Election of the Week IV: Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley

Of the twenty regions of Italy, five are “special.” Special, in this context, designates asymmetrical federalism; these regions have a different relationship with the central state than the non-special regions, with at least somewhat greater autonomy. The first region designated in this manner was Sicily in 1946; some minor concessions toward greater local autonomy was created in part in response to post-war secessionism. (I can’t recall if I’ve talked about it on this blog before some Sicilians, along with some Sicilian-Americans, were actually trying to promote a plan to make Sicily the 49th American State, which is a fun counterfactual to entertain.) Sardinia was given special status a few years later. The final three special regions are designated as such in part due to sensitivity to linguistic minorities; Slovenian speakers in Friuli Venezia Giulia, German and Ladin speakers in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (which itself is divided into two provinces, the one with greater autonomy and almost all the German speakers is the Province of Bolzano), and finally French speakers in the subject of the post, the Aosta Valley (also called Valdostan).

In practice, special regions keep more of their local taxes collected and have some legislative powers beyond what non-special regional governments have. Aosta Valley, a remote, mountainous region northwest of Turin, it the least populous region of Italy with just over 120,000 people. It is Italy’s Quebec, both in the sense that French is a co-equal legally recognized language and all signs are in both Italian and French, and in that its politics roils with autonomist and sometimes secessionist energy.

Aosta Valley’s regional council is comprised of 35 members, elected via proportional representation, with no threshold beyond the minimum required for one seat. Unlike other Italian regions, a governor is not separately elected, but selected by the council. The Valdostan Union, a centrist autonomist party representing the French-speaking population, has historically been at the center of Aosta Valley politics and is looking to bounce back from 2020’s poor performance of 16%, their worst result since 1973. They still lead the governing coalition, but it’s a bit of a mess, as the various parties agree on little beyond shared autonomist vibes. Their comeback may be thwarted by a strong effort to nationalize Aosta Valley politics. The autonomist demands never seem to go much of anywhere, and in this stagnant status quo, national Conservatives sense an opening. In 2024, Lega, fdI and several other national conservative parties and one local conservative party, have united under a single list, and are apparently doing a decent job of maintain that unit. Five Star and some other left/center politics came to a similar arrangement months later, and will run together on the VdA list. The left is not quite as united, with the Greens and Left Alliance running their own list. Meloni has taken an interest, issuing the following public statement the other day to the voters:

“Dear friends of Valle d’Aosta, yours is a proud land, rich in history, identity and traditions, but one that has for too long been stuck in a political deadlock, caught up in a sort of constant spiral of internal dynamics within the so-called “autonomist” world and unlikely power alliances with the left that have ended up producing instability and immobility. This time, however, we have the opportunity to turn the page. For the first time, the centre-right, led by Fratelli d’Italia, is united in a strong coalition, with a civic list that enriches our team. This is a historic development that gives us the opportunity to offer the citizens of Valle d’Aosta the alternative they have been waiting for for years’. 

This one obviously isn’t terribly consequential, but if nothing else it’ll be interesting to see to what degree that nationalization of everything can overcome the regional dynamics of a quirky peripheral place like this.

….Regional elections have been happening in Italy throughout the year, but I haven’t been covering them; Aosta Valley isn’t more important than the rest obviously but I found it more interesting. Marche is also this weekend, with Tuscany and Calabria in the coming weeks.