The Sicilian Regional Assembly (; ) is the legislative body of Sicily. While it has a long history as an autonomous entity, the modern Region of Sicily was established by Royal Decree on 15 May 1946, before the Italian Republic. The Regional Assembly has the widest legislative power in Italy and is the only regional assembly to have the title of "parliament" whose members are called "deputies" as are those in Rome. Seventy deputies are elected every five years in the nine provinces.Regleg. Sicily. EU political regions.
History
The Sicilian Parliament is one of the oldest parliaments in the world and arguably the first legislature in the modern sense.Storia del Parlamento - Il ParlamentoEnzo Gancitano, Mazara dopo i Musulmani fino alle Signorie - Dal Vescovado all'Inquisizione, Angelo Mazzotta Editore, 2001, p. 30.
Post-war The election of a democratic parliament came at the end of World War II. To defuse the separatist movement in Sicily, the Sicilian Regional Council was established in February 1945 and the special statute was issued on May 15, 1946.
After the regional elections of April 20, 1947, this body was reborn as the Sicilian Regional Assembly on May 25, 1947. In 1997 the Assembly celebrated its 900th anniversary, and in 2001 the President was elected directly by the citizens. On 26 January 2008, for the first time in republican history, the Assembly was dissolved by the resignation of Regional President Salvatore Cuffaro.
Seat The Assembly has its seat in the prestigious Palazzo dei Normanni (Norman Palace) in Palermo. It was constructed in the 11th century following the Norman conquest of Sicily and has seen several expansion and renovation operations. It hosted the kings of Sicily, including Frederick II of Swabia, and later the viceroy of Spain. Adjacent is the Palatine Chapel. The tourist services in the Palace and the Palatine Chapel are entrusted to the Foundation Frederick II.
Composition The Assembly is composed of seventy deputies elected by direct universal suffrage every five years by voters in Sicily. Until 2017, the members were 90. From 25 May 1947 to now there were XVII legislatures, initially for a period of four years, while in 1971 five years. For the first time the XIV^ legislature ended prematurely in 2008 due to the resignation of the President of the region, Salvatore Cuffaro. The actual electoral mechanism, which includes a barrier of 5% of the list, provides for the provincial colleges of 62 members plus the president-elect and a candidate for president with the most votes among the non-elect. The remaining six seats are allocated to the majority share to reach 42 members.
Electoral system
From 1947 until 1996, the Sicilian Regional Assembly had 90 regional deputies elected with the proportional system on the basis of the nine provincial constituencies, while the president of the region and the assessors were elected by the deputies. In the 2001 election, the Sicilian regional presidency became a directly elected office, and the Tatarella Law was applied temporarily to elect 72 deputies from the provincial constituencies, while 18 came from the list of the elected president and one for the second classified among the president candidates, with the threshold at 4 percent.
A new electoral law was adopted in 2005. This law created a mixed electoral system with the following parameters:
80 out of 90 deputies are chosen through a proportional system in the provincial constituencies, with an electoral barrier of 5% on a regional basis for each party; proportional seats are distributed only at the provincial level; the distribution at the provincial level (proportional to the population and therefore variable each term) was: 7 seats for the province of Agrigento, 4 for Caltanissetta, 17 for Catania, 3 for Enna, 11 for Messina, 20 for Palermo, 5 for Ragusa, 6 for Syracuse, 7 for Trapani; up to 9 deputies (including the President) are elected with the regional list of the presidential candidate to reach the threshold of 54 majority seats; 1 seat is reserved for the second-place finisher in the presidential election.
With the modification of the law in 2013, the number of deputies dropped to 70 beginning with the regional election of 2017. The selection process in this current system has the following parameters:
62 out of 70 deputies are chosen through a proportional system in provincial constituencies, with an electoral barrier of 5% on a regional basis for each party; proportional seats are distributed only at the provincial level; the distribution at the provincial level (proportional to the population and therefore variable every term) is: 6 seats for the province of Agrigento, 3 for Caltanissetta, 13 for Catania, 2 for Enna, 8 for Messina, 16 for Palermo, 4 for Ragusa, 5 for Syracuse, 5 for Trapani; 7 deputies (including the President) are elected with the regional list of the presidential candidate. 1 seat is reserved for the second-place finisher in the presidential election.
Political groups The Sicilian Regional Assembly is currently composed of the following political groups:
Party Seats Status Forza Italia (FI) Brothers of Italy (FdI) Democratic Party (PD) Five Star Movement (M5S) Christian Democracy (DC) Populars and Autonomists (P&A) Italy First – League (Lega) ControCorrente (CC) South calls North (ScN) Mixed Group
Historical composition Election DC PCI PSI PLI PRI PSDI MSI PNM/PDIUM MiS Others Total 20 April 1947 2029 13 3 4 10 9 290 3 June 1951 3131 4 0 3 12 6 2 190 5 June 1955 39 20 10 32 8 8 090 7 June 1959 33 21 12 2 0 2 8 0 1290 9 June 1963 37 22 11 6 2 3 7 2 090 11 June 1967 35 21 12 4 4 0 8 2 0 90 13 June 1971 29 14 11 3 3 5 15 0 10 90 20 June 1976 39 24 10 2 4 2 9 0 90 21 June 1981 38 20 14 4 5 3 6 0 90 22 June 1986 36 19 14 3 5 4 8 1 90 16 June 1991 39 13 15 2 3 6 5 6 90 Election CCD-CDU FI PDS AN PPI PRC LR RI PS Others Total 16 June 1996 18 17 12 14 6 6 3 3 3 790
Election Government Opposition Council President of the Region 24 June 2001Centre-right(House of Freedoms) Centre-left(The Olive Tree)DE Salvatore Cuffaro(2001–2008) 28 May 2006Centre-right(House of Freedoms) Centre-left(The Union) 13 April 2008(snap election)Centre-right Centre-leftRaffaele Lombardo(2008–2012) 28 October 2012(snap election)Centre-leftCentre-rightM5SGS–PdS–FLI Rosario Crocetta(2012–2017) 5 November 2017Centre-rightM5SCentre-leftSINello Musumeci(2017–2022) 25 September 2022Centre-right Centre-leftM5SScNRenato Schifani(since 2022)
Elections 20 April 1947 Legislative3 June 19515 June 19557 June 19599 June 196311 June 196713 June 197120 June 197621 June 198122 June 198616 June 199116 June 199624 June 2001Presidential & Legislative28 May 200613 April 200828 October 20125 November 201725 September 2022
Presidents (1947–present) No. Name Legislature Term of office Party1Ettore Cipolla I 1947 1951 UQ2Giulio Bonfiglio II 1951 1955 DC3Giuseppe La LoggiaIII19551956DC4Giuseppe Alessi 19561959DC5Ferdinando Stagno D'AlcontresIV19591963DC6Rosario LanzaV19631967DCVI196719717Angelo BonfiglioVII19711974DC8Mario Fasino19741976DC9Pancrazio De Pasquale VIII19761979PCI10Michelangelo Russo19791981PCI11Salvatore Lauricella IX19811986PSIX1986199112Paolo PiccioneXI19911993PSI13Angelo Capitummino19931996DC14Nicola CristaldiXII19962001AN15Guido Lo PortoXIII20012006AN16Gianfranco MiccichéXIV20062008FI17Francesco CascioXV20082012PdL18Giovanni ArdizzoneXVI20122017UDC(16)Gianfranco MiccichéXVII20172022FI19Gaetano GalvagnoXVIII2022FdISource: Assemblea Regionale Siciliana – I Presidenti dell'Assemblea
See also Regional council (Italy) Sicilian Parliament List of presidents of Sicily
References
External links