Aldo Brancher is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 politician. He served as a Minister without portfolio

Minister without Portfolio

A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...

 in the Government of Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

 for 17 days in June/July 2010, but was forced to resign due to a pending court case.

Early career

Before his political career, Brancher was a Pauline

Society of St. Paul

The Society of St. Paul is a religious congregation founded on 20 August 1914 at Alba in Italy by Fr. Giacomo Alberione and officially approved by the Holy See on 27 June 1949.Its members are known as the Paulines...

 priest. He was a key figure in the publication of the Paulines' magazine, Famiglia Cristiana

Famiglia Cristiana

Famiglia Cristiana is an Italian weekly magazine. It was founded in 1931, and is currently owned by Edizioni San Paolo, a Roman Catholic publishing group....

. After leaving the priesthood, he worked for Berlusconi's advertising house, Publitalia '80, before moving on to Berlusconi's holding company, Fininvest

Fininvest

Fininvest is a financial holding company controlled by Silvio Berlusconi's family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.-Structure:...

.

In 1993, while working for Fininvest, Brancher was caught up in the Tangentopoli

Tangentopoli

Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...

 political corruption scandal. He served three months in San Vittore prison for false accounting and for illegally funding the Italian Socialist Party

Italian Socialist Party

The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...

, but was released on a technicality following a ruling by the Court of Cassation

Court of Cassation (Italy)

The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...

.

Political career

Brancher was elected to the 14th legislature of the Italian Chamber of Deputies

Italian Chamber of Deputies

The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

 in May 2001 and was re-elected in April 2006 and April 2008. He was appointed as a Secretary of State with responsibility for reform on 12 May 2008.

Brancher was named as a Minister without portfolio, with specific responsibility for federalism, on 18 June 2010. A few days later, his responsibility was changed to decentralisation as the Lega Nord – partners in Berlusconi's coalition Government – was concerned that his role would conflict with that of its leader, Umberto Bossi

Umberto Bossi

Umberto Bossi is an Italian politician, leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy. He is married to Manuela Marrone and has four sons ....

, who was Minister for Federal Reforms. At the time of his appointment, Brancher was facing trial for alleged embezzlement during the 2005 takeover of Antonveneta

Antonveneta

Antonveneta , was in 2008 the 9th largest banking group in Italy in terms of customer loans and the 8th largest in terms of total assets, with 1,000 branches, 10,800 employees and €50bn in assets....

. When, just a few days later, Brancher invoked an immunity law that protects Ministers from prosecution, the opposition accused Berlusconi of making the appointment solely to save his friend from the court hearing. Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano is an Italian politician who has been the 11th President of Italy since 2006. A long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and later the Democrats of the Left, he served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and as Minister of the Interior from 1996 to...

, the President of Italy, rejected Brancher's invocation of the right to immunity, suggesting that, as Brancher was a Minister without portfolio, there was no actual Ministry work preventing him from standing trial. Following the President’s comments, the opposition, along with members of Brancher’s own party, threatened a motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence

A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...

unless he resigned. Brancher acquiesced and announced his resignation during the opening day of his trial on 5 July 2010.