Lega Lombarda
Encyclopedia
Regionalism (politics)
Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...
political party active in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
. Led by Giancarlo Giorgetti
Giancarlo Giorgetti
Giancarlo Giorgetti was national secretary of the Lombard League from 2002. Elected MP for the first time in 1996, from 2001 to 2006 he was Chairman of the Budget Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. He was described by the New York Times as a powerful deputy of Mr. Bossi and by the...
, the party is the second largest in the region.
Lega Lombarda is one of the "national" sections of Lega Nord and, along with Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
, it constitutes the bulk of the federal party. Its main members include 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 ....
, Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni is an Italian politician from Varese. He is a member of the Northern League political movement. Since 1992 he is a Member of the Chamber of Duputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombardy's districts and costituencies...
, Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
, Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the third Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, he is a Senator and one of the main representatives of Lega Nord.- Career :...
, Francesco Speroni
Francesco Speroni
Francesco Enrico Speroni is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North-West Italy constituency, first elected in the 2004 European Parliament election...
, Marco Reguzzoni
Marco Reguzzoni
Marco Giovanni Reguzzoni is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. He was President of Varese Province from 2002 to 12 February 2008. Today he is a member of the Italian Parliament as congressman....
and Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini is an Italian politician andMember of the European Parliamentfor North-West regionwith the Lega Nord from 2004 to 2006 as part of the Non-Inscrits and now as a member of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group.He sat onthe European Parliament's Committee on Culture and...
.
History
Lega Lombarda was officially founded on 12 April 1984 by Umberto BossiUmberto 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 used the resonance of the name of the historical Lega Lombarda
Lombard League
The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...
when choosing the name: its original title was Lega Autonomista Lombarda (Lombard Autonomist League, LAL), changed into the current one in 1986. At its electoral debut in the 1987 general election
Italian general election, 1987
The Italian election of 1987 was held on June 14. Italian citizens chose the tenth Parliament of the Italian Republic.This election marked the final inversion of the trend of the entire republican history of Italy: for the first time, the distance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists...
, Lega Lombarda won 2.6% of the votes in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
and got elected Bossi to the Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
and Giuseppe Leoni to the 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...
.
The party participated to the 1989 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 1989
The 1989 European Parliamentary Election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other members...
as the leading member of the coalition Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord
Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord
Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord was an electoral alliance for the 1989 European Parliament election in Italy.It was composed by six regionalist parties representative of six Northern regions:*Lega Lombarda*Liga Veneta...
(8.1% in Lombardy and two MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
elected). In 1989–1990 it took part in the process of federating the Northern regionalist parties, ahead of the regional elections. In February 1991 it merged into Lega Nord and since then it is the regional section of that party in Lombardy.
After Bossi and Luigi Negri, the party was led by Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
to its best result ever in the 1996 general election
Italian general election, 1996
An early national general election was held in Italy on 21 April, 1996 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic...
, when it gained 25.5%. Calderoli was replaced as national secretary by Giancarlo Giorgetti
Giancarlo Giorgetti
Giancarlo Giorgetti was national secretary of the Lombard League from 2002. Elected MP for the first time in 1996, from 2001 to 2006 he was Chairman of the Budget Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. He was described by the New York Times as a powerful deputy of Mr. Bossi and by the...
.
In the 2010 regional election
Lombard regional election, 2010
The Lombard regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010. The 9th term of the Regional Council was chosen.Roberto Formigoni, who was the longest-serving President of Region in Italy along with Giancarlo Galan of Veneto, obtained a historic fourth consecutive term. His opponent was...
the party gained 26.2%, its best result ever.
Members
As Bossi is the federal secretary of Lega Nord since 1991, Lega Lombarda is currently led by Giancarlo GiorgettiGiancarlo Giorgetti
Giancarlo Giorgetti was national secretary of the Lombard League from 2002. Elected MP for the first time in 1996, from 2001 to 2006 he was Chairman of the Budget Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. He was described by the New York Times as a powerful deputy of Mr. Bossi and by the...
(national secretary) and Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the third Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, he is a Senator and one of the main representatives of Lega Nord.- Career :...
(national president). The party has also two deputy secretaries: Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini is an Italian politician andMember of the European Parliamentfor North-West regionwith the Lega Nord from 2004 to 2006 as part of the Non-Inscrits and now as a member of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group.He sat onthe European Parliament's Committee on Culture and...
and Marco Reguzzoni
Marco Reguzzoni
Marco Giovanni Reguzzoni is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. He was President of Varese Province from 2002 to 12 February 2008. Today he is a member of the Italian Parliament as congressman....
.
The party is represented in the Italian Parliament by 25 deputies (including Bossi, Giorgetti and Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni is an Italian politician from Varese. He is a member of the Northern League political movement. Since 1992 he is a Member of the Chamber of Duputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombardy's districts and costituencies...
