Background In December 1994, following the communication of a new investigation from Milan magistrates that was leaked to the press,
Umberto Bossi, leader of the
Northern League, left the coalition claiming that the
electoral pact had not been respected, forcing Berlusconi to resign from office and shifting the majority's weight to the centre-left side. The Northern League also resented the fact that many of its MPs had switched to Forza Italia, allegedly lured by promises of more prestigious portfolios. Berlusconi remained as caretaker prime minister for a little over a month until his replacement by a technocratic government headed by
Lamberto Dini. Dini had been a key minister in the Berlusconi cabinet, and Berlusconi said the only way he would support a technocratic government would be if Dini headed it. In the end, Dini was only supported by most opposition parties and not by Forza Italia and Northern League. In December 1995, Dini resigned as Prime Minister and President
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro decided to begin consultations to form a government, supported by all the parties in the
Italian Parliament to make constitutional reforms. In a TV debate on 19 January 1996, both
Silvio Berlusconi and
Democratic Party of the Left leader
Massimo D'Alema supported constitutional reforms; however, there were many problems on this theme in both coalition, as
Gianfranco Fini and
Romano Prodi wanted a snap election, not sure that the reforms would be helpful for the country. On 16 February 1996, a snap election was called.
Campaign On 19 February 1996, the outgoing Prime Minister
Lamberto Dini announced that he would run in the election with a new party allied with
The Olive Tree rather than Berlusconi's
Pole of Freedoms. Shortly after, Berlusconi claimed that Dini "copied our electoral programme". Another important declaration was that of
Umberto Bossi, the leader of the regionalist
Northern League, which was very important in 1994 to help Berlusconi winning the election. Bossi said that his party would not support Berlusconi anymore and run alone in the election. At the same time, Prodi's coalition made a pre-electoral agreement with
Communist Refoundation Party in which
Fausto Bertinotti's party undertook to support Prodi's government after the election in case of no parliamentary majority. On 25 March 1996, Berlusconi organised a manifestation in
Milan against taxes (
The Tax Day) attended by many Milanese artisans; on the same day in
Turin, Prodi was heavily contested during his electoral speech and accused of not wanting to lower taxes. == Main coalitions and parties ==