 In April 1996, national elections led to the victory of a centre-left coalition under the leadership of Romano Prodi.Prodi's first government became the third-longest to stay in power before he narrowly lost a vote of confidence, by three votes, in October 1998.A new government was formed by Democrats of the Left leader and former communist Massimo D'Alema, but in April 2000, following poor performance by his coalition in regional elections, D'Alema resigned.