The 1996 Italian general election was held on 21 April, resulting in a narrow win for the Romano Prodi-led centre-left coalition, The Olive Tree, which had a covenant of desistance pact with the Communist Refoundation Party, over the Silvio Berlusconi-led centre-right coalition, the Pole for Freedoms, in both houses of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. It resulted in the formation of the Prodi I Cabinet.
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