1.
Raffaele Fitto
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Raffaele Fitto is an Italian politician, leader of Conservatives and Reformists, an Italian conservative party. Raffaele Fitto was born in Maglie, Province of Lecce and his father, Salvatore Fitto, who was an exponent of the Christian Democracy and President of Apulia from 1985, died in 1988. Raffaele Fitto became regional councilor of Apulia in 1990 for DC, in 1995, he was re-elected councilor for Forza Italia, in May 2008 Fitto was appointed Minister for Regional Affairs and Local Communities in Berlusconi IV Cabinet, he held the position until November 16,2011. In February 2013 he was re-elected in Montecitorio for PDL, in May 2014 Fitto was elected at European Parliament for FI and he was the most voted candidate in a single constituencies for all political parties in Italy in this European election. In July 2014 Fitto, the candidate of FI, became a member, with all politicians of FI elected at European Parliament. Following strong disagreement with Berlusconi about the leadership of FI, Fitto founded in February 2015 a counter-movement within Forza Italia called the Rebuilders, on 17 May 2015 Fitto left FI and the European Peoples Party parliamentary group for joining the European Conservatives and Reformists parliamentary group. Fitto, member of ECR Group since 19 May 2015 and Member of the Bureau for Italy of ECR Group from 21 May 2015 to 12 December 2016, was elected as new Vice President of ECR Group on 13 December 2016. The coalition of DI has the goal of creating a party list for the Italian liberal-conservatives ahead of the 2018 general election. According to the prosecution this amount was suspected of being a bribe to secure for the Apulia region the management of eleven nursing homes. A request to arrest Fitto, who in the meantime had become a Member of the Italian Parliament, was rejected by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Fitto in December 2009 was found guilty of abuse of office, corruption and illegal financing of political parties, Fitto was acquitted of some other charges in June 2012. Fitto in February 2013 was sentenced by the Court of first instance to four years in prison and five years disqualification from public office, Fitto in September 2015 was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance. Fitto in February 2009 was accused of conspiring, during his presidency of the Apulia region, to short-sell the trading company Cedis, the charges were filed in April 2009, however in March 2017 Fitto was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance. Official website Website of the Ministry for Regional Business Personal profile of Raffaele Fitto in the European Parliaments database of members
2.
Michele Emiliano
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Michele Emiliano is an Italian politician and former judge. He was the mayor of Bari from 2004 to 2014, since June 2015, he has served as president of the Apulia Region. He is also standing in the Democratic Party leadership election,2017. Emilianos father was a football player and small business owner. In 1962, he and his moved to Bologna. In 1968 they returned to Bari, while growing up there he spent time playing basketball. He graduated from university with a law degree in 1983, for some time he worked as a trainee in a lawyers office. In 1988 he married his current wife, Elena
3.
Chamber of Deputies (Italy)
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The Chamber of Deputies is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy. The two houses form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 of the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, Deputies are styled The Honourable and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio. Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been briefly at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, from 1939 to 1943, the Chamber is composed of all members meeting in session at the Montecitorio. The assembly also has the right to meetings of the Government. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session, conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires. The term of office of the House is five years,61.2 of the Constitution, states that representatives whose term has expired shall continue to exercise their functions until the first meeting of the new Chamber. An extension of the term, provided for by art,60.2, can be enacted only in case of war. Election of members to the Chamber of Deputies is by voluntary, universal, terms last for a total of five years, unless an early dissolution of the Chamber is called by the President of the Republic, at which point a snap election is held. Unlike the Senate, which members to be 40 years of age. The current system for elections to the Chamber of Deputies has been in operation since 2015, the territory of Italy is divided into 100 constituencies electing between 3 and 9 deputies depending on their size. For each constituency, the parties designate a list of candidates, head of list candidates can run in up to 10 constituencies, if two preference votes are expressed, they must be of a different sex, otherwise, the second preference is discarded. Only parties passing a 3% minimum threshold in the first round are assigned seats, if the party receiving the plurality of the votes passes a 40% threshold, it is attributed a minimum of 340 seats. The remaining 277 seats are allocated to the other parties using the largest remainder method. This provision was however rendered null and void by a Constitutional Courts judgment in January 2017, the President of the Chamber of Deputies performs the role of speaker of the house and is elected during the first session after the election. During this time the prerogatives of speaker are assumed by the vicepresident of Chamber of Deputies of the legislature who was elected first. If two were elected simultaneously, the oldest deputy serves as president of Chamber of Deputies, the President of Chamber of Deputies has also the role of President during the Parliament joint sessions, when the upper and lower houses have to vote together
4.
