123-481: Luigi Ciriaco De Mita ( Italian pronunciation: [luˈiːdʒi tʃiˈriːako de ˈmiːta] ; 2 February 1928 – 26 May 2022) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 1988 to July 1989. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), De Mita served as its secretary and leader from May 1982 until February 1989, becoming one of the most influential politicians in
246-521: A civil servant with a long-time experience within Italian politics, and Grasso, a journalist and writer, are still holding their posts. On 6 May, he signed the new Italian electoral law , known as Italicum , which provides for a two-round system based on party-list proportional representation , corrected by a majority bonus and a 3% election threshold . Candidates run for election in 100 multi-member constituencies with open lists , except for
369-655: A government composed by both center-left and the center-right. On 22 February 2014, after tensions in the Democratic Party the PD's Secretary Matteo Renzi was sworn in as the new prime minister. Renzi proposed several reforms, including a radical overhaul of the Senate and a new electoral law. However, the proposed reforms were rejected on 4 December 2016 by a referendum . Following the referendum's results, Renzi resigned and his Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni
492-804: A hung parliament , with no coalitions able to form a majority of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The election was seen as a backlash against the Establishment with the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League becoming the two largest parties in the Parliament. After the election's results were known, Luigi Di Maio , leader of the M5S, and Matteo Salvini , secretary of
615-548: A national unity government following Conte's resignation, and Giorgia Meloni , Italy's first ever female prime minister and leader of the right-wing coalition which won the general election in September 2022. During his long-time tenure, Italy faced the aftermath of the Great Recession , as well as the severe European migrant crisis , which deeply marked Italian political, economic and social life, bringing to
738-653: A "neutral government" (ignoring the M5S and the League's refusal to support such an option) to take over from the Gentiloni Cabinet , which was considered unable to lead Italy into a second consecutive election, as it represented a majority from a past legislature, and suggested an early election in July, which would be the first summer general election in Italy, as an option in light of the ongoing deadlock. The League and
861-533: A 20 July 1994 interview with l'Unità , Mattarella considered the new political proposal that was taking shape for a new centre-left coalition interesting, "especially for those who are very nostalgic for Aldo Moro's political strategy." In 1995, at the height of the internal conflict within the PPI, he addressed Buttiglione, who was stubbornly seeking an alliance with the political right , as "el general coup leader Roquito Butillone" and defined "an irrational nightmare"
984-595: A cabinet sponsored by and implemented by Mattarella. During Mattarella's presidency, Italy was hit by a major outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic . In February 2020, Italy became one of the countries with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 . As of January 2024 , there have been more than 26 million COVID-19 cases confirmed and more than 195,000 deaths; the pandemic mainly started in Lombardy , Emilia-Romagna , Piedmont , and Veneto but then spread through
1107-411: A few days, the M5S and the League agreed not to propose Savona as finance minister; on 31 May, Conte received again the presidential mandate to form the new cabinet. The new government was sworn in on 1 June. In August 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Salvini launched a motion of no confidence against Conte, after growing tensions within the majority. Many political analysts believe the no-confidence motion
1230-405: A king to appoint a government entirely of his own choosing or keep it in office against the will of Parliament. As a result, in practice the prime minister was now both politically and legally responsible to Parliament, and had to maintain its confidence to stay in office. One of the most famous and influential prime ministers of this period was Francesco Crispi , a left-wing patriot and statesman,
1353-456: A major banking scandal and subsequently fell from power in 1896 after a devastating colonial defeat in Ethiopia. He is often seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini . In 1892, Giovanni Giolitti , a leftist lawyer and politician, was appointed prime minister by King Umberto I , but after less than a year he was forced to resign and Crispi returned to power. In 1903, he
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#17327799018351476-623: A member of Azione Cattolica (AC), a large Catholic lay association , of which he became the regional chairman for Lazio from 1961 to 1964. After attending Istituto San Leone Magno , a classical lyceum ( liceo classico ) in Rome, he studied law at the Sapienza University of Rome , where he joined the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students (FUCI). In 1964, Mattarella graduated with merit with
1599-517: A member of the Cabinet, the prime minister holds specific powers, most notably being able to nominate a list of Cabinet ministers to be appointed by the president of the Republic and the countersigning of all legislative instruments having the force of law that are signed by the president of the Republic. Article 95 of the Italian constitution provides that the prime minister "directs and coordinates
1722-722: A move also supported by opposition party Brothers of Italy . The League did not support this action. Calls for impeachment were strongly criticized by Italian and international press. Luciano Fontana (editor of Corriere della Sera ) defended Mattarella and said that "Di Maio and Salvini are responsible for this crisis", while Mario Calabresi (editor of la Repubblica ) dismissed impeachment proposals as "delirious", and La Stampa called Di Maio and Meloni's proposal "extremely irresponsible". HuffPost editor Lucia Annunziata dismissed Di Maio and Salvini as "liars", while news magazine L'Espresso called them "subversive", and Le Monde praised Mattarella as an "intransigent guardian of
1845-399: A prominent M5S leader, denied any possibility of an alliance with FI, describing Berlusconi as the "pure evil of our country". The consultations between Mattarella and the major political parties in Italy on 4 and 5 April failed to result in a candidate for the prime minister, forcing Mattarella to hold another round of consultation between 11 and 12 April. On 18 April, Mattarella tasked
