ABSTRACT
Fundamental to Berlusconi’s victory was the fact that by occupying a political space once inhabited by the traditional governing parties he provided a home for the voters orphaned by the parties’ disintegration. A technocratic government, none of whose members sat in the Parlamento , under Berlusconi’s former Minister of the Treasury, Lamberto Dini, was appointed in early 1995 with the support of Lega Nord and parties of the centre-left. Berlusconi himself referred to the episode as a 'bloodless coup’ arguing that, as a result of the new electoral law, his coalition had received a direct mandate from the electorate and that since one of its components was no longer willing to respect it, the mandate should be passed back to the electorate through fresh elections. The focus on ad personam legislation meant that by the end of the 14th legislature, Berlusconi did not have an especially illustrious policy record to defend.
