The Faltering Transition

<p> In 1999 Italy experienced another year of political uncertainty. The centre-left coalition government was weakened by infighting throughout the year and paid a high electoral price for its failure to present a common front to the electorate. In June Silvio Berlusconi's Liberty Pole coalition won substantial victories in local elections including a symbolic triumph in Bologna a stronghold of the Italian left. In December bickering inside his parliamentary majority forced Massimo D'Alema the prime minister to reshuffle his cabinet. This was the first government crisis to be handled by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi who became the tenth President of the Republic in May 1999. In the autumn Giulio Andreotti a seven-times prime minister was acquitted of having colluded with the Sicilian Mafia and with having ordered the murder.</p>