1968-411: A quarter of the national population under pandemic lockdown . On the following day, the government extended the quarantine measures previously applied only in the so-called "red zones" to the whole country, putting de facto 60 million people in lockdown. At the time of its application, this measure was described as the largest lockdown in human history. On 18 May, the lockdown officially ended and
2091-610: A reprisal for an Italian resistance movement attack. Mattarella stated that "Europe and the world must be united to defeat whoever wants to drag us into a new age of terror". On 16 February 2015, Mattarella appointed Ugo Zampetti as Secretary-General to the Presidency of the Republic, the head of the presidential secretariat. While three days before, on 13 February, the President appointed Giovanni Grasso as his special counselor for press and communication. As of 2023, Zampetti,
2214-429: A second term, and was re-elected with 759 votes, as most party leaders and Prime Minister Mario Draghi asked him to accept their joint nomination for another term. On 3 February, President Mattarella was sworn in for his second term in front of a joint assembly of the parliament. He called for unity, saying: "We still need to work together to strengthen Italy, beyond the current difficulties." He also commented on
2337-630: A single candidate chosen by each party who is the first to be elected. On 4 December 2016, a constitutional referendum was held in Italy. Voters were asked whether they approve a constitutional law that amends the Constitution of Italy to reform the composition and powers of the Parliament of Italy , as well as the division of powers between the state, the regions, and administrative entities. The bill, put forward by then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi , and his centre-left Democratic Party ,
2460-544: A totalitarian state. In 1925 the title of "President of the Council of Ministers" was changed into "Head of the Government, Prime Minister Secretary of State", symbolizing the new dictatorial powers of Mussolini. The convention that the prime minister was responsible to Parliament had become so entrenched that Mussolini had to pass a law stating that he was not responsible to Parliament. Mussolini remained in power until he
2583-591: A vote of confidence from the Chamber of Deputies on 21 April, government that had as its main objective the reform of the institutions based on four urgent points: the Italian Parliament , the presidency of the Council of Ministers, local entities and the rules of procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. In June 1988 his cabinet approved the relocation of 72 U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters to Italy, in response to Spain 's request to remove them from its territory. In social policy, De Mita's time in office witnessed
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#17327799018352706-603: Is Freedom – The Daisy until 2008. De Mita was Member of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2004, and 2009 to 2014. On 25 May 2014, De Mita was elected as mayor of Nusco, his native town, and re-elected in 2019, serving until his death in 2022. In 1958, De Mita married Anna Maria Scarinzi (born 12 February 1939), with whom he had one son and three daughters, Antonia (born 23 December 1967), Giuseppe (born 10 May 1969), Floriana (born 19 March 1973), and Simona (born 21 April 1974). His nephew Giuseppe De Mita
2829-462: Is also considered a founding father of the European Union . After the death of De Gasperi, Italy returned in a period of political instability and a lot of cabinets were formed in few decades. The second part of the 20th century was dominated by De Gasperi's protégé Giulio Andreotti , who was appointed prime minister seven times from 1972 to 1992. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s,
2952-619: Is an Italian politician and jurist who has been the 12th president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic . Since Giorgio Napolitano 's death in 2023, Mattarella has been the only living Italian president. A Catholic leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy party from the early 1980s until its dissolution. He served as Minister for Parliamentary Relations from 1987 to 1989, and Minister of Education from 1989 to 1990. In 1994, Mattarella
3075-438: Is further limited by the lack of any formal authority to fire ministers. In the past, in order to make a cabinet reshuffle, prime ministers have sometimes resigned so that they could be re-appointed by the president and allowed to form a new cabinet with new ministers. In order to do this the prime minister needs the support of the president, who could theoretically refuse to re-appoint them following their resignation. The office
3198-680: The 2008 general election and was elected prime minister for the third time in May 2008. In November 2011, Berlusconi lost his majority in the Chamber of Deputies and resigned. His successor, Mario Monti , formed a new government, composed of "technicians" and supported by both the center-left and the center-right. In April 2013, after the general election in February, the Vice Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) Enrico Letta led
3321-679: The Augustinianum College and enrolled at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan , where he graduated in law and then started working as a consultant at Enrico Mattei 's Eni legal office. As a young man, De Mita joined the Christian Democracy (DC) and entered politics. In 1953, De Mita was among the proponents of "La Base", a leftist wing of the party, close to Giovanni Marcora . He rose through
3444-586: The Bologna railway station massacre in 1980, where 85 people died. In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945 two governments were led by non-Christian Democrat prime ministers: one Republican ( Giovanni Spadolini ) and one Socialist ( Bettino Craxi ). However, the Christian Democrats remained the main government party. During Craxi's government, the economy recovered and Italy became the world's fifth-largest industrial nation, gaining entry into
3567-524: The Democratic Party (PD), New Centre-Right , Civic Choice , Union of the Centre , and Left Ecology Freedom . Mattarella was officially endorsed by the PD after his name was put forward by Matteo Renzi , the prime minister of Italy at the time. He replaced Giorgio Napolitano , who had served for 8 years and 244 days, the longest presidency in the history of the Italian Republic; since Napolitano had resigned on 14 January, Senate president Pietro Grasso
3690-802: The Democrats of the Left (heirs of the PCI). On 5 October 2011, Mattarella was elected by the Italian Parliament with 572 votes to be a judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy . He was sworn in on 11 October 2011 and served until he was sworn in as President of the Italian Republic in January 2015. On 31 January 2015, Mattarella was elected the president of Italy at the fourth ballot with 665 votes out of 1,009, with support from
