born 1972)	2 November 2018	Incumbent	LT	Fugatti I	LT • FI • CT	XVI (2018)
		6 years, 1 month and 27 days		LT	Fugatti II	LT • FdI • PATT	XVII (2023)

Timeline

References

^ The 29 December 2012 Lorenzo Dellai resigned early to run for parliament. With less than a year to go before the end of the regional legislature, Alberto Pacher assumed the functions, but not the title, of president of the province. Current legislation, in fact, states that the president is elected directly by the citizens, something that did not happen to Pacher.

Provincial Council

Latest provincial election

2023 Trentino provincial election results
Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
1 1 7 1 3 1 3 2 1 4 6 5
	Maurizio Fugatti	129,758	51.82	1
						Trentino League	30,347	13.05	5	–8
						Brothers of Italy	28,714	12.35	5	+5
						Fugatti for President	24,953	10.73	4	New
						Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party	19,011	8.18	3	–3
						La Civica	11,285	4.85	2	±0
						Forza Italia	4,708	2.02	0	–1
						Fassa Association	2,018	0.87	1	±0
						Union of the Centre	1,362	0.59	0	±0
					Total		122,398	52.64	20	–3
	Francesco Valduga	93,888	37.50	1
						Democratic Party	38,689	16.64	7	+3
						Campobase	19,553	8.41	3	+2
						Autonomy House	9,968	4.29	1	New
						Greens and Left Alliance	7,565	3.25	1	+1
						Fascegn	3,634	1.56	0	±0
						Italia Viva	3,399	1.46	0	New
						Action	3,302	1.42	0	New
					Total		86,110	37.03	12	+5
	Filippo Degasperi	9,533	3.81	1
						Wave	5,864	2.52	0	New
						My Valley	1,204	0.52	0	New
						People's Union	1,088	0.47	0	±0
					Total		8,156	3.51	0	—
	Marco Rizzo	5,651	2.26	0		Sovereign Popular Democracy	5,457	2.35	0	New
	Sergio Divina	5,558	2.22	0
						Popular Alternative	2,261	0.97	0	New
						Us with Divina for President	1,845	0.79	0	New
						Youth for Divina	642	0.28	0	New
					Total		4,748	2.04	0	—
	Alex Marini	4,796	1.92	0		Five Star Movement	4,523	1.95	0	–1
	Elena Dardo	1,205	0.48	0		Alternative	1,121	0.48	0	New

Total candidates		250,389	100	3	Total parties		232,513	100	32	±0
Source: Autonomous Province of Trento

Local government

Municipality	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Trento	117,317	Franco Ianeselli	Democratic Party	2020
Rovereto	39,289	Francesco Valduga	Democratic Party	2020
Pergine Valsugana	21,280	Roberto Oss Emer	Independent	2020
Arco	17,526	Alessandro Betta	Democratic Party	2020
Riva del Garda	16,926	Cristina Santi	Lega Trentino	2020

Politics of South Tyrol

The politics of South Tyrol is conducted through a parliamentary, democratic autonomous province with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Landesregierung, which is led by the Governor, referred to as "Landeshauptmann" in German. Legislative power is vested in the Landtag primarily, and secondarily on the provincial government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. South Tyrol has been an autonomous province within the Italian Republic since 1948, when the Gruber – De Gasperi Agreement was agreed upon between Austria and Italy. The current Landeshauptmann is Arno Kompatscher.

Provincial government

Luis Durnwalder was governor of South Tyrol from 1989 until 2014.

The local government system is based upon the provisions of the Italian Constitution and the Autonomy Statute of the Region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.^[1] The 1972 second Statute of Autonomy for Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol devolved most legislative and executive competences from the regional level to the provincial level, creating de facto two separate regions.

The executive powers are attributed to the provincial government (German: Landesregierung; Italian: Giunta Provinciale) headed by the Landeshauptmann Arno Kompatscher, who has been in power since 2014. He belongs to the South Tyrolean People's Party.

