The Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy) takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government and Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council. However, since a constitutional reform in 1972, almost all the executive and legislative powers are devolved to the two provinces of which the region is composed: Trentino and the South Tyrol.

The politics of Trentino takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the governor is heads of government, while the politics of South Tyrol retains a parliamentary system, in which the governor is usually the most voted provincial deputy and heads the provincial government.

Regional government

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale, Landesregierung) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione, Landeshauptmann) and is composed by the President and the Ministers (Assessori), who are currently 5, including two Vice Presidents. Since 2001, the Presidents of the two Provinces alternate as President of the Region, with the one who's not in charge serving as First Vice President.

Current composition

List of presidents

Presidents of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
President Party Term Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi DC 1948–1953 I Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi DC 1953–1957 II Legislature
Tullio Odorizzi DC 1957–1961 III Legislature
Luigi Dalvit DC 1961–1965 IV Legislature
Luigi Dalvit DC 1965–1967 V Legislature
Giorgio Grigolli DC 1967–1969
Giorgio Grigolli DC 1969–1973 VI Legislature
Bruno Kessler DC 1974–1976 VII Legislature
Flavio Mengoni DC 1976–1977
Spartaco Marziani DC 1977–1979
Enrico Pancheri DC 1979–1984 VIII Legislature
Pierluigi Angeli DC 1984–1987 IX Legislature
Gianni Bazzanella DC 1987–1989
Gianni Bazzanella DC 1989–1992 X Legislature
Tarcisio Andreolli DC 1992–1994
Tarcisio Grandi PPI 1994–1999 XI Legislature
Margherita Cogo DS 1999–2002 XII Legislature
Carlo Andreotti PATT 2002–2004
Luis Durnwalder SVP 2004–2006 XIII Legislature
Lorenzo Dellai Civica 2006–2008
Luis Durnwalder SVP 2008–2011 XIV Legislature
Lorenzo Dellai UpT 2011–2013
Alberto Pacher PD 2013–2014
Ugo Rossi PATT 2014–2016 XV Legislature
Arno Kompatscher SVP 2016–2018
Arno Kompatscher SVP 2018–2021 XVI Legislature
Maurizio Fugatti LT since 2021

Regional Council

The Regional Council of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is composed of 70 members, 35 from Trentino and 35 from South Tyrol. The regional deputies are elected separately as provincial deputies. In practice the Regional Council is the meeting of the two Provincial Councils.

Political parties and elections

The Region has actually two different system of parties: one for each Province. Since the constitutional reform of 2001, regional elections are nothing more than two separate provincial elections and the Region does not provide anymore vote totals region-wide.

Politics of Trentino

Provincial government

List of presidents

This is the list of presidents of Trentino (Italian: Presidente, German: Landeshauptmann) since 1948.