3813-563: The European Central Bank , Prime Minister. His new cabinet was supported by most Italian parties, including the League, M5S, PD, and FI. In October 2022, President Mattarella appointed Giorgia Meloni as Italy's first female prime minister, following the resignation of Mario Draghi amidst a government crisis and a general election . Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella OMRI OMCA ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛrdʒo mattaˈrɛlla] ; born 23 July 1941)
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3936-649: The Group of Seven , but as a result of his spending policies, the Italian national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, soon passing 100% of the GDP. In the early 1990s, Italy faced significant challenges as voters—disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and the extensive corruption system (known as Tangentopoli ) uncovered by the " Clean Hands " ( mani pulite ) investigation—demanded radical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in
4059-656: The Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were instead a series of informal personal groupings with no formal links to political constituencies. The period between the start of the 20th century and the start of World War I , when he was prime minister and Minister of the Interior from 1901 to 1914 with only brief interruptions, is often called the Giolittian Era. A left-wing liberal with strong ethical concerns, Giolitti's periods in
4182-588: The Italian People's Party (PPI). In the ensuing 1994 Italian general election , in which the newly founded PPI fared poorly, Mattarella was again elected to the Chamber of Deputies. He soon found himself engaged in an internal dispute after the election of new party leader Rocco Buttiglione , who wished to steer the PPI towards an electoral alliance with Silvio Berlusconi 's Forza Italia (FI). Following Buttiglione's appointment, Mattarella resigned as director of Il Popolo in opposition to this policy. In
4305-644: The Ministry of Interior , becoming a member of the government for the first time. De Mita was appointed deputy secretary of the Christian Democracy in 1969, serving under the leadership of Arnaldo Forlani ; he hold the position until February 1973. During the 1970s, De Mita hold various positions in the government. He served in the cabinet of Mariano Rumor as Minister of Industry, Trade and Crafts from 8 July 1973 until 23 November 1974; Minister of Foreign Trade from 23 November 1974 to 30 July 1976 in
4428-649: The Parliament to stay in office. Prior to the establishment of the Italian Republic, the position was called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy ( Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri del Regno d'Italia ). From 1925 to 1943 during the Fascist regime , the position was transformed into the dictatorial position of Head of the Government, Prime Minister, Secretary of State ( Capo del Governo, Primo Ministro, Segretario di Stato ) held by Benito Mussolini , Duce of Fascism, who officially governed on
4551-528: The Prodi I Cabinet fell, Mattarella was appointed by Massimo D'Alema as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy with responsibility for the secret services, which he tried to reform. The reform of the secret services proposed by Mattarella collected the indications provided by the Jucci Commission, which had worked extensively on the subject, and aimed at strengthening the political control of the services by
4674-516: The Russo-Ukrainian crisis , stating: "We cannot accept that now, without even the pretext of competition between different political and economic systems, the winds of confrontation are once again blowing across a continent that has experienced the tragedies of the First and Second World Wars." Mattarella added: "We must appeal to our resources and those of allied and friendly countries so that
4797-673: The Sicilian Mafia in Palermo. This event deeply changed Mattarella's life, and he left his academic career to enter politics. One of the first important positions that Mattarella held was the head of the board of arbitrators of the DC, quickly reconstituted at the end of 1981 following the Propaganda Due scandal and the establishment of the related parliamentary commission of inquiry, chaired by Tina Anselmi . The internal body of
4920-465: The president of the Council of Ministers (Italian: Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri ), is the head of government of the Italian Republic . The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Constitution of Italy ; the president of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the president of the Republic and must have the confidence of
5043-583: The prime minister of Italy , in coordination with the Digis (Government Department of Security Information), by removing power from the Interior Ministry and Defense. It was the basis for the 2007 reform of the secret services. In December 1999, Mattarella was appointed Italian Minister of Defence in the D'Alema II Cabinet . As Minister of Defence, he supported the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia against
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5166-404: The "Giolittian System", although Giolitti himself saw the development of the national economy as essential in the production of wealth. The Italian prime minister presided over a very unstable political system as in its first sixty years of existence (1861–1921) Italy changed its head of the government 37 times. Regarding this situation, the first goal of Benito Mussolini , appointed in 1922 ,
5289-406: The "defense lawyer of Italian people ". On 27 May, Conte renounced his mandate due to conflicts between Salvini and Mattarella. Salvini had proposed university professor Paolo Savona as Italian Minister of Economy and Finances , but Mattarella strongly opposed the appointment, considering Savona too Eurosceptic and anti-German. In his speech after Conte's resignation, Mattarella declared that
5412-462: The Constitution of Italy, a referendum was called after the formal request of more than one-fifth of the members of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, since the constitutional law had not been approved by a qualified majority of two-thirds in each house of parliament in the second vote. 59.11% of voters voted against the constitutional reform, meaning it did not come into effect. This
5535-424: The Constitution". The president was also defended by The Guardian , Libération , and Der Spiegel . German business newspaper Handelsblatt titled "Forza Mattarella!" ("Go Mattarella!") Marco Travaglio and Maurizio Belpietro (editors of Il Fatto Quotidiano and La Verità ) criticized Mattarella's move as an abuse but recognized that it was not sufficient to start an impeachment procedure. After
