1999 Italian Presidential Election

Presidential elections were held in Italy on November 9, 1999 to elect the 11th President of the Italian Republic. The Pole for Freedoms and Good Government ticket was composed by Gianfranco Fini and Altero Matteoli. Incumbent President Silvio Berlusconi was elgible for a second term, however judicial investigations regarding fraud and illegal purchase of cinematographic rights regarding his Mediaset company, prevented him from running.

Berlusconi concluded his first term with a generally strenghtened Italy both in domestic and international positions; his administration successfully created one million of job posts and gradually reduced unemployment from 7.3% to 4.8%. Inflation also decreased from 28.5%, as it dramatically increased in 1986, to just 6.1%. GDP growth registered over 6.9% and national debt also decreased from 152% to 140%.

The Pole nominee Gianfranco Fini presented his conservative agenda, with a focus on fighting crime and drug usage, especially in populated centers such as Rome, Turn and Milan. He also expressed support for a decisive reduction in taxes, expressing the view that the left-wing coalition which ruled the nation from 1953 until 1994 installed more and more heavy taxes. Fini considered himself as an economic neoliberal, and is willing to reduce taxes on enterprises and on salaries.

The Alliance of Progressists nominee Massimo D'Alema instead advocated for stronger worker rights, healthcare modernization and the abolishment of mandatory military service. His running mate, Sergio Mattarella, criticized Berlusconi for being in trouble for the law and campaigned for harsher prison sentences for crimes regarding the monopoly of information. Key activist and jurist Antonio Di Pietro created the political force Italy of Values to preserve the current justice system and new reforms that would have given judges enhanced powers.

Background
On the onset of the "Second Republic", new reforms that would have essentially transformed Italy from a parliamentary system to a presidential, federal one were written and approved. Tycoon and businessman Silvio Berlusconi founded his center-right party, Forza Italia, just weeks before the presidential election. Against any poll, he won the electon both by popular vote and electoral votes. Berlusconi registered a key victory with his allies in 1996, when the legislative election was called to elect 650 members of the House of Representatives, obtaining an effective majority which approved all government decrees and decisions. In the Alliance of Progressists, an internal earthquake was observed. After losing the 1994 and 1996 contests, party secretary Achille Occhetto resigned, and the national congress elected Massimo D'Alema as a replacement. He engaged on alliance with centrist forces to prepare for further legislative elections, and campaigned especially in Southern Italy.