Berlusconi II Cabinet

Second Berlusconi cabinet
57th cabinet of Italy
Date formed	11 June 2001
Date dissolved	23 April 2005 (1,412 days)
People and organisations
Head of government	Silvio Berlusconi
Head of state	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Total number of ministers	23
Member party	Forza Italia (FI) National Alliance (AN) Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) Lega Nord
History
Election(s)	2001 election
Outgoing election	2006 election
Legislature term(s)	31 May 2001 - 28 April 2006 (XIV)
Incoming formation	Berlusconi II Cabinet formation, 2001
Outgoing formation	Berlusconi II Cabinet formation, 2005
Predecessor	Amato II Cabinet
Successor	Berlusconi III Cabinet

The Berlusconi II Cabinet was the 57th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the first cabinet of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until 23 April 2005, a total of 1,412 days, or 3 years, 10 months and 12 days. It held office for the longest period in the history of the Republic, and for the second longest period in the history of unified Italy since 1861 (outlasted only by the Mussolini government). During its long tenure, its composition changed significantly. Following the poor performance of the centrist parties in the Italian regional elections of 2005, most of the ministers of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats and the New PSI resigned from the government, which was succeeded by the Berlusconi III Cabinet.

Formation

In 2001 Berlusconi again ran as leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms (Italian: La Casa delle Libertà), which included the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, the Lega Nord, the National Alliance and other parties. Berlusconi's success in the May 2001 general election led to him becoming Prime Minister once more, with the coalition receiving 45.4% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies and 42.5% for the Senate.

On the television interviews programme Porta a Porta, during the last days of the electoral campaign, Berlusconi created a powerful impression on the public by undertaking to sign a so-called Contratto con gli Italiani (English: Contract with the Italians), an idea copied outright by his advisor Luigi Crespi from the Newt Gingrich's Contract with America introduced six weeks before the 1994 US Congressional election,^[1] which was widely considered to be a creative masterstroke in his 2001 campaign bid for prime ministership. In this solemn agreement, Berlusconi claimed his commitment on improving several aspects of the Italian economy and life. Firstly, he undertook to simplify the complex tax system by introducing just two tax rates (33% for those earning over 100,000 euros, and 23% for anyone earning less than that figure: anyone earning less than 11,000 euros a year would not be taxed); secondly, he promised to halve the unemployment rate; thirdly, he undertook to finance and develop a massive new public works programme. Fourthly, he promised to raise the minimum monthly pension rate to 516 euros; and fifthly, he would suppress the crime wave by introducing police officers to patrol all local zones and areas in Italy's major cities.^[2] Berlusconi undertook to refrain from putting himself up for re-election in 2006 if he failed to honour at least four of these five promises.

The government obtained the confidence of the senate on 20 June 2001 with 175 votes in favour, 133 against and 5 abstentions,^[3][4] and the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies on 21 June 2001 with 351 votes in favour, 261 against and 1 abstention.^[5]

Opposition parties claim Berlusconi was not able to achieve the goals he promised in his Contratto con gli Italiani. Some of his partners in government, especially the National Alliance and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats have admitted the Government fell short of the promises made in the agreement, attributing the failure to an unforeseeable downturn in global economic conditions. Berlusconi himself has consistently asserted that he achieved all the goals of the agreement, and said his Government provided un miracolo continuo (a continuous miracle) that made all 'earlier governments pale' (by comparison). He attributed the widespread failure to recognize these achievements to a campaign of mystification and vilification in the printed media, asserting that 85% of newspapers were opposed to him.^[6] Luca Ricolfi, an independent analyst, held that Berlusconi had managed to maintain only one promise out of five, the one concerning minimum pension levels. The other four promises were not, in Luca Ricolfi’s view, honoured. In particular, the undertakings on the tax simplification and the reduction of crime.^[7]

Fall

House of Freedoms did not do as well in the 2003 local elections as it did in the 2001 national elections. In common with many other European governing groups, in the 2004 elections of the European Parliament, gaining 43.37% support. Forza Italia's support was also reduced from 29.5% to 21.0% (in the 1999 European elections Forza Italia had 25.2%). As an outcome of these results the other coalition parties, whose electoral results were more satisfactory, asked Berlusconi and Forza Italia for greater influence in the government's political line.

In the 2005 regional elections (3 April/4 April 2005), the centre-left gubernatorial candidates won in 12 out of 14 regions where control of local governments and governorships was at stake. Berlusconi's coalition kept only two of the regional bodies (Lombardy and Veneto) up for re-election. Three parties, Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, National Alliance and New Italian Socialist Party, threatened to withdraw from the Berlusconi government. The Italian Premier, after some hesitation, then presented to the President of the Republic a request for the dissolution of his government on 20 April 2005.

Composition

Ministers without portfolio

Further reading

• Donovan, Mark (2004). The Governance of the Centre-Right Coalition. Italy Between Europeanization and Domestic Politics. Italian Politics. 19. Berghahn. pp. 80–98. 

References

• Italian Government - Berlusconi II Cabinet

Cabinets of the Republic of Italy
Constituent Assembly (1946–1948)	De Gasperi II De Gasperi III De Gasperi IV
Legislature I (1948–1953)	De Gasperi V De Gasperi VI De Gasperi VII
Legislature II (1953–1958)	De Gasperi VIII Pella Fanfani I Scelba Segni I Zoli
Legislature III (1958–1963)	Fanfani II Segni II Tambroni Fanfani III Fanfani IV
Legislature IV (1963–1968)	Leone I Moro I Moro II Moro III
Legislature V (1968–1972)	Leone II Rumor I Rumor II Rumor III Colombo Andreotti I
Legislature VI (1972–1976)	Andreotti II Rumor IV Rumor V Moro IV Moro V
Legislature VII (1976–1979)	Andreotti III Andreotti IV Andreotti V
Legislature VIII (1979–1983)	Cossiga I Cossiga II Forlani Spadolini I Spadolini II Fanfani V
Legislature IX (1983–1987)	Craxi I Craxi II Fanfani VI
Legislature X (1987–1992)	Goria De Mita Andreotti VI Andreotti VII
Legislature XI (1992–1994)	Amato I Ciampi
Legislature XII (1994–1996)	Berlusconi I Dini
Legislature XIII (1996–2001)	Prodi I D'Alema I D'Alema II Amato II
Legislature XIV (2001–2006)	Berlusconi II Berlusconi III
Legislature XV (2006–2008)	Prodi II
Legislature XVI (2008–2013)	Berlusconi IV Monti
Legislature XVII (2013–0000)	Letta Renzi