5658-496: The DC until 22 February 1989, when he became president of the party, a position he held until 1992. After the elections of 1987, De Mita waited a year to become Prime Minister and was appointed on 13 April 1988, heading a five-way coalition ( Pentapartito ) with DC, PSI, PSDI, PRI and PLI. Three days later, on 16 April 1988, in Forlì , Red Brigades killed Senator Roberto Ruffilli , an advisor of De Mita. De Mita's government obtained
5781-520: The European Parliament . During his final years, De Mita served as mayor of his hometown Nusco from 2014 until his death in 2022. Ciriaco De Mita was born in Nusco in the Avellinese hinterland in 1928. His father was a tailor and postman , while his mother was a housewife. After attending the classical high school in nearby Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi with excellent grades, he won a scholarship in
5904-470: The Italian Republic in 1946. The prime minister is the president of the Council of Ministers which holds executive power and the position is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems . The formal Italian order of precedence lists the office as being, ceremonially, the fourth-highest Italian state office after the president and the presiding officers of the two houses of parliament. In practice,
6027-492: The Italian government reintroduced stricter rules to limit the spread of COVID-19. Demonstrations and gatherings of people were strictly forbidden. Regions and municipalities were given the power to only tighten but not release containment measures. On 25 October, the government introduced new restrictions, imposing the closing of gyms, swimming pools, theatres, and cinemas, as well as the closing of bars and restaurants by 6 pm. Restrictions were later confirmed until April 2021 by
6150-778: The League) proposed a no-confidence vote in Conte. Conte resigned, but after the consultations between the President Sergio Mattarella and the political parties, Conte was reappointed as prime minister, heading a government of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party of Nicola Zingaretti . In January 2021, the centrist party Italia Viva , led by former prime minister Renzi, withdrew its support to Conte's government. In February 2021, President Mattarella appointed Mario Draghi , former President of
6273-399: The League, each urged that Mattarella should give him the task of forming a new cabinet because he led the largest party or coalition, respectively. On 5 March, Matteo Renzi declared the PD to be in the opposition during this legislature and resigned as party leader when a new cabinet was formed. On 6 March, Salvini repeated his campaign message that his party would refuse any coalition with
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#17327799018356396-405: The M5S agreed to hold new elections on 8 July, an option that was rejected by all other parties. On 9 May, after a day of rumours, the M5S and the League officially asked Mattarella to give them 24 more hours to strike a coalition agreement between the two parties. Later that same day, Berlusconi stated that FI would not support an M5S–League government on a vote of confidence but would maintain
6519-401: The M5S. On 14 March, Salvini offered to govern with the M5S, imposing the condition that League ally Forza Italia (FI), led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi , must also take part in any coalition. Di Maio rejected this proposal on the grounds that Salvini was "choosing restoration instead of revolution" because "Berlusconi represents the past". Moreover, Alessandro Di Battista ,
6642-501: The PD's leader and main sponsor of his presidential candidacy, Paolo Gentiloni , a leading member of the PD who succeeded Renzi after his resignation in 2016, Giuseppe Conte , at that time an independent politician who governed both with right-wing and left-wing coalitions in two consecutive cabinets, Mario Draghi , a banker and former president of the European Central Bank , who was appointed by Mattarella to lead
6765-433: The President of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico to try to create a political agreement between the Democratic Party (PD) and the M5S. On 30 April, following an interview of Renzi, the PD's former leader, in which he expressed his strong opposition to an alliance with the M5S, Di Maio called for new elections. On 7 May, Mattarella held a third round of government formation talks, after which he formally confirmed
6888-516: The President of the Senate Elisabetta Casellati with trying to reconcile the issues between the centre-right coalition and the M5S in order to break the post-election political deadlock and form a fully functional new government; however, she failed to find a solution to the conflicts between the two groups, especially between FI and the M5S. On 23 April, after Casellati's failure, Mattarella gave an exploratory mandate to
7011-448: The Senate. On 26 January, Prime Minister Conte resigned from his office, prompting President Mattarella to start consultations for the formation of a new government. In February, when the consultations for the formation of a Conte's third government failed, Mattarella gave Mario Draghi , former president of the European Central Bank , the task of forming a government of national unity . On 3 February, Draghi accepted with reservation
7134-665: The Serbian president Slobodan Milošević ; he also approved a reform of the Italian Armed Forces which abolished conscription . After the resignation of D'Alema in 2000, Mattarella kept his position as Minister of Defence in the Amato II Cabinet . In October 2000, the PPI joined with other centrist parties to form an alliance called The Daisy (DL), later to merge into a single party in March 2002. Mattarella
7257-519: The Sicilian regional administration, and controls on local authorities. In 1966, Mattarella married Marisa Chiazzese, daughter of Lauro Chiazzese, former rector of the University of Palermo, with whom he had three children: Laura , Francesco, and Bernardo. On 6 January 1980, his older brother Piersanti Mattarella , who was also a DC politician and president of Sicily since 1978, was killed by
7380-463: The activity of the ministers". This power has been used to a quite variable extent in the history of the Italian state as it is strongly influenced by the political strength of individual ministers and thus by the parties they represent. The prime minister's activity has often consisted of mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister's supervisory power
7503-487: The appointment of Paolo Savona as Minister of Economy and Finance led to a constitutional crisis and threats of impeachment, and he has twice intervened in government formations by appointing his own candidates for prime minister ( Gentiloni in 2016 and Draghi in 2021) in lieu of calling new elections. Mattarella was born in Palermo on 23 July 1941 into a prominent Sicilian family. His father Bernardo Mattarella
