Toward North
Encyclopedia
Toward North is a liberal and federalist
political party active in Veneto
, Italy.
The group, which seeks to represent all the North by enlarging itself outside Veneto, is a keen proposer of federalism, fiscal reform, free market, competition, private enterprise and justice reform. Its main leader is Massimo Cacciari
.
, three times Mayor of Venice
and leading figure of the centre-left in Veneto, called his Democratic Party
(PD) to organize itself as a federalist party, with an autonomous northern wing. Giancarlo Galan
, President of Veneto
from 1995 to 2010, made similar calls to The People of Freedom
(PdL). None of these calls were welcomed by the two main Italian parties and Lega Nord became a major electoral force at the 2008 general election
. At the 2010 regional election
Liga Veneta
–Lega Nord became the largest party in Veneto and Luca Zaia
was elected President of the region.
, and especially Veneto, was launched on 23 July 2010 in Mogliano Veneto
. The ten proponents of Toward North. Italy closer to Europe were: Massimo Cacciari (PD), Giuseppe Bortolussi
(PD, 2010 candidate for President of Veneto), Achille Variati
(PD, Mayor of Vicenza
), Diego Bottacin
(PD, regional councillor), Maurizio Fistarol
(PD, MP and former Mayor of Belluno
), Alessio Vianello (ApV
, ex-PD, former Deputy Mayor of Venice), Franco Miracco (PdL, spokesman of Giancarlo Galan), Mario Bertolissi (PdL, professor of constitutional law at the University of Padua
), Maria Gomierato (UDC, former Mayor of Castelfranco Veneto
), Francesco Giuliari (ApV, former deputy), Enrico Zardini (PD) and Enrico Zanetti (PD).
In October Vianello was elected president of VN, which started to be organized as a party. At the same time Bottacin left the PD in order to concentrate himself to the new party. Bortolussi, Bottacin, Mariangelo Foggiato
(North-East Union
) and the three regional councillors of the Union of the Centre formed a cross-group alliance. In December Fistarol left the group of the PD in the Senate in order to become a full representative of VN. A third regional councillor, Andrea Causin
, left the PD and joined VN soon. The party made inroads also in Piedmont
, where MEP Giancarlo Susta left the PD and became regional leader of VN.
After having dropped the idea of becoming the regional section of Alliance for Italy
in order to replace Alliance for Veneto
, Cacciari hinted that VN may become the regional section of Future Italy
(Italia Futura), a think-tank and would-be party led by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
political party active in Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Italy.
The group, which seeks to represent all the North by enlarging itself outside Veneto, is a keen proposer of federalism, fiscal reform, free market, competition, private enterprise and justice reform. Its main leader is Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is an Italian philosopher and politician.Born in Venice, Massimo Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua , where he also received his doctorate, writing a thesis on Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Judgment." In 1985, he became professor of Aesthetics at the...
.
Background
Between 2008 and 2010 Massimo CacciariMassimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is an Italian philosopher and politician.Born in Venice, Massimo Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua , where he also received his doctorate, writing a thesis on Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Judgment." In 1985, he became professor of Aesthetics at the...
, three times Mayor of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and leading figure of the centre-left in Veneto, called his Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
(PD) to organize itself as a federalist party, with an autonomous northern wing. Giancarlo Galan
Giancarlo Galan
Giancarlo Galan is an Italian politician.After having been a Liberal activist in the Seventies and the Eighties, he was not active in politics until he joined Forza Italia since its foundation in 1994. In the same year he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies.In 1995 he ran successfully...
, President of Veneto
President of Veneto
The President of Veneto is the supreme authority of Veneto, a Region of Italy.-Election:Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Veneto, since 1995 de facto and 2000 de jure, the President is elected by popular vote every five years under universal suffrage: in regional elections the...
from 1995 to 2010, made similar calls to 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). None of these calls were welcomed by the two main Italian parties and Lega Nord became a major electoral force at the 2008 general election
Italian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...
. At the 2010 regional election
Venetian regional election, 2010
The Venetian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010, as part of Italy's big round of regional elections.Luca Zaia, rising star of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, was elected President by a landslide. With the support of 60.2% of Venetians, he was the most voted President of Veneto since...
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...
–Lega Nord became the largest party in Veneto and Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia is an Italian Venetist politician, member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.Since March 2010 Zaia is President of Veneto...
was elected President of the region.