List of governors

Governors of South Tyrol
Governor		Portrait	Party	Term		Coalition	Legislature	Election
	Karl Erckert (1894–1955)		SVP	20 December 1948	19 December 1952	SVP • DC • PSDI • UI^[a]	I Legislature	1948
	Karl Erckert (1894–1955)		SVP	20 December 1952	15 December 1955^[b]	SVP • DC	II Legislature	1952
	Alois Pupp (1900–1969)		SVP	7 January 1956	14 December 1956		II Legislature	1952
	Alois Pupp (1900–1969)		SVP	15 December 1956	30 December 1960		III Legislature	1956
	Silvius Magnago (1914–2010)		SVP	31 December 1960	3 February 1965		IV Legislature	1960
				4 February 1965	16 February 1969		V Legislature	1964
				17 February 1969	14 May 1970		VI Legislature	1968
				15 May 1970	14 March 1974	SVP • DC • PSI	VI Legislature	1968
				15 March 1974	10 April 1979	SVP • DC • PSI	VII Legislature	1973
				11 April 1979	26 April 1984	SVP • DC • PSDI	VIII Legislature	1978
				27 April 1984	16 March 1989	SVP • DC • PSI	IX Legislature	1983
	Luis Durnwalder (b. 1941)		SVP	17 March 1989	10 February 1994	SVP • DC • PSI	X Legislature	1988
				11 February 1994	3 February 1999	SVP • PPI • PDS	XI Legislature	1993
				4 February 1999	17 December 2003	SVP • DS • PPI • UDAA	XII Legislature	1998
				18 December 2003	17 December 2008	SVP • DS • UDAA	XIII Legislature	2003
				18 December 2008	8 January 2014	SVP • PD	XIV Legislature	2008
	Arno Kompatscher (b. 1971)		SVP	9 January 2014	16 January 2019	SVP • PD	XV Legislature	2013
				17 January 2019	17 January 2024	SVP • LAAS	XVI Legislature	2018
				18 January 2024	Incumbent	SVP • FdI • DF • LAAS • LC^[c]	XVII Legislature	2023

Provincial Council

The provincial assembly building of South Tyrol.

The considerable legislative power of the province is vested in a provincial assembly called Landtag (German: Südtiroler Landtag; Italian: Consiglio della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano; Ladin: Cunsëi dla Provinzia Autonoma de Bulsan). The legislative powers of the assembly cover all those subject matters that are not expressly reserved to the exclusive legislative power of the Italian State or to concurrent legislation per article 117 of the Italian Constitution.

Latest provincial election



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	South Tyrolean People's Party	97,092	34.53	13	−2
	Team K	31,201	11.09	4	−2
	South Tyrolean Freedom	30,583	10.88	4	+2
	Greens	25,445	9.05	3	±0
	Brothers of Italy	16,747	5.96	2	+1
	JWA List	16,596	5.90	2	New
	Die Freiheitlichen	13,836	4.92	2	±0
	Democratic Party	9,707	3.45	1	±0
	For South Tyrol with Widmann	9,646	3.43	1	±0
	League–United for Alto Adige	8,541	3.04	1	−3
	La Civica	7,301	2.60	1	New
	Vita	7,222	2.57	1	New
	Five Star Movement	2,086	0.74	–	−1
	Enzian	1,990	0.71	–	New
	Forza Italia	1,625	0.58	–	±0
	Centre-Right	1,601	0.57	–	New
Total		281,219	100.00	35	–

Valid votes		281,219	96.87
Invalid/blank votes		9,080	3.13
Total votes		290,299	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		429,841	67.54
Source: Official Results

Popular vote

SVP			34.53%
TK			11.09%
STF			10.88%
Grüne			9.05%
FdI			5.96%
JWA			5.90%
dF			4.92%
PD			3.45%
Widmann			3.43%
Lega			3.04%
Civica			2.60%
Vita			2.57%
M5S			0.74%
Enzian			0.71%
FI			0.58%
CD			0.57%

Local government

Municipality	Inhabitants		Party	Election
Bolzano	106,441	Renzo Caramaschi	Independent	2020
Merano	39,462	Paul Rösch	Greens	2020
Brixen	21,535	Peter Brunner	South Tyrolean People's Party	2020
Laives	17,700	Christian Bianchi	Lega Alto Adige Südtirol	2020
Bruneck	16,109	Roland Griessmair	South Tyrolean People's Party	2020

Autonomy and separatism

The Südtiroler Heimatbund asked the Soffi-Institute in Innsbruck to conduct an opinion poll on the future of South Tyrol. The poll was conducted at the end of 2005 in which only German-speaking South Tyroleans were asked. 45.33% of those asked were in favour of remaining with Italy, 54.67% were against remaining. The latter group comprised 33.40% in favour of an independent state and 21.27% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria.^[2]