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#17327799018357626-432: The ballots, notably reaching 336 votes in the sixth ballot and 387 in the seventh one, even if no major party or coalition formally supported him as a candidate. On the morning of 29 January, after all other possible candidacies failed and the two major coalitions could not agree on a shared candidate, the re-election of incumbent president Mattarella became a serious alternative. On the same day, Mattarella agreed to serve
7749-406: The behalf of the king of Italy . King Victor Emmanuel III removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and the position was restored with Marshal Pietro Badoglio becoming prime minister in 1943, although the original denomination of President of the Council was only restored in 1944, when Ivanoe Bonomi was appointed to the post of prime minister. Alcide De Gasperi became the first prime minister of
7872-447: The centre-right alliance, opening the door to a possible majority government between the two parties. On 13 May, the M5S and League reached an agreement in principle on a government program, clearing the way for the formation of a governing coalition between the two parties, but could not agree regarding the members of a government cabinet, most importantly the prime minister. The M5S and League leaders met with Mattarella on 14 May to guide
7995-484: The combination of the education system and preventive measures, not only in health matters, was part of the programmatic lines that the minister had drawn. On 27 July 1990, Mattarella resigned from his position, together with other ministers, upon the Italian Parliament 's passing in 1990 of the Mammì Act, liberalising the media in Italy , which they saw as a favour to the media magnate Berlusconi. In 1990, Mattarella
8118-500: The control of the Allied Forces. In 1944 Badoglio resigned and Ivanoe Bonomi was appointed to the post of prime minister, restoring the old title of "President of the Council of Ministers. Bonomi was briefly succeeded by Ferruccio Parri in 1945 and then by Alcide de Gasperi , leader of the newly formed Christian Democracy ( Democrazia Cristiana , DC) political party. Following the 1946 Italian institutional referendum ,
8241-523: The country experienced the Years of Lead , a period characterised by economic crisis (especially after the 1973 oil crisis ), widespread social conflicts and terrorist massacres carried out by opposing extremist groups, with the alleged involvement of United States and Soviet intelligence. The Years of Lead culminated in the assassination of the Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro in 1978 and
8364-405: The country, as well as one of the most prominent members of DC's left-wing. During his long-time career, he also served as Minister of Industry, Commerce and Crafts from 1973 to 1974, Minister of Foreign Trade from 1974 to 1976, and Minister for Interventions in the South from 1976 until 1979. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies for more than 40 years between 1963 and 2008 and also member of
8487-487: The credibility of the regional political system dominated by DC. In the following year, Mattarella was entrusted by Ciriaco De Mita , the DC secretary, to "clean up" the Sicilian branch of the party from Mafia control, at a time when mafia made men like Salvo Lima and Vito Ciancimino were powerful political figures in the region. In 1985, he helped the young lawyer Leoluca Orlando , who had worked alongside his brother Piersanti during his governorship of Sicily, to become
8610-405: The early 1990s, the whole Italian political system was shocked by the Tangentopoli corruption scandal; Mattarella was not directly involved in the scandal. In August 1993, he was among the recipients of an investigation's notification that followed the statements of a Sicilian real estate entrepreneur, who accused him. Mattarella resigned from all his posts and was thanked by Mino Martinazzoli ,
8733-463: The elections, becoming one of Italy's most important political and economic figures for the next decade. Berlusconi is also the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Italian Republic and the third-longest serving in the whole history after Mussolini and Giolitti. Ousted after a few months of government, Berlusconi returned to power in 2001, lost the 2006 general election five years later to Romano Prodi and his Union coalition, but won
8856-531: The first head of the government from Southern Italy . He led the country for six years from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896. Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Otto von Bismarck , William Ewart Gladstone and Salisbury . Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, Crispi went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure due to becoming involved in
8979-421: The following day, Mattarella started the consultations with parliamentary groups. During the round of consultations between Mattarella and the parliamentary groups , a possible new majority emerged, between the M5S and the Democratic Party (PD). On 28 August, the PD's leader Nicola Zingaretti favored keeping Conte at the head of the new government. On the following day, Mattarella received Conte to give him
9102-400: The formation of a new government. At their meeting with Mattarella, both parties asked for an additional week of negotiations to agree on a detailed government program, as well as a prime minister to lead the joint government. Both the M5S and the League asked their respective members to vote on the government agreement by the weekend. On 21 May, a private law professor, Giuseppe Conte ,
9225-509: The government allowed the re-openings of bars, restaurants, barbers and gyms. The possibility to travel between different regions was restored on 3 June. Starting from July, many countries in Europe, including Italy, witnessed a new rise in detected COVID-19 cases. On 7 October, the parliament postponed the end of the state of emergency to 31 January 2021, and Prime Minister Conte imposed the use of protection mask outdoors. On 13 October 2020,
9348-558: The government coalition: the Christian Democrats, who ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a severe crisis and eventually disbanded, splitting up into several factions. Moreover, the Communist Party was reorganised as a social-democratic force, the Democratic Party of the Left . In the midst of the mani pulite operation which shook political parties in 1994, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi , owner of three private TV channels, founded Forza Italia (Forward Italy) party and won