President Term of office Party Administration Coalition Legislature
Duration in years, months and days
1 Giuseppe Balista
(1901–1977)		 20 December
1948		 19 December
1952		 DC Balista I DC I
(1948)
4 years Balista II
2 Remo Albertini
(1920–2005)		 19 December
1952		 14 December
1956		 DC Albertini DC II
(1952)
3 years, 11 months and 26 days
3 Riccardo Rosa
(1902–1970)		 14 December
1956		 30 December
1960		 DC Rosa DC III
(1956)
4 years and 17 days
4 Bruno Kessler
(1924–1991)		 30 December
1960		 13 March
1974		 DC Kessler I DC IV
(1960)
Kessler II DC • PSI V
(1964)
13 years, 2 months and 14 days Kessler III DC VI
(1968)
5 Giorgio Grigolli
(1927–2016)		 13 March
1974		 15 March
1979		 DC Grigolli I DC • PSDI • PRI VII
(1973)
5 years and 3 days Grigolli II DC
6 Flavio Mengoni
(1929–2013)		 15 March
1979		 30 October
1985		 DC Mengoni I DC • PRI VIII
(1978)
Mengoni II DC • PRI
Mengoni III DC • PSDI • PLI
Mengoni IV DC • PSDI • PLI
6 years, 7 months and 16 days Mengoni V DC • PRI • PLI IX
(1983)
7 Pierluigi Angeli
(born 1938)		 30 October
1985		 16 February
1989		 DC Angeli DC • PSI • PRI
3 years, 3 months and 18 days
8 Mario Malossini
(born 1947)		 16 February
1989		 4 June
1992		 DC Malossini DC • PSI X
(1988)
3 years, 3 months and 20 days
9 Gianni Bazzanella
(born 1940)		 4 June
1992		 4 March
1994		 DC Bazzanella DC • PSI • PSDI
1 year, 9 months and 1 day
10 Carlo Andreotti
(born 1943)		 4 March
1994		 24 February
1999		 PATT Andreotti PATT • PRI • PSDI XI
(1993)
4 years, 11 months and 21 days
11 Lorenzo Dellai
(born 1959)		 24 February
1999		 29 December
2012		 DL Dellai I The Olive Tree
(DL • DS • FdV)		 XII
(1998)
Dellai II The Olive Tree
(DL • DS)		 XIII
(2003)
UpT Dellai III PD • UpT • PATT XIV
(2008)
13 years, 10 months and 6 days
12 Alberto Pacher
(born 1956)		 29 December
2012		 9 November
2013		 PD Pacher PD • UpT • PATT
10 months and 12 days
13 Ugo Rossi
(born 1963)		 9 November
2013		 2 November
2018		 PATT Rossi PD • UpT • PATT XV
(2013)
4 years, 11 months and 25 days
14 Maurizio Fugatti
(born 1972)		 2 November
2018		 Incumbent LT Fugatti I LT • FI • CT XVI
(2018)
5 years, 2 months and 17 days Fugatti II LT • FdI • PATT XVII
(2023)

Provincial Council

Latest provincial election

2023 Trentino provincial election results
Candidates Votes  % Seats Parties Votes  % Seats +/−
Maurizio Fugatti 129,758 51.82 1
Trentino League 30,347 13.05 5 –8
Brothers of Italy 28,714 12.35 5 +5
Fugatti for President 24,953 10.73 4 New
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party 19,011 8.18 3 –3
La Civica 11,285 4.85 2 ±0
Forza Italia 4,708 2.02 0 –1
Fassa Association 2,018 0.87 1 ±0
Union of the Centre 1,362 0.59 0 ±0
Total 122,398 52.64 20 –3
Francesco Valduga 93,888 37.50 1
Democratic Party 38,689 16.64 7 +3
Campobase 19,553 8.41 3 +2
Autonomy House 9,968 4.29 1 New
Greens and Left Alliance 7,565 3.25 1 +1
Fascegn 3,634 1.56 0 ±0
Italia Viva 3,399 1.46 0 New
Action 3,302 1.42 0 New
Total 86,110 37.03 12 +5
Filippo Degasperi 9,533 3.81 1
Wave 5,864 2.52 0 New
My Valley 1,204 0.52 0 New
People's Union 1,088 0.47 0 ±0
Total 8,156 3.51 0 —
Marco Rizzo 5,651 2.26 0 Sovereign Popular Democracy 5,457 2.35 0 New
Sergio Divina 5,558 2.22 0
Popular Alternative 2,261 0.97 0 New
Us with Divina for President 1,845 0.79 0 New
Youth for Divina 642 0.28 0 New
Total 4,748 2.04 0 —
Alex Marini 4,796 1.92 0 Five Star Movement 4,523 1.95 0 –1
Elena Dardo 1,205 0.48 0 Alternative 1,121 0.48 0 New
Total candidates 250,389 100 3 Total parties 232,513 100 32 ±0
Source: Autonomous Province of Trento

Local government

Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Trento 117,317 Franco Ianeselli Democratic Party 2020
Rovereto 39,289 Francesco Valduga Democratic Party 2020
Pergine Valsugana 21,280 Roberto Oss Emer Independent 2020
Arco 17,526 Alessandro Betta Democratic Party 2020
Riva del Garda 16,926 Cristina Santi Lega Trentino 2020

Politics of South Tyrol

The politics of South Tyrol is conducted through a parliamentary, democratic autonomous province with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Landesregierung, which is led by the Governor, referred to as "Landeshauptmann" in German. Legislative power is vested in the Landtag primarily, and secondarily on the provincial government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. South Tyrol has been an autonomous province within the Italian Republic since 1948, when the Gruber – De Gasperi Agreement was agreed upon between Austria and Italy. The current Landeshauptmann is Arno Kompatscher.

