Politics of Sardinia

The politics of Sardinia, a region of Italy, takes place in the framework of an "anomalous presidential"[1][2] representative democracy or prime-ministerial system with an executive presidency, 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. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council of Sardinia.

Executive branch

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed by the President and the Ministers (Assessori), who are currently 12.[3]

List of presidents

Elected by the Regional Council (1949–1994)
№ Name Term of office Political party Legislature
1 Luigi Crespellani 31 May 1949 3 July 1953 DC I (1949)
3 July 1953 21 January 1954 II (1953)
2 Alfredo Corrias 21 January 1954 21 June 1955 DC
3 Giuseppe Brotzu 21 June 1955 2 July 1957 DC
2 July 1957 13 November 1958 III (1957)
4 Efisio Corrias 13 November 1958 3 July 1961 DC
3 July 1961 3 July 1965 IV (1961)
3 July 1965 16 March 1966 V (1965)
5 Paolo Dettori 16 March 1966 14 February 1967 DC
6 Giovanni Del Rio 14 February 1967 3 July 1969 DC
3 July 1969 2 February 1970 VI (1969)
7 Lucio Abis 2 February 1970 5 January 1971 DC
8 Antonio Giagu De Martini 5 January 1971 11 February 1972 DC
9 Pietro Soddu 11 February 1972 18 March 1972 DC
10 Salvator Angelo Spanu 18 March 1972 7 December 1972 DC
(8) Antonio Gagiu De Martini 7 December 1972 10 December 1973 DC
(6) Giovanni Del Rio 10 December 1973 3 July 1974 DC
3 July 1974 8 May 1976 VII (1974)
(9) Pietro Soddu 8 May 1976 31 July 1979 DC
11 Mario Puddu 31 July 1979 25 September 1979 DC VIII (1979)
12 Alessandro Ghinami 15 September 1979 7 October 1980 PSDI
(9) Pietro Soddu 7 October 1980 12 November 1980 DC
(11) Mario Puddu 12 November 1980 4 December 1980 DC
13 Francesco Rais 4 December 1980 18 May 1982 PSI
14 Mario Melis 18 May 1982 16 June 1982 PSd'Az
15 Angelo Rojch 16 June 1982 24 August 1984 DC
(14) Mario Melis 24 August 1984 8 August 1989 PSd'Az IX (1984)
16 Mario Floris 8 August 1989 13 November 1991 DC X (1989)
17 Antonello Cabras 13 November 1991 5 August 1994 PSI
Directly-elected presidents (since 1994)

Note: Until 2004, Presidents could resign or lose a vote of confidence, and be replaced by the Regional Council.

N. Portrait President Term of office Tenure
(Years and days)		 Party Coalition Legislature Ref.
18 Federico Palomba
(1937– )		 5 August
1994		 9 August
1999		 5 years, 4 days PDS PDS–PRC–FD XI
(1994)
19 Mauro Pili
(1966– )		 9 August
1999		 18 October
1999		 70 days FI FI–AN–RS–CCD XII
(1999)
20 Gian Mario Selis
(1944– )		 18 October
1999		 16 November
1999		 29 days PPI PDS–PPI–FD–Dem–SDI–PRC
(16) Mario Floris
(1937– )		 16 November
1999		 25 October
2001		 1 year, 343 days UDR PDS–DL–UDR–FD–Dem–SDI–PRC
(19) Mauro Pili
(1966– )		 25 October
2001		 28 August
2003		 1 year, 307 days FI FI–AN–RS–CCD
21 Italo Masala
(1937– )		 28 August
2003		 26 June
2004		 303 days AN
22 Renato Soru
(1957– )		 26 June
2004		 27 February
2009		 4 years, 246 days DS
PD		 PD–PS–PRC–SDI–UDEUR–PdCI–IdV XIII
(2004)
23 Ugo Cappellacci
(1960– )		 27 February
2009		 12 March
2014		 5 years, 13 days PdL
FI		 PdL–UDC–RS–PSd'Az XIV
(2009)
24 Francesco Pigliaru
(1954– )		 12 March
2014		 20 March
2019		 5 years, 8 days PD PD–SEL–PdS–RM–CD–PRC–
UPC–PSI–IdV–FdV–iRS–LB 		XV
(2014)
25 Christian Solinas
(1976– )		 20 March
2019		 20 March
2024		 5 years, 0 days PSd'Az Lega–PSd'Az–FI–RS–FdI–UDC XVI
(2019)
26 Alessandra Todde
(1969– )		 20 March
2024		 Incumbent 2 years, 164 days M5S PD–M5S–AVS–OC–PP–SF–PSI XVII
(2024)		 [4]

Legislative branch

Regional Council of Sardinia

The Regional Council of Sardinia (Consiglio Regionale della Sardegna) is composed of 60 members. The Assembly is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt vel simul cadent clause, the Assembly will be dissolved and there will be a fresh election.

Current composition

The Regional Council of Sardinia is currently composed of the following political groups:[5]

Party Seats Status
Democratic Party (PD)
11 / 60
 In government
Brothers of Italy (FdI)
10 / 60
 In opposition
Five Star Movement (M5S)
8 / 60
 In government
Forza Italia (FI)
6 / 60
 In opposition
Greens and Left Alliance (AVS)
4 / 60
 In government
Shared Horizon (OC)
4 / 60
 In government
United for Todde (UpT)
4 / 60
 In government
Future Left (SF)
3 / 60
 In government
Sardinian Reformers (RS)
3 / 60
 In opposition
Sardinia in the Centre – 20Twenty (SaC–20V)
3 / 60
 In opposition
Mixed Group
2 / 60
 External support
2 / 60
 In opposition

By coalition:

Coalition Seats Status
Centre-left coalition
36 / 60
 Government
Centre-right coalition
24 / 60
 Opposition

Local government

Provinces

Sardinia is divided into 4 provinces (Sassari, Nuoro, Oristano, and Sud Sardegna) and 1 Metropolitan city (Cagliari)

Province Extraordinary Administrator Appointed
Sassari Gavino Salvatore Eugenio Arru September 19th, 2024
Nuoro Giuseppe Ciccolini September 19th, 2024
Oristano Battistino Ghisu September 19th, 2024
Sud Sardegna Vincenzo Basciu September 19th, 2024

Municipalities

Sardinia is also divided in 377 comuni (municipalities), which have even more history, having been established in the Middle Ages when they were the main places of government.