9471-507: The government of Aldo Moro and Minister for Extraordinary Interventions in Southern Italy in the cabinet of Giulio Andreotti from 30 July 1976 to 21 March 1979. In the 1982 party congress, De Mita was elected secretary of the Christian Democracy with a clear objective of renewing the party. As party's leader, De Mita suffered a huge loss in the 1983 general election . In 1986, De Mita was re-elected secretary with 60% support from
9594-473: The hypothesis that Berlusconi's FI could be accepted into the European People's Party . Mattarella was one of the first supporters of the economist Romano Prodi at the head of the centre-left coalition known as The Olive Tree in the 1996 Italian general election . After the electoral victory of the centre-left, Mattarella served as leader of the PPI's parliamentary group. Two years later, when
9717-410: The lack of any possible majority (the M5S rejecting an alliance with the centre-right coalition, the PD rejecting an alliance with both M5S and the centre-right coalition, and the League's Salvini refusing to form a government with M5S unless it included Berlusconi's FI, whose presence in the government was explicitly vetoed by the M5S's leader Di Maio); as a result, he stated his intention to soon appoint
9840-466: The leadership of the government to the DC in the last year of the legislature. Craxi refused to do this and in 1987 a snap election was called. In 1984 De Mita pushed the future president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella , and Leoluca Orlando to intensify their political commitment with the task of cleaning up the Sicilian branch of the DC from Mafia control. De Mita appointed Mattarella as extraordinary commissioner for Palermo. De Mita remained secretary of
9963-558: The left-leaning faction of the DC known as morotei . The faction, close to Aldo Moro , supported an agreement with the Italian Communist Party (PCI) led by Enrico Berlinguer , the so-called Historic Compromise ; his brother Piersanti Mattarella also supported it. In 1982, Cosa Nostra killed the PCI regional secretary Pio La Torre and the prefect of Palermo Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa . These tragic events shook
10086-424: The left-leaning faction of the party as well as to its secretary De Mita. On 29 July 1987, Mattarella was appointed Italian Minister for Parliamentary Relations in the government led by the DC prime minister Giovanni Goria . The government lasted until April 1988, when De Mita was sworn in as new prime minister; however, Mattarella was confirmed as minister. In March 1989, a maxi-competition for professorships
10209-483: The monarchy was abolished and De Gasperi became the first Prime Minister of the Italian Republic. The First Republic was dominated by the Christian Democracy which was the senior party in each government coalitions from 1946 to 1994 while the opposition was led by the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the largest one in Western Europe. In the first years of the Republic, the governments were led by De Gasperi, who
10332-488: The more contagious SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant became predominant in Italy. In August 2021, the government extended the requirement of the EU Digital COVID Certificate , also known as Green Pass, to the participation in sports events and music festivals but also to the access to indoor places like bars, restaurants and gyms, as well as to long-distance public transportation, in an attempt to contain
10455-477: The new mayor of Palermo ; the two men set out to break the Mafia's hold on the island, transferring budget authority from the corrupt regional government back to the cities and passing a law enforcing the same building standards used in the rest of Italy, thereby making the Mafia's building schemes illegal. In 1987, Mattarella was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies with more than 143,000 votes, remaining close to
10578-429: The new government and 133 voted against. In January 2021, Matteo Renzi , former prime minister and leader of Italia Viva (IV), who split from the PD in 2019, revoked his party's support to the government of Conte, who did not resign immediately. On 18 and 19 January, Renzi's party abstained and the government won the key confidence votes in the Chamber and in the Senate but failed in reaching an absolute majority in
10701-561: The new government led by Mario Draghi . On 15 March 2021, Prime Minister Draghi placed the majority of Italy under so-called "full lockdown" conditions, with non-essential businesses closing and travel restricted, in response to an increase in the transmission of COVID-19; unlike the 2020 lockdown, factories and some other workplaces were allowed to remain open. Draghi vowed that Italy would see its vaccination programme triple in April, reaching 500,000 people per day by that time. In June 2021,
10824-421: The office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of ordinary Italians, together with the enactment of several policies of government intervention. Besides putting in place several tariffs , subsidies and government projects, Giolitti also nationalized the private telephone and railroad operators. Liberal proponents of free trade criticized
10947-446: The overcoming of the traditional single teacher. On 23 July 1989, Mattarella became Italian Minister of Education in the sixth cabinet of Giulio Andreotti . In January 1990, Mattarella led the first National School Conference, which discussed the renewal of the educational system and addressed the issue of school autonomy. At the end of June 1990, the so-called "anti-drug law" was approved, which mandated health education to schools;
11070-533: The party had been charged with identifying the militants registered in the Masonic lodge of Licio Gelli to expel or suspend them, having violated the statute of the party that prohibited registration to Masonic lodges. Mattarella's parliamentary career began in 1983, when he was elected member of the Chamber of Deputies with nearly 120,000 votes in the constituency of Palermo . As a deputy, Mattarella joined
11193-575: The party. His secretariat is remembered for a rivalry with Bettino Craxi , socialist leader who in the 1980s held the office of Prime Minister for four years. Craxi had always promoted his reformist drive as opposed to the inaction of the Christian democrats and in 1987 he clashed with De Mita for the breaking of the so-called "relay pact" ( patto della staffetta ), under which the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) would have had to cede
11316-477: The passage of a law in May 1988 that introduced a new benefit for salaried workers called "benefit for the family nucleus" ( assegno per il nucleo familiare ), with the amount varying depending on the number of family members and the family income of the previous year. After a government crisis caused by rivalry with Craxi, De Mita resigned on 19 May 1989. He was called to form a new coalition government, but did not succeed. His government finally fell in July 1989 and