Another poll conducted in August 2008 by the apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling in Bolzano asked 502 Italian-speaking South Tyroleans of their opinion. The poll consisted of three parts. To the first question if a referendum about remaining with Italy should be held at all, 41% said yes and 59% no. In the event of a referendum, 78% wished to remain with Italy, 20% were in favour of an independent state and 2% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria.^[3]

A poll conducted in 2013 among German and Ladin speakers by the Austrian Kasmarin agency showed the following results: To the question "If a referendum were conducted also in South Tyrol and you had a choice, how would you decide?", 26% would opt for staying within Italy, and 54% for independence from Italy.^[4]

Across the border in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the Tiroler Tageszeitung conducted a poll in January 2009 to gauge the opinion of the inhabitants of North and East Tyrol. 500 people were asked in the poll. In 2008, 45% wished a reunification with South Tyrol, that number increased in 2009 by 4% to 49% in favour. 36.6% were against reunification while 14.1% had no opinion. In the age group of 15- to 29-year-olds, 71% were in favour of reunification. The highest support by district was in the Oberland with 67% while Innsbruck city and district was lowest with 42%.^[5]

On the left, a signpost placed by the right-wing party South Tyrolean Freedom at the Austro-Italian border (Austrian side) proclaiming "Süd-Tirol ist nicht Italien!" ("South Tyrol is not Italy!). On the right, a similar poster in Merano has been bedaubed, to cancel the word "not".

The independence controversy has been an issue especially of German-speaking right-wing parties: South Tyrolean Freedom, JWA List, Die Freiheitlichen and Citizens' Union for South Tyrol. With the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, the idea of a Freistaat (free state) resurfaced again.^[6]^[7] Especially, South Tyrolean Freedom and her founding leader Eva Klotz, with the campaign South Tyrol is not Italy!, have been among the strongest advocates of self-determination.

Sources and further reading

External links

^ Union of Independents.
^ Died in office.
^ External support.

^ "Special Statute for Trentino-Alto Adige" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
^ Südtiroler Heimatbund (2006). "Wissenschaftliche Meinungsumfrage des Heimatbundes und Cossiga-Vorschlag". SOFFI-Institut. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
^ Südtiroler Heimatbund (2008). "Meinungsumfrage zur Selbstbestimmung: Nur 55% der Italiener würden definitiv für Italien wählen". apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
^ "Die Sezessions-Umfrage". Tageszeitung Online. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
^ "Gesamttirol gewinnt Anhänger". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
^ "Die Vision Freistaat". Panel discussion held by Dr. Günther Pallaver (Political Scientist, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Innsbruck), with Dr. Riccardo Dello Sbarba (Landtagsabgeordneter der Grünen Fraktion), Dr. Eva Klotz (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Freiheit), Pius Leitner (Landtagsabgeordneter der Freitheitlichen), Dr. Martha Stocker (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Volkspartei). Cusanus Akademie in Brixen. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
^ "Selbstbestimmungsrenaissance?". Intervista a Professor Günther Pallaver. Brennerbasisdemokratie. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[1] The 29 December 2012 Lorenzo Dellai resigned early to run for parliament. With less than a year to go before the end of the regional legislature, Alberto Pacher assumed the functions, but not the title, of president of the province. Current legislation, in fact, states that the president is elected directly by the citizens, something that did not happen to Pacher.

[3] Union of Independents.

[4] Died in office.

[5] External support.

[2] "Special Statute for Trentino-Alto Adige" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.

[6] Südtiroler Heimatbund (2006). "Wissenschaftliche Meinungsumfrage des Heimatbundes und Cossiga-Vorschlag". SOFFI-Institut. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[7] Südtiroler Heimatbund (2008). "Meinungsumfrage zur Selbstbestimmung: Nur 55% der Italiener würden definitiv für Italien wählen". apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[8] "Die Sezessions-Umfrage". Tageszeitung Online. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

[9] "Gesamttirol gewinnt Anhänger". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[10] "Die Vision Freistaat". Panel discussion held by Dr. Günther Pallaver (Political Scientist, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Innsbruck), with Dr. Riccardo Dello Sbarba (Landtagsabgeordneter der Grünen Fraktion), Dr. Eva Klotz (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Freiheit), Pius Leitner (Landtagsabgeordneter der Freitheitlichen), Dr. Martha Stocker (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Volkspartei). Cusanus Akademie in Brixen. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[11] "Selbstbestimmungsrenaissance?". Intervista a Professor Günther Pallaver. Brennerbasisdemokratie. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

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