Provincial capitals
Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Cagliari 154,106 Paolo Truzzu Brothers of Italy 2019
Nuoro 36,316 Andrea Soddu Independent 2015
Oristano 31,750 Andrea Lutzu Forza Italia 2017
Sassari 127,018 Nanni Campus Independent (centre-right) 2019
Others municipalities

Cities with 25,000+ inhabitants.

Municipality Inhabitants Mayor Party Election
Quartu Sant'Elena 70,453 Graziano Ernesto Milia Independent (centre-left) 2020
Olbia 60,432 Settimo Nizzi Forza Italia 2016
Alghero 43,964 Mario Conoci Sardinian Action Party 2019
Selargius 28,666 Pier Luigi Concu Forza Italia 2017
Carbonia 28,103 Paola Massidda Five Star Movement 2016
Assemini 26,774 Sabrina Licheri Five Star Movement 2018
Iglesias 26,678 Mauro Usai Independent (centre-left) 2018

Political parties and elections

Latest regional election

The latest regional election took place on 25 February 2024. Alessandra Todde of the Five Star Movement, at the head of a centre-left coalition centred on the Democratic Party, narrowly defeated Paolo Truzzu of Brothers of Italy, who replaced incumbent president Christian Solinas of the Sardinian Action Party as standard-bearer of the centre-right coalition. In a fragmented party system, with the presence of several regional and/or Sardinian nationalist parties, the Democratic Party was narrowly ahead of Brothers of Italy as largest party.

25 February 2024 Sardinia regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats
Alessandra Todde 334,160 45.4 1 Democratic Party 95,285 13.8 11
Five Star Movement 53,613 7.8 7
Greens and Left Alliance 32,145 4.7 4
United for Alessandra Todde 27,422 4.0 3
Shared Horizon 20,984 3.0 3
Progressive Party 20,868 3.0 3
Future Left 20,574 3.0 3
Italian Socialist Party – SIE 11,637 1.7 1
Fortza Paris 6,068 0.9 –
Solidary Democracy 4,692 0.7 –
Total 293,288 42.5 36
Paolo Truzzu 331,099 45.0 1 Brothers of Italy 93,921 13.6 7
Sardinian Reformers 49,629 7.2 3
Forza Italia 43,892 6.4 3
Sardinia in the Centre 2020 37,950 5.5 3
Sardinian Action Party 37,341 5.4 3
Sardinia Alliance – PLI 28,203 4.1 2
League Sardinia 25,957 3.8 1
Union of the Centre 19,237 2.8 1
Christian Democracy with Rotondi 2,110 0.3 –
Total 333,873 48.4 23
Renato Soru 63,666 8.7 – Sardinia Project 23,872 3.5 –
Vote Sardinia 10,830 1.6 –
Action – More Europe – LDE – UPC 10,577 1.5 –
Liberu 4,993 0.7 –
Communist Refoundation Party 4,534 0.7 –
Total 54,569 7.9 –
Lucia Chessa 7,261 1.0 – Sardigna R-Esiste (incl. Red Moors) 4,067 0.6 –
Invalid votes 21,412 –
Total candidates 736,186 100.00 2 Total parties 690.401 100.00 58
Registered voters 1,447,753
Source: Autonomous Region of Sardinia – Results

References

  1. ↑ Palermo, Francesco (31 October 2019). "The Erosion of Italian Regionalism". Verfassungsblog. doi:10.17176/20191031-163150-0. ISSN 2366-7044. The attention given to the regional elections in Umbria didn't change when the direct election of regional presidents was introduced in 1995 (and constitutionalized in 1999), making Italy the only European country with a presidential system at regional level. For the past two decades, the only electoral thrill in the region was the amount of votes and the broader or smaller margin in favour of the presidential candidate from the leftist coalition.
  2. ↑ Vampa, Davide (2021). "Translating votes into seats and offices: Changing representation and government in the Italian Regions (2018-2020)". Contemporary Italian Politics. 13 (4): 485–505. doi:10.1080/23248823.2021.1969490. The rationale of the index is the same as that of the general ENP, with a score of 1 meaning that the opposition is formed by just one party, 2 meaning that there are two opposition parties of exactly the same size, and so on. In this article the same index is also applied to the ruling coalition to determine whether it is more or less fragmented than its opposition. In an anomalous presidential system like the one existing in Italian regions, government formation is still linked to parliamentary dynamics (i.e.the composition of regional councils). Therefore, rather than focusing on vote shares, this time we only consider how seats are distributed within the government and opposition camps (ENPSM; ENPSO).
  3. ↑ Regione Autonoma della Sardegna - Regione - Giunta - Composizione
  4. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela (27 February 2024). "Sardinia elects leftwing president, in blow to Giorgia Meloni". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  5. ↑ "XVI Legislatura - Gruppi consiliari". consiglio.regione.sardegna.it (in Italian). Retrieved 4 July 2019.
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