11439-399: The prime minister is the country's political leader and de facto chief executive. Giorgia Meloni has been the incumbent prime minister since 22 October 2022. As the president of the Council of Ministers , the prime minister is required by the Constitution to have the supreme confidence of the majority of the voting members of the Parliament . In addition to powers inherent in being
11562-455: The ranks of the party, becoming a member of its national council in 1956 during the party's congress in Trento . In the 1963 general election , he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the constituency of Benevento–Avellino–Salerno with more than 67,000 votes. and he will be a deputy uninterruptedly until the elections of 1994 . In 1968 De Mita was appointed undersecretary of state to
11685-469: The rise of populist parties. Moreover, in 2020, Italy became one of the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic , being the first country in the Western world to implement a national lockdown to stop the spread of the disease. Like his predecessor Napolitano, Mattarella has been accused of wielding the largely ceremonial role of head of state in an executive manner; his successful opposition to
11808-454: The same majority of Renzi's. According to many political analysts and commentators, the appointment of Gentiloni caused tensions between Mattarella and Renzi, who asked the president to dissolve the parliament and call for a snap election in 2017. This version was later confirmed by Renzi during a press conference following the 2018 general election, in which he stated it was an error not to vote in 2017. The March 2018 election resulted in
11931-544: The spread of new variants. On 15 October, Italy became the first country in the world to establish a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination certificate for the entire work force, public, and private. On 31 December, during what was anticipated to be his last speech to the nation as president and within a dramatic increasing in COVID-19 cases, Mattarella thanked all the Italians who got vaccinated, stressing that "wasting vaccines
12054-439: The task of forming a new cabinet and started the consultations with the presidents of the two houses. After successful negotiations with parties including FI, the League, the M5S, and the PD, Draghi was sworn in as the prime minister on 13 February, pledging to oversee effective implementation of COVID-19 economic stimulus. Draghi's government has been described as both a national unity government and "president's government",
12177-466: The task of forming a new cabinet. On 4 September, Conte introduced his new cabinet, which was sworn in at the Quirinal Palace on the following day. On 9 September 2019, the Chamber of Deputies expressed its confidence in the government with 343 votes in favour, 263 against, and 3 abstentions. On 10 September 2019, in the second vote of confidence in the Senate, 169 lawmakers voted in favour of
12300-405: The then DC leader, who expressed his support to him. Martinazzoli's statement was publicly criticized by Francesco Cossiga because it was in contrast with what was done for other politicians involved in the scandal. Mattarella was later acquitted of the charge. Mattarella was one of the protagonists of the renewal of the DC after Tangentopoli that would lead in January 1994 to the foundation of
12423-575: The thesis The Function of Political Direction . In 1967, he became a lawyer in Palermo, becoming particularly involved in administrative law . After a few years, Mattarella started teaching parliamentary procedure at the University of Palermo , where he remained until 1983. His academic activity and publications during this period mainly concerned constitutional law topics, the intervention of Sicilian government in economy, bicameralism , legislative procedure , expropriation allowance, evolution of
12546-401: The two parties wanted to bring Italy out of the eurozone and that, as the guarantor of the Italian constitution and the country's interest and stability, he could not allow this. Mattarella subsequently gave economist Carlo Cottarelli the presidential mandate to form a new government. Mattarella's decision prompted furious reactions from the M5S, who called for Mattarella's impeachment ,
12669-485: The whole country. On 22 February, the Council of Ministers introduced a bill to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, quarantining more than 50,000 people from 11 different municipalities in Northern Italy . After few days, schools and universities closed in the whole country. On 8 March, the Italian government extended the quarantine to the entire region of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, putting more than
12792-499: Was Camillo Benso di Cavour , who was appointed on 23 March 1861, but he died on 6 June the same year. From 1861 to 1911, Historical Right and Historical Left prime ministers alternatively governed the country. According to the letter of the Statuto Albertino , the prime minister and other ministers were politically responsible to the king and legally responsible to Parliament. With time, it became all but impossible for
12915-418: Was elected to the presidency on the fourth ballot, supported by the centre-left coalition majority led by the PD and centrist parties. Despite having initially ruled out a second term, he was re-elected on 29 January 2022, becoming the second Italian president to be re-elected, the first being Napolitano. As of 2024, five prime ministers have served under his presidency, among them Matteo Renzi , then
13038-554: Was member of the Chamber of Deputies between 2013 and 2018, and whose political career Ciriaco was in charge of catapulting. De Mita died on 26 May 2022, at the age of 94, while recovering from surgery for a fracture of a femur following a fall at home. His funeral was held the following day in Nusco. Source: Ministry of the Interior Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy , officially
13161-435: Was among the founders of the Italian People's Party (PPI), serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy from 1998 to 1999, and Minister of Defence from 1999 to 2001. He joined The Daisy in 2002 and was one of the founders of the Democratic Party (PD) in 2007, leaving it when he retired from politics in 2008. He also served as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy from 2011 to 2015. On 31 January 2015, Mattarella
13284-582: Was an anti-fascist who, alongside Alcide De Gasperi and other Catholic politicians, founded Christian Democracy (DC), which dominated the Italian political scene for almost fifty years, with Bernardo serving as a minister several times. Bernardo Mattarella has also been accused of being associated with the Sicilian Mafia ; however, accusations were always rejected in court. His mother Maria Buccellato came from an upper-middle-class family of Trapani . During his youth, Mattarella moved to Rome due to his father's commitments to politics. In Rome, he became