Provincial government

Luis Durnwalder was governor of South Tyrol from 1989 until 2014.

The local government system is based upon the provisions of the Italian Constitution and the Autonomy Statute of the Region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.[1] The 1972 second Statute of Autonomy for Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol devolved most legislative and executive competences from the regional level to the provincial level, creating de facto two separate regions.

The executive powers are attributed to the provincial government (German: Landesregierung; Italian: Giunta Provinciale) headed by the Landeshauptmann Arno Kompatscher, who has been in power since 2014. He belongs to the South Tyrolean People's Party.

List of governors

Governors of South Tyrol
Governor Portrait Party Term Legislature Election
Karl Erckert SVP 13 December 1948 12 December 1952 I Legislature 1948
13 December 1952 15 December 1955† II Legislature 1952
Alois Pupp SVP 7 January 1956 12 December 1956
13 December 1956 12 December 1960 III Legislature 1956
Silvius Magnago SVP 13 December 1960 13 December 1964 IV Legislature 1960
14 December 1964 12 December 1968 V Legislature 1964
13 December 1968 12 December 1973 VI Legislature 1968
13 December 1973 12 December 1978 VII Legislature 1973
13 December 1978 12 December 1983 VIII Legislature 1978
13 December 1983 12 December 1988 IX Legislature 1983
13 December 1988 17 March 1989 X Legislature 1988
Luis Durnwalder SVP 17 March 1989 12 December 1993
13 December 1993 16 December 1998 XI Legislature 1993
17 December 1998 20 November 2003 XII Legislature 1998
21 November 2003 2 December 2008 XIII Legislature 2003
3 December 2008 27 November 2013 XIV Legislature 2008
28 November 2013 7 January 2014 XV Legislature 2013
Arno Kompatscher SVP 7 January 2014 20 November 2018
21 November 2018 Incumbent XVI Legislature 2018

Provincial Council

The provincial assembly building of South Tyrol.

The considerable legislative power of the province is vested in a provincial assembly called Landtag (German: Südtiroler Landtag; Italian: Consiglio della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano; Ladin: Cunsëi dla Provinzia Autonoma de Bulsan). The legislative powers of the assembly cover all those subject matters that are not expressly reserved to the exclusive legislative power of the Italian State or to concurrent legislation per article 117 of the Italian Constitution.

Latest provincial election

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
South Tyrolean People's Party97,09234.5313−2
Team K31,20111.094−2
South Tyrolean Freedom30,58310.884+2
Greens25,4459.053±0
Brothers of Italy16,7475.962+1
JWA List16,5965.902New
Die Freiheitlichen13,8364.922±0
Democratic Party9,7073.451±0
For South Tyrol with Widmann9,6463.431±0
League–United for Alto Adige8,5413.041−3
La Civica7,3012.601New
Vita7,2222.571New
Five Star Movement2,0860.74–−1
Enzian1,9900.71–New
Forza Italia1,6250.58–±0
Centre-Right1,6010.57–New
Total281,219100.0035–
Valid votes281,21996.87
Invalid/blank votes9,0803.13
Total votes290,299100.00
Registered voters/turnout429,84167.54
Source: Official Results
Popular vote
SVP
 