Apulia
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Apulia is a region of Italy in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, known as the Salento peninsula, forms a stiletto on the boot of Italy, the region comprises 19,345 square kilometers, and its population is about 4 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, across the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, it faces Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, and Montenegro, The Apulia region extends as far north as Monte Gargano. Puglias coastline is longer than any other mainland Italian region, in the north, the Gargano promontory extends out into the Adriatic, while in the south, the flat and dry Salento peninsula forms the heel of Italys boot. It is home to the Alta Murgia and Gargano National Parks, see also, History of Apulia Apulia is one of the richest archaeological regions in Italy. It was first colonized by Mycenaean Greeks, a number of castles were built in the area by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, including Castel del Monte, sometimes called the Crown of Apulia. After 1282, when the island of Sicily was lost, Apulia was part of the Kingdom of Naples, as a result of the French–Spanish war of 1501–1504, Naples again came under the rule of Aragon and the Spanish Empire from 1504 to 1714. When Barbary pirates of North Africa sacked Vieste in 1554, they took an estimated 7,000 slaves, in 1861 the region became part of the Kingdom of Italy, with the new capital city at Turin. In the words of one historian, Turin was so far away that Otranto is today closer to seventeen foreign capitals than it is to Turin, the regions contribution to Italys gross value added was around 4. 6% in 2000, while its population was 7% of the total. The per capita GDP is low compared to the national average, in comparison with the country as a whole, the economy of Apulia is characterised by a greater emphasis on agriculture and services and a smaller part played by industry. In the last 20 years the base of the regions economy has changed radically. The majority of firms are financed by local capital. In certain of these sectors – especially textiles, clothing, footwear, vehicles, the region has a good network of roads but the railway network is somewhat inadequate, particularly in the south. Apulias 800 kilometers of coastline is studded with ports, which make this region an important terminal for transport and tourism to Greece, between 2007 and 2013 the economy of Apulia expanded more than that of the rest of southern Italy. Such growth, over decades, is a severe challenge to the hydrogeological system. Emigration from the depressed areas to northern Italy and the rest of Europe was very intense in the years between 1956 and 1971. Subsequently, the trend declined as economic conditions improved, to the point where there was net immigration in the years between 1982 and 1985, since 1986 the stagnation in employment has led to a new inversion of the trend, caused by a decrease in immigration. Since 1 June 2015, former judge and mayor of Bari Michele Emiliano of the Democratic Party has served as President, Apulia is divided into five administrative provinces and one metropolitan city, Cuisine plays an important role throughout Apulia
5.
