Network Italy
Encyclopedia
Network Italy is a Christian-democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

 faction within The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

 (PdL), a political party in Italy. It is composed of followers of Roberto Formigoni
Roberto Formigoni
Roberto Formigoni is an Italian politician, and the current President of Lombardy Region, Italy.-Life and career:Graduated in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan, he studied political economy at the Sorbonne, in Paris....

, a party bigwig who is currently President of Lombardy
President of Lombardy
The President of Lombardy is the supreme authority of Lombardy, the most populated Region of Italy.-Election:Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Lombardy, since 1995 de facto and 2000 de jure, he is elected by popular vote every five years under universal suffrage: the candidate who...

. Most of its members, as Formigoni himself, are members of Communion and Liberation
Communion and Liberation
Communion and Liberation, or CL, is a lay ecclesial movement within the Catholic Church.-Overview:CL grew out of the educational and catechetical methods of Msgr. Luigi Giussani, who founded the movement...

.

The group, which was active since 1975 as a faction within Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....

 under the name of Popular Movement, joined Rocco Buttiglione
Rocco Buttiglione
Rocco Buttiglione is an Italian Christian Democrat politician and an academic.His nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil liberties, resulted in controversy as some political groups opposed him for his Roman Catholic views on homosexuality, despite...

's United Christian Democrats
United Christian Democrats
The United Christian Democrats was a Christian democratic party in Italy.-History:It began in 1995 by a split of those members of the Italian People's Party who wanted to enter into an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia...

 (CDU). In 1998, when Buttiglione temorarily aligned his party with the centre-left in support of D'Alema I Cabinet (through the Democratic Union of the Republic), Formigoni formed the Christian Democrats for Freedom (Cristiani Democratici per la Libertà). When Buttiglione re-established CDU and re-positioned it in the centre-right, joining the House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

 coalition in 2000, Formigoni, his followers (known as Formigoniani) and many regional deputies from Northern regions
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...

 had already joined Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

.

In 2006 Network Italy was organized as a faction within Forza Italia. Leading members of the faction, which has its power base 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...

, include Maurizio Lupi, Mario Mantovani
Mario Mantovani
Mario Mantovani is an Italian politician,Member of the European Parliament 1999-2009for North-Westwith the Forza Italia, part of the European People's Party, Italian Senator and Vice-minister of Infrastructures and Transports since 2008...

, Mario Mauro
Mario Mauro
Mario Mauro is an Italian Member of the European Parliament and a teacher of history. He was first elected on the Forza Italia ticket, and in 2009 on the merged party The People of Freedom ticket...

, Giancarlo Abelli
Giancarlo Abelli
Gian Carlo Abelli is an Italian politician.A long-time Christian Democrat, he has been leader of Forza Italia's group in the regional assembly of Lombardy since 2005. In the 2008 general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he sits in the group of The People of...

, Adriano Paroli, Maurizio Bernardo, Guido Crosetto, Mario Malossini, Raffaello Vignali, Aldo Brandirali and Mario Sala.

In 2009 the faction, along with Forza Italia, joined the brand new PdL party. In November 2010, during a convention in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Formigoni formed an alliance with other two party bigwigs, Raffaele Fitto
Raffaele Fitto
Raffaele Fitto is an Italian politician, current Minister for Regional Business in Berlusconi IV Cabinet.-Biography:Raffaele Fitto was born in Maglie, Province of Lecce. His father, Salvatore Fitto, who was an exponent of the Christian Democracy and President of Apulia from 1985, died in...

 and Angelino Alfano
Angelino Alfano
Angelino Alfano is an Italian politician who served as Italy's Minister of Justice from 2008 to 2011, as part of the Berlusconi IV Cabinet...

. The aim of the initiative was to reinforce the Catholic image of the party and, according to some, to be prepared when 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...

 leaves politics. The ties with Franco Frattini's Liberamente
Liberamente
Liberamente is a liberal-centrist faction and think-tank within The People of Freedom , a political party in Italy...

and Gianni Alemanno's New Italy
New Italy (faction)
New Italy is a national and social-conservative think tank which acts as a faction within The People of Freedom , a political party in Italy...

 were reinforced too.

Leadership

Christian Democrats for Freedom
  • President: Roberto Formigoni
    Roberto Formigoni
    Roberto Formigoni is an Italian politician, and the current President of Lombardy Region, Italy.-Life and career:Graduated in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan, he studied political economy at the Sorbonne, in Paris....

     (1998–1999)

Network Italy
  • Coordinator: Maurizio Lupi / Mario Mauro
    Mario Mauro
    Mario Mauro is an Italian Member of the European Parliament and a teacher of history. He was first elected on the Forza Italia ticket, and in 2009 on the merged party The People of Freedom ticket...

     / Mario Sala (2006–present)

External links

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