2001 Italian Legislative Election

Legislative elections were held on November 12, 2001 to elect 650 members of the House of Representatives, held after the 1999 Italian Presidential Election. The ruling coalition obtained another historic victory by winning almost 400 seats.

Background
On the onset of the 1999 Presidential Election, the Alliance of Progressives disbanded due to poor electoral results. Party secretary D'Alema resigned accordingly and Romano Prodi ascended to the Presidency of DL, an union of christian-democratic forces. Prodi immediately started talks with other center-left forces, with negotiations culminating in the formation of The Olive Tree a gigantic coalition of opposing forces. Speaker Casini however led a confortable victory in the election due to federal reforms success and increasing popularity in the south for anti-corruption and anti-crime measures.