History
Following the rout of Rome-based parties in Veneto, a manifesto toward a new liberal party representing the NorthNorthern 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...
, and especially Veneto, was launched on 23 July 2010 in Mogliano Veneto
Mogliano Veneto
Mogliano Veneto is a town and comune in the province of Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy, located halfway between Mestre and Treviso.-Culture:...
. The ten proponents of Toward North. Italy closer to Europe were: Massimo Cacciari (PD), Giuseppe Bortolussi
Giuseppe Bortolussi
Giuseppe Bortolussi is an Italian politician from Veneto.In 1980 Bortolussi became director of the Mestre section of Confartigianato, the largest Italian organization representing artisans and small entrepreneurs. He later became president of the section...
(PD, 2010 candidate for President of Veneto), Achille Variati
Achille Variati
Achille Variati is an Italian politician who is currently Mayor of Vicenza.A long-time member of Christian Democracy, he was elected to the municipal council of Vicenza in 1980 and then re-elected in 1985 and 1990, when he became city Mayor...
(PD, Mayor of Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
), Diego Bottacin
Diego Bottacin
Diego Bottacin is an Italian politician from Veneto.In the 1980s Bottacin started his political career in the early green movements and in 1992 he was elected Mayor of Mogliano Veneto, an office he held until 2005. From 2002 to 2007 he was regional coordinator of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy...
(PD, regional councillor), Maurizio Fistarol
Maurizio Fistarol
Maurizio Fistarol is an Italian politician from Veneto.A member of the Italian Communist Party and, later, of the Democratic Party of the Left, Fistarol was elected Mayor of Belluno in 1993. Re-elected in 1997, he was active in the North-East Movement and The Democrats...
(PD, MP and former Mayor of Belluno
Belluno
Belluno , is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomiti's region. With its roughly 37,000 inhabitants, it the largest populated area...
), Alessio Vianello (ApV
Alliance for Veneto
Alliance for Veneto was a short-lived centrist political party in Veneto, that was the section of Alliance for Italy in Veneto....
, ex-PD, former Deputy Mayor of Venice), Franco Miracco (PdL, spokesman of Giancarlo Galan), Mario Bertolissi (PdL, professor of constitutional law at the University of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...
), Maria Gomierato (UDC, former Mayor of Castelfranco Veneto
Castelfranco Veneto
Castelfranco Veneto is a town and comune of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso, 30 km by rail from the town of Treviso. It is approximately 40 km inland from Venice.-History:...
), Francesco Giuliari (ApV, former deputy), Enrico Zardini (PD) and Enrico Zanetti (PD).
In October Vianello was elected president of VN, which started to be organized as a party. At the same time Bottacin left the PD in order to concentrate himself to the new party. Bortolussi, Bottacin, Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato is a Venetist politician.Having joined Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1995. He however left that party in 1998, when he founded Liga Veneta Repubblica along with Fabrizio Comencini...
(North-East Union
North-East Union
The North-East Union is a Venetist political party active in Veneto.The party was formed in 1996 by splinters from Liga Veneta–Lega Nord led by Adriano Bertaso. In the 1996 general election the party won 2.0% of the vote in the region , having run only in the Verona–Padua–Vicenza–Rovigo constituency...
) and the three regional councillors of the Union of the Centre formed a cross-group alliance. In December Fistarol left the group of the PD in the Senate in order to become a full representative of VN. A third regional councillor, Andrea Causin
Andrea Causin
Andrea Causin is an Italian politician from Veneto.A long-time member of the Christian Associations of Italian Workers , he was first elected as municipal councillor in Martellago in 1994 for the Italian People's Party. Having briefly left politics, he was national secretary of ACLI's youth...
, left the PD and joined VN soon. The party made inroads also in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, where MEP Giancarlo Susta left the PD and became regional leader of VN.
After having dropped the idea of becoming the regional section of Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy is a centrist political party in Italy.The party, which is described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left, an experience with high and memorable value, yet by now run out", was launched on 11...
in order to replace Alliance for Veneto
Alliance for Veneto
Alliance for Veneto was a short-lived centrist political party in Veneto, that was the section of Alliance for Italy in Veneto....
, Cacciari hinted that VN may become the regional section of Future Italy
Future Italy
Future Italy is an Italian liberal-centrist think tank formed in 2009 by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, former president of FIAT and Confindustria Its director is Andrea Romano...
(Italia Futura), a think-tank and would-be party led by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.