ABSTRACT
On 21 April 1996, the left of centre parties (the so called ‘Ulivo coalition’) won the general election for the first time in the history of the Italian Republic. The price of the victory was the alliance with the former Communist Party, renamed the PDS, and the far left party of Communist Refoundation, whose votes were necessary to obtain a relative majority in Parliament. This led to the birth of a ‘dual majority’, meaning that the votes of the centre-right coalition in opposition were necessary on some political issues. As a consequence, the government managed to resolve some thorny matters, such as the fulfilment of the required Maastricht parameters for monetary union and the introduction of the Euro currency from its outset, but could not solve definitively the problems related to the conflict of interests, given the importance of Berlusconi’s party in opposition, for the fulfilment of the left of centre government programme.
