(03/20/09) -

Governing Parties Keep High Support in Italy

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The ruling centre-right parties remain popular in Italy, according to a poll by Euromedia Research. 53 per cent of respondents would vote for the Italian People of Freedom Party (PdL), the Northern League (LN), or the Movement for Autonomy (MPA) in the next legislative election.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The ruling centre-right parties remain popular in Italy, according to a poll by Euromedia Research. 53 per cent of respondents would vote for the Italian People of Freedom Party (PdL), the Northern League (LN), or the Movement for Autonomy (MPA) in the next legislative election.

The left-leaning alliance encompassing the Democratic Party (PD) and Italy of Values (Lista di Pietro) is second with 29.5 per cent, followed by the Union of the Centre with 5.9 per cent.

Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in April 2008. Final results gave Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition 344 seats in the lower house, and 174 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to the government of the centre-left Union (Unione), headed by Romano Prodi.

Berlusconi was sworn in as the country’s new head of government in May 2008. He had previously served as prime minister from May 1994 to January 1995, and from June 2001 to May 2006.

On Feb. 21, the PD elected Dario Franceschini as its new leader. Franceschini—who served as deputy leader and takes over from Walter Veltroni—declared, "I understand this role as secretary as a service to the party. I am not here to prepare my personal future."

Polling Data

If the political election took place tomorrow, which party would you vote for?

Source: Euromedia Research
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.