1980 Italian presidential election

Indirect presidential elections were held inItaly on 30 April 1980. They were invoked by outgoing President Giorgio Almirante to elect the 3rd State President of Italy. It was the second time an election took place since the 1970 coup. Several candidates presented their lists, however only two were accepted, namely Vice President Pino Tatarella and the secretary of a neo-fascist political force, Pino Rauti which also was the running mate of Junio Valerio Borghese during the 1972 run.

As left-wing lists were banned, Tatarella campaigned on the continuation of his predecessor economic policies, which led Italy to compete with other European powers such as the United Kingdom and France. He also focused on a stronger foreign policy, while mantaining good relations with western world powers, which remained cordial even after the coup. Rauti instead proposed to reverse previous policies in favour of protectionism and state intervention.

Further reforms followed during Almirante presidency; a crackdown on far-left and left-wing activities followed, but also on the far-right. Organizations such as National Vanguard were banned and terrorists from both extremist areas were imprisoned and condemned to death. The public opinion on his actions were positive, and approval rates were high during all his term, especially in Southern Italy. Almirante also expressed his desire to restore democracy by the end of his term, where he declared to stand as a candidate in future elections, however such progress was not made as his health worsened and called an indirect election for April 1980, for a new figure to lead the country in the next decade. He immediately endorsed Vice President Tatarella, which won by a large majority. Tatarella would then set the mandate limit for 5 years.