Government and Politics
The politics of Lombardy take place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione) is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government (Giunta Regionale). Legislative power is vested in the Regional Council (Consiglio Regionale).
The Christian Democrats maintained a large majority of the popular support and the control of the most important cities and provinces since the birth of the Italian Republic until the late 1980s. The Italian Communist Party was a considerable presence only in the eastern and southern parts of Lombardy from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s. Their base however was increasingly eroded by the Italian Socialist Party until, in the early 1990s, the Mani Pulite corruption scandal which spread from Milan to the whole of Italy wiped away the old political class almost entirely. This, together with the general disaffection towards Rome's government (considered as favouring excessively the less developed regions of southern Italy in economical matters), led to the sudden growth of the secessionist (later Northern League), that is particularly strong in mountain and rural areas. In recent years, Lombardy stayed as a conservative stronghold, that gave about 60 per cent of its votes to Silvio Berlusconi at the last general election. Notwithstanding, the capital city of Milan landslide elected a new progressive mayor at the 2011 municipal elections.
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