13407-414: Was an attempt to force early elections to improve Lega's standing in the Italian Parliament , ensuring that Salvini would become the next prime minister. On 20 August, following the parliamentary debate in which Conte accused Salvini of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest", the prime minister resigned his post to President Mattarella. On
13530-531: Was an offense to anyone who didn't have them". Mattarella also stated that during his seven-year term he never felt alone, thanking Italians to have shown "the best face of the country". During 2021, despite high popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy , President Mattarella refused to run for a second term despite various political forces asking him to do so, recalling similar remarks made by his predecessors Antonio Segni and Giovanni Leone . Despite his firm denial, Mattarella received several votes in
13653-447: Was appointed again head of the government after a period of instability. Giolitti was prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921 and the second-longest serving prime minister in Italian history. Giolitti was a master in the political art of trasformismo , the method of making a flexible, fluid centrist coalition in Parliament which sought to isolate the extremes of the left and the right in Italian politics. Under his influence,
13776-465: Was appointed new prime minister. On 1 June 2018, after the 2018 Italian general election where the anti-establishment Five Star Movement become the largest party in Parliament, Giuseppe Conte (leader of Five Star) was sworn in as prime minister, at the head of a populist coalition of Five Star Movement and the League . After the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy , where the League exceeded Five Star Movement, Matteo Salvini (leader of
13899-465: Was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943 following a vote of no confidence by the Grand Council of Fascism and replaced by General Pietro Badoglio . A few months later, Italy was invaded by Nazi Germany and Mussolini was reinstated as head of a puppet State called Italian Social Republic , while the authorities of the Kingdom were forced to relocate in Southern Italy , which was under
14022-507: Was elected deputy secretary of the DC. He left the post two years later to become director of Il Popolo , the official newspaper of the party. Following the 1993 Italian referendum , he drafted the new electoral law nicknamed Mattarellum . The electoral law consisted in a parallel voting system, which act as a mixed system, with 75% of seats allocated using a first-past-the-post electoral system and 25% using proportional representation , with one round of voting. During those years in
14145-526: Was first established in 1848 in Italy's predecessor state, the Kingdom of Sardinia —although it was not mentioned in its constitution, the Albertine Statute . After the unification of Italy and the establishment of the kingdom , the procedure did not change. In fact, the candidate for office was appointed by the king and presided over a very unstable political system. The first prime minister
14268-414: Was first introduced by the government in the Senate on 8 April 2014. After several amendments were made to the proposed law by both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies , the bill received its first approval on 13 October 2015 (Senate) and 11 January 2016 (Chamber of Deputies), and its second and final approval on 20 January (Senate) and 12 April (Chamber of Deputies). In accordance with Article 138 of
14391-436: Was held for the secondary school. Mattarella reorganized also the teaching programs of two-year high schools, completing the first steps of the so-called "Brocca project", the educational system's revision program, undertaken under his predecessor Giovanni Galloni in 1988. Mattarella also oversaw the overall reform of the elementary school, which made the three teachers' module on two classes universal on 23 May 1990, leading to
14514-416: Was proposed by Di Maio and Salvini for the role of Prime Minister of Italy . Despite reports in the Italian press suggesting that Mattarella still had significant reservations about the direction of the new government, Conte was invited to the Quirinal Palace on 23 May to receive the presidential mandate to form a new cabinet. In the traditional statement after the appointment, Conte said that he would be
14637-435: Was re-elected to the Italian Parliament in the 2001 and 2006 general elections, standing as a candidate for The Daisy in two successive centre-left coalitions: The Olive Tree and The Union ( L'Unione ). In 2007, Mattarella was one of the founders of the Democratic Party (PD), a big tent centre-left party formed from a merger of left-wing and centrist parties which had been part of The Olive Tree, including The Daisy and
14760-514: Was succeeded by Giulio Andreotti on 23 July. In September 1992, he was appointed Chairman of the Bilateral Commission for Constitutional Reform, a position he left in March 1993 when was succeeded by Nilde Iotti . In the 1994 elections, De Mita did not run for reelection as a deputy, but ran again in 1996 after a lag of two years and then re-elected in 2001 and 2006. He then joined the Italian People's Party and later Democracy
14883-627: Was the Acting President at the time of Mattarella's inauguration on 3 February. Mattarella's first statement as new president was thusly: "My thoughts go first and especially to the difficulties and hopes of our fellow citizens." Mattarella's first presidential visit was on the day of his election, when he visited the Fosse Ardeatine , where during World War II in 1944 the German Nazi occupation troops killed 335 people as
15006-459: Was the third constitutional referendum in the history of the Italian Republic ; the other two were in 2001 , in which the amending law was approved, and in 2006 , in which it was rejected. Following the defeat, Prime Minister Renzi resigned. On 11 December, Mattarella appointed the incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni as new head of the government. Gentiloni led a government composed by PD, NCD, and other minor centrist parties,
15129-651: Was to abolish the Parliament's ability to put him to a vote of no confidence , basing his power on the will of the King and the National Fascist Party alone. After destroying all political opposition through his secret police and outlawing labor strikes, Mussolini and his Fascist followers consolidated their power through a series of laws that transformed the nation into a one-party dictatorship . Within five years, he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create
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