2009 Italian Presidential Election

Presidential elections were held in Italy on November 9, 2009 to elect the President of the Italian Republic. Several changes in the political landscape were noted; Silvio Berlusconi announced his bid for the presidency on July 7, 2008 through his new party unifying aForza Italia and National Alliance, the People of Freedom. Incumbent president Gianfranco Fini was not elgible for a second term.

Background
During Fini presidency, the political scene evolved; the Olive Tree, a center-left coalition of parties, disbanded after the inability to achieve significant results. Meanwhile, Berlusconi emerged from silence and started negotiations with Fini to create an-all center-right political party, effectivey disbanding the House of Liberties that accompained the center-right parties until 2008. The party was founded that same year, and it contested both the presidential and legislative elections.

On the left, several politicians took inspiration from what happened in the right wing spectrum and created an-all center-left party, named the Democratic Party.