) and 11 senators (including Leoni, Castelli and Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
), in the Regional Council of Lombardy by 15 regional deputies (including the President of the assembly, Giulio De Capitani) and in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
by three MEPs (Francesco Speroni
Francesco Speroni
Francesco Enrico Speroni is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North-West Italy constituency, first elected in the 2004 European Parliament election...
, Fiorello Provera and Matteo Salvini). Lega Lombarda controls also six Lombard Provinces
Provinces of Italy
In Italy, a province is an administrative division of intermediate level between a municipality and a region .-Overview:...
(Brescia
Province of Brescia
The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...
, Bergamo
Province of Bergamo
The Province of Bergamo is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,098,740 , an area of 2,722.86 square km, and contains 244 comuni...
Varese
Province of Varese
The Province of Varese is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese but its largest city is Busto Arsizio....
, Como
Province of Como
The Province of Como is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Lecco to the East, the Province of Milan to the south and the Province of Varese to the West...
, Lodi
Province of Lodi
The Province of Lodi is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lodi.It has an area of 782 km², and a total population of 209,874 . There are 61 comuni in the province . As of May 31, 2005, the main comuni by population are:- External links :...
and Sondrio
Province of Sondrio
The Province of Sondrio is in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the town of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...
), and, among others, the Mayorships of Varese
Varese
Varese is a town and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan.It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.- Geography :...
, Lecco
Lecco
Lecco is a town of c. 47,760 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan, the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como...
and Monza
Monza
Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...
.
The party has three ministers in the regional government and five members of the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
: Roberto Maroni is Minister of the Interior, Umberto Bossi of Reforms and Federalism, Roberto Calderoli of Legislative simplification, Roberto Castelli is Under-Secretary of Infrastructures and Daniele Molgora of Economy and Finances.
Popular support
The party has its stongholds in the northern and mountain provinces of LombardyLombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
. In the 2010 regional election
Lombard regional election, 2010
The Lombard regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010. The 9th term of the Regional Council was chosen.Roberto Formigoni, who was the longest-serving President of Region in Italy along with Giancarlo Galan of Veneto, obtained a historic fourth consecutive term. His opponent was...
it won 30.0% in Varese
Province of Varese
The Province of Varese is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese but its largest city is Busto Arsizio....
, 28.2 in Pavia
Province of Pavia
The Province of Pavia is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Pavia is the capital.It has an area of 2,965 km², and a total population of 493,753...
, 33.3% in Como
Province of Como
The Province of Como is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Lecco to the East, the Province of Milan to the south and the Province of Varese to the West...
, 28.2% in Lecco
Province of Lecco
The Province of Lecco is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco.On 1 January 2001 the province had a population of 311,452 on a surface of 816 km² divided in 90 communes...
, 42.4% in Sondrio
Province of Sondrio
The Province of Sondrio is in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the town of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...
, 36.9% in Bergamo
Province of Bergamo
The Province of Bergamo is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,098,740 , an area of 2,722.86 square km, and contains 244 comuni...
and 30.1% in Brescia
Province of Brescia
The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...
.
The electoral results of Lega Lombarda in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
since 1990 are shown in the table below.
| 1990 regional | 1992 general | 1994 general | 1995 regional | 1996 general | 1999 European | 2000 regional | 2001 general | 2004 European | 2005 regional | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2009 European | 2010 regional |
| 18.9 | 23.0 | 22.1 | 17.7 | 25.5 | 13.1 | 15.5 | 12.1 | 13.8 | 15.8 | 11.7 | 21.6 | 22.7 | 26.2 |
Leadership
- National Secretary: Umberto BossiUmberto BossiUmberto 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 ....
(1984–1993), Luigi Negri (1993–1995), Roberto CalderoliRoberto CalderoliRoberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
(1995–2002), Giancarlo GiorgettiGiancarlo GiorgettiGiancarlo Giorgetti was national secretary of the Lombard League from 2002. Elected MP for the first time in 1996, from 2001 to 2006 he was Chairman of the Budget Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. He was described by the New York Times as a powerful deputy of Mr. Bossi and by the...
(2002–present) - National President: Augusto Arizzi (1986–1987), Silvana Bazzan (1987–1989), Franco Castellazzi (1989–1991), Francesco SperoniFrancesco SperoniFrancesco Enrico Speroni is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North-West Italy constituency, first elected in the 2004 European Parliament election...
(1991–1993), Roberto CalderoliRoberto CalderoliRoberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
(1993–1995), Giuseppe Leoni (1995–1999), Stefano Galli (1999–2002), Roberto CastelliRoberto CastelliRoberto Castelli is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the third Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, he is a Senator and one of the main representatives of Lega Nord.- Career :...
(2002–present)