Bari
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Bari is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, the city itself has a population of about 326,799, as of 2015, over 116 square kilometres, while the urban area has 700,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area has 1.3 million inhabitants, Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the south is the Murat quarter, the heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea. Modern residential zones surrounding the centre of Bari were built during the 1960s and 1970s replacing the old suburbs that had developed along roads splaying outwards from gates in the city walls, in addition, the outer suburbs developed rapidly during the 1990s. The city has an airport named after Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Airport. The city was founded by the Peucetii. Its harbour, mentioned as early as 181 BC, was probably the one of the districts in ancient times, as it is at present. The first historical bishop of Bari was Gervasius who was noted at the Council of Sardica in 347, the bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the 10th century. Until the arrival of the Normans, Bari continued to be governed by the Byzantines, throughout this period, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, Bari served as one of the major slave depots of the Mediterranean, providing a central location for the trade in Slavic slaves. The city was conquered and the Emirate extinguished in 871, due to the efforts of Emperor Louis II, in 885, Bari became the residence of the local Byzantine catapan, or governor. In 1025, under the Archbishop Byzantius, Bari became attached to the see of Rome and was granted provincial status, in 1071, Bari was captured by Robert Guiscard, following a three-year siege. Maio of Bari, a Lombard merchants son, was the third of the admirals of Norman Sicily. The Basilica di San Nicola was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, the saint began his development from Saint Nicholas of Myra into Saint Nicholas of Bari and began to attract pilgrims, whose encouragement and care became central to the economy of Bari. In 1095 Peter the Hermit preached the first crusade there, the Greeks were not brought over to the Latin way of thinking, and the Great Schism was inevitable. A civil war broke out in Bari in 1117 with the murder of the archbishop, control of Bari was seized by Grimoald Alferanites, a native Lombard, and he was elected lord in opposition to the Normans. By 1123, he had increased ties with Byzantium and Venice, Grimoald increased the cult of St Nicholas in his city. He later did homage to Roger II of Sicily, but rebelled and was defeated in 1132, Bari was occupied by Manuel I Komnenos between 1155 and 1158
6.
Foggia
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Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, in southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013 its population was 153,143, Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the granary of Italy. The name Foggia derives from Latin fovea, meaning pit, referring to the pits where wheat was stored. Although the area had settled since Neolithic times, and a Greek colony known as Argos Hippium existed nearby. According to the legend, the first settlers were peasants who had found a panel portraying the Madonna, the area was marshy and unhealthy. Robert Guiscard directed draining the wetland, boosting the economic and social growth of the city, the city was the seat of Henry, Count of Monte SantAngelo during the last twenty years of the 11th century. In the 12th century, William II of Sicily built a cathedral here, frederick II had a palace built in Foggia in 1223, in which he often sojourned. It was also seat of his court and a studium, including figures such as the mathematician and scholar Michael Scot. In 1447, King Alfonso V of Aragon built a Custom Palace to tax the local sheep farmers and this caused a decline of the local economy and the progressive ruin of the land, which again became marshy. In 1456, an earthquake struck Foggia, followed by others in 1534,1627 and 1731, the House of Bourbon promoted a certain economic growth by boosting the cereal agriculture of Capitanata and rebuilding much of the settlement. In the 19th century, Foggia received a station and important public monuments. The citizens also took part in the riots led to the annexation to Italy in 1861. By 1865, there was a shift from the custom of sheep farming in favour of an agricultural economy. The historical lack of resources was solved with the construction of the Apulian aqueduct in 1924. This role pushed the Allies to bomb Foggia during World War II, in particular on July 22 and August 19,1943, killing more than 20,000 civilians and reducing much of the city to rubble. On October 1,1943, the British 8th Army liberated Foggia, in 1959 and 2006, Foggia received, respectively, the Gold Medal for Civil and Military value for its role in World War II. The cathedral of Santa Maria de Fovea, which is linked with the patron saint Madonna dei Sette Veli This important site has two levels of architectural style. The lower part is Romanic as with many Pugliese churches, the upper part is a very remarkable example of Baroque
7.