 34.53%
TK
 
 11.09%
STF
 
 10.88%
Grüne
 
 9.05%
FdI
 
 5.96%
JWA
 
 5.90%
dF
 
 4.92%
PD
 
 3.45%
Widmann
 
 3.43%
Lega
 
 3.04%
Civica
 
 2.60%
Vita
 
 2.57%
M5S
 
 0.74%
Enzian
 
 0.71%
FI
 
 0.58%
CD
 
 0.57%

Local government

Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Bolzano 106,441 Renzo Caramaschi Independent 2020
Merano 39,462 Paul Rösch Greens 2020
Brixen 21,535 Peter Brunner South Tyrolean People's Party 2020
Laives 17,700 Christian Bianchi Lega Alto Adige Südtirol 2020
Bruneck 16,109 Roland Griessmair South Tyrolean People's Party 2020

Autonomy and separatism

The Südtiroler Heimatbund asked the Soffi-Institute in Innsbruck to conduct an opinion poll on the future of South Tyrol. The poll was conducted at the end of 2005 in which only German-speaking South Tyroleans were asked. 45.33% of those asked were in favour of remaining with Italy, 54.67% were against remaining. The latter group comprised 33.40% in favour of an independent state and 21.27% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria.[2]

Another poll conducted in August 2008 by the apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling in Bolzano asked 502 Italian-speaking South Tyroleans of their opinion. The poll consisted of three parts. To the first question if a referendum about remaining with Italy should be held at all, 41% said yes and 59% no. In the event of a referendum, 78% wished to remain with Italy, 20% were in favour of an independent state and 2% in favour of Tyrolean reunification with Austria.[3]

A poll conducted in 2013 among German and Ladin speakers by the Austrian Kasmarin agency showed the following results: To the question "If a referendum were conducted also in South Tyrol and you had a choice, how would you decide?", 26% would opt for staying within Italy, and 54% for independence from Italy.[4]

Across the border in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the Tiroler Tageszeitung conducted a poll in January 2009 to gauge the opinion of the inhabitants of North and East Tyrol. 500 people were asked in the poll. In 2008, 45% wished a reunification with South Tyrol, that number increased in 2009 by 4% to 49% in favour. 36.6% were against reunification while 14.1% had no opinion. In the age group of 15- to 29-year-olds, 71% were in favour of reunification. The highest support by district was in the Oberland with 67% while Innsbruck city and district was lowest with 42%.[5]

On the left, a signpost placed by the right-wing party South Tyrolean Freedom at the Austro-Italian border (Austrian side) proclaiming "Süd-Tirol ist nicht Italien!" ("South Tyrol is not Italy!). On the right, a similar poster in Merano has been bedaubed, to cancel the word "not".

The independence controversy has been an issue especially of German-speaking right-wing parties: South Tyrolean Freedom, JWA List, Die Freiheitlichen and Citizens' Union for South Tyrol. With the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, the idea of a Freistaat (free state) resurfaced again.[6][7] Especially, South Tyrolean Freedom and her founding leader Eva Klotz, with the campaign South Tyrol is not Italy!, have been among the strongest advocates of self-determination.

Sources and further reading

    1. ↑ "Special Statute for Trentino-Alto Adige" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
    2. ↑ Südtiroler Heimatbund (2006). "Wissenschaftliche Meinungsumfrage des Heimatbundes und Cossiga-Vorschlag". SOFFI-Institut. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
    3. ↑ Südtiroler Heimatbund (2008). "Meinungsumfrage zur Selbstbestimmung: Nur 55% der Italiener würden definitiv für Italien wählen". apollis Institute of Social Research and Opinion Polling. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
    4. ↑ "Die Sezessions-Umfrage". Tageszeitung Online. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
    5. ↑ "Gesamttirol gewinnt Anhänger". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
    6. ↑ "Die Vision Freistaat". Panel discussion held by Dr. Günther Pallaver (Political Scientist, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Innsbruck), with Dr. Riccardo Dello Sbarba (Landtagsabgeordneter der Grünen Fraktion), Dr. Eva Klotz (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Freiheit), Pius Leitner (Landtagsabgeordneter der Freitheitlichen), Dr. Martha Stocker (Landtagsabgeordnete der Südtiroler Volkspartei). Cusanus Akademie in Brixen. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
    7. ↑ "Selbstbestimmungsrenaissance?". Intervista a Professor Günther Pallaver. Brennerbasisdemokratie. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
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