[1] In 1996, Loiero joined the Christian Democratic Centre led by Pier Ferdinando Casini and was re-elected to the Senate of the Republic.

In 1998, Loiero left the Pole for Freedoms, the Silvio Berlusconi-led centre-right coalition, and joined the Union of Democrats for Europe,[2] being later appointed Minister for Parliamentary Relations and Minister for Regional Affairs in the respective second governments headed by Massimo D'Alema and Giuliano Amato, respectively.

[6] Loiero left the party in 2011, after having been very critical to secretary Pier Luigi Bersani, and joined the Movement for the Autonomies (MpA).

[8] Together with his predecessor Giuseppe Chiaravalloti, Loiero has been involved in the Why Not investigation, then led by judge Luigi de Magistris, created to shed light on alleged wrongdoing in the management of public funds for the development of Calabria.

[9] Loiero was charged for the crime of abuse of office; in 2013, he was absolved definitively by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation for not having committed the fact.