Sicilian regional election, 2006

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A regional election for the renewal of the Regional Assembly and the Presidency of Sicily was held on May 28, 2006.

The election was competed by three competitors: Salvatore "Totò" Cuffaro, incumbent President and House of Freedoms candidate; Rita Borsellino, candidate of The Union; and Sebastiano "Nello" Musumeci, MEP elected for the National Alliance and now leader of the autonomist movement Sicilian Alliance. In the end, Cuffaro won the election, despite a heavy loss of support compared with five years ago, when he was elected with 59.1% of votes.

1 Candidates
2 Results
3 Sources
4 External links
- 4.1 Candidates

[edit] Candidates

Rita Borsellino is the centre-left Sicilian presidential candidate.

Salvatore Cuffaro, 48, was first elected at the Sicilian Presidency in the July 2001 with 59.1% of regional votes; that election was held immediately after the national election which saw the centre-right win all the 61 Sicilian ridings. Cuffaro is a prominent member of Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, a Christian democratic party. Often associated to the mafia by his critics because of an open investigation by the magistrature of Palermo which brought to a trial commitment, Cuffaro will nevertheless head the regional UDC list of candidates for the April general election.

Rita Borsellino, 61, sister of the late judge Paolo assassinated by the mafia, gained the centre-left candidacy after having won a primary election with over 67% of votes. She is not member of any party. If elected, she would be the first female president ever in Sicily.

Nello Musumeci, 51, is a former member of the right-wing National Alliance party; he served as President of the Province of Catania from 1994 to 2003. He left National Alliance on September 2005 in order to found a new autonomist party, Sicilian Alliance, of which he is the leader. Despite his past political experiences, Musumeci is highly unlikely to have some actual possibility to win the election.

Pollster claimed this election to be much closer than five years ago, and majority of surveys even put Borsellino to lead over Cuffaro. [1] However, Sicily confirmed one more time in the April 2006 national election, in which the House of Freedoms obtained 57% of regional votes, to be still a centre-right stronghold. The election was in fact characterized by separate contemporary votes for centre-right parties and Rita Borsellino as president, as the sum of centre-right coalition parties obtained over 60% of votes. In any case, the disjoint vote was not sufficient to ensure Borsellino to win the election, and Cuffaro was confirmed president of Sicily.

[edit] Results

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 28 May 2006 **Sicilian regional election results**
*5,289 poll stations*
Candidates	Votes	%	Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Salvatore Cuffaro (elected)	1,374,706	53.09%	Forza Italia (Forza Italia)	471,634	19.17%	17
			Movement for Autonomy–New Sicily (Movimento per l'Autonomia–Nuova Sicilia) Movement for Autonomy (Movimento per l'Autonomia) New Sicily (Nuova Sicilia)	308,219	12.53%	10
			Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC)	319,349	12.98%	11
			The Kite–President List (L'Aquilone–Lista del Presidente)	139,344	5.67%	6
			Tricolour Flame (Fiamma Tricolore)	8,528	0.35%	–
			National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale)	259,927	10.57%	9
			Christian Democracy for the Autonomies (Democrazia Cristiana per le Autonomie)	6,530	0.27%	–
Rita Borsellino	1,078,179	41.64%	United for Sicily (Uniti per la Sicilia) Communist Refoundation Party (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista) Party of Italian Communists (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani) Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi) Rose in the Fist (Rosa nel Pugno) Italy of Values (Italia dei Valori) Sicilian Spring (Primavera Siciliana)	127,947	5.20%	3
			Democrats of the Left (Democratici di Sinistra)	344,511	14.00%	12
			The Daisy (La Margherita)	295,762	12.02%	12
			Rita–My commitment for Sicily (Rita – Il mio impegno per la Sicilia)	119,177	4.84%	–
Nello Musumeci	136,545	5.27%	Sicilian Alliance (Alleanza Siciliana)	59,380	2.41%	–