Sicilian Regional Assembly

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.[1]

Sicilian Regional Assembly

Assemblea Regionale Siciliana
18th Legislature
Type
Type
History
Founded25 May 1947
Leadership
President
Gaetano Galvagno, FdI
since 11 November 2022
Structure
Seats70
Political groups
Government (40)
  •   FdI (13)
  •   FI (12)
  •   Lega (6)
  •   DC (5)
  •   PA (4)

Confidence and supply (1)

  •   Mixed Group (1)

Opposition (29)

Elections
Last election
25 September 2022
Meeting place
Sala d'Ercole, Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo
Website
ars.sicilia.it
Palazzo dei Normanni

History
Main article: Sicilian Parliament

The Sicilian Parliament is arguably considered the oldest parliament in the world[2][3] (together with that Icelandic[4] and Faroese,[5] which, however, had no decision-making powers, a fact that makes the Sicilian Parliament the first in the modern sense). In 1097 came the first conference in Mazara del Vallo was convened by Roger I the Great Count of an initially itinerant parliament.

Since 1130 the House seat has been the Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo.

The election of a democratic parliament came at the end of World War II. To defuse the powerful separatist movement in Sicily, the Sicilian Regional Council was established in February 1945. 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. 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:[6]

Party Seats Status
Brothers of Italy
13 / 70
 In government
Forza Italia
12 / 70
 In government
Democratic Party
11 / 70
 In opposition
Five Star Movement
11 / 70
 In opposition
South calls North
7 / 70
 In opposition
Italy First – League
6 / 70
 In government
Christian Democracy
5 / 70
 In government
Populars and Autonomists
4 / 70
 In government
Mixed Group
1 / 70
 External support

Presidents (1947–present)
No. Name Legislature Term of office Party
1 Ettore Cipolla I 1947 1951 UQ
2 Giulio Bonfiglio II 1951 1955 DC
3 Giuseppe La Loggia III 1955 1956 DC
4 Giuseppe Alessi 1956 1959 DC
5 Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres IV 1959 1963 DC
6 Rosario Lanza V 1963 1967 DC
VI 1967 1971
7 Angelo Bonfiglio VII 1971 1974 DC
8 Mario Fasino 1974 1976 DC
9 Pancrazio De Pasquale VIII 1976 1979 PCI
10 Michelangelo Russo 1979 1981 PCI
11 Salvatore Lauricella IX 1981 1986 PSI
X 1986 1991
12 Paolo Piccione XI 1991 1993 PSI
13 Angelo Capitummino 1993 1996 DC
14 Nicola Cristaldi XII 1996 2001 AN
15 Guido Lo Porto XIII 2001 2006 AN
16 Gianfranco Micciché XIV 2006 2008 FI
17 Francesco Cascio XV 2008 2012 PdL
18 Giovanni Ardizzone XVI 2012 2017 UDC
(16) Gianfranco Micciché XVII 2017 2022 FI
19 Gaetano Galvagno XVIII 2022 FdI
Source: Assemblea Regionale Siciliana – I Presidenti dell'Assemblea

See also

References
  1. Regleg. Sicily. EU political regions.
  2. "Storia del Parlamento - Il Parlamento".
  3. Enzo Gancitano, Mazara dopo i Musulmani fino alle Signorie - Dal Vescovado all'Inquisizione, Angelo Mazzotta Editore, 2001, p. 30.
  4. "Hurstwic: Viking-age Laws and Legal Procedures".
  5. "The Faroese Parliament" (PDF).
  6. "Gruppi Parlamentari | ARS". www.ars.sicilia.it (in Italian). Retrieved 4 July 2019.

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