Bitonto
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Bitonto is a city and comune in the province of Bari, Italy. It is nicknamed the City of Olives, due to the olive groves surrounding the city. Bitonto lies approximately 11 kilometres to the west of the city of Bari, the communes next to Bitonto are, Bari, Bitetto, Palo del Colle, Altamura, Toritto, Ruvo di Puglia, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo. The city was founded by the Peucetii, and its inhabitants referred to by the Greek settlers of the region as Butontinoi, according to one tradition, the city was named after Botone, an Illyrian king. Its first city wall can be dated to the fifth to fourth centuries BC, similarities of coinage suggest that Bitonto was under the hegemony of Spartan Tarentum, but bearing the numismatic legend BITONTINON. The foundations of a Paleochristian basilica came to light in excavations beneath the cathedrals crypt, though there is no evidence that a Lombard gastaldo had his seat at Bitonto, Lombard customs and law insinuated themselves deeply in local social fabric. During the ninth century, Bitonto successfully withstood a Saracen raid, in 1552 the citizens paid for the citys freedom the considerable sum of 66,000 ducats. The territory stolen had an area of about 16 square kilometers. The city includes a medieval burg and a modern area, the main landmarks include, The Castle and the walls The Romanesque Bitonto Cathedral, built in the 11th-12th centuries and influenced by the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari. The interior has a nave and two aisles, the artwork is the marble ambo, a masterwork of medieval Apulian sculpture. The Basilica of SS Cosma e Damiano The church of San Francesco and it was built in 1283 over a pre-existing Roman fortification, to celebrate the 1222 visit of St. Francis of Assisi. It has kept the original late-Romanesque façade, flanked by a 16th-century bell tower, the portal has figures of bovine animals, probably an allusion to the founder family of the church, Bove. It is surmounted by a mullioned window. The interior has frescoes and 16th-century altars. The city also produces wine, beer, cereals, almonds, recently, Bitonto has also become a popular tourist destination. Bitonto is not directly connected to the Italian national railway system, however, it is serviced by an electric rail line operated privately by Ferrotramviaria. Bitonto is 8 kilometres away from the international Karol Wojtyła Airport of Bari, around Bitonto, there is a ring road looking like a perfect circle from which however the eastmost part is missing
8.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Italian Communist Party
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The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played a part in the Italian resistance movement. It changed its name in 1943 to PCI and became the second largest political party of Italy after World War II, at the time it was the largest communist party in the West. The more radical members of the party left to form the Communist Refoundation Party, the PCI participated to its first general election in 1921, obtaining 4. 6% of the vote and 15 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1926, the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini outlawed the PCI, although forced underground, the PCI maintained a clandestine presence within Italy during the years of the Fascist regime. Many of its leaders were also active in exile, during its first year as a banned party, Antonio Gramsci defeated the partys left wing, led by Amadeo Bordiga. Gramsci replaced Bordigas leadership at a conference in Lyon, and issued a manifesto expressing the programmatic basis of the party, however, Gramsci soon found himself jailed by Mussolinis regime, and the leadership of the party passed to Palmiro Togliatti. Togliatti would lead the party until it emerged from suppression in 1944, the communists contribution to the new Italian democratic constitution was decisive. The Gullo decrees of 1944, for instance, sought to improve social, in the first general elections of 1948 the party joined the PSI in the Popular Democratic Front, but was defeated by the Christian Democracy party. The party gained considerable success during the following years and occasionally supplied external support to centre-left governments. It successfully lobbied Fiat to set up the AvtoVAZ car factory in the Soviet Union, the party did best in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria, where it regularly won the local administrative elections, and in some of the industrialized cities of Northern Italy. At the city government level during the course of the period, the PCI demonstrated their capacity for uncorrupt, efficient. After the elections of 1975, the PCI was the strongest force in all of the municipal councils of the great cities. The PCIs municipal showcase was Bologna, which was held continuously by the PCI from 1945 onwards, from 1946 to 1956, the Communist city council built 31 nursery schools,896 flats, and 9 schools. Health care improved substantially, street lighting was installed, new drains and municipal launderettes were built, in 1972, the then-mayor of Bologna, Renato Zangheri, introduced a new and innovative traffic plan with strict limitations for private vehicles and a renewed concentration on cheap public transport. Bolognas social services continued to expand throughout the early and mid-Seventies, communists administrations at a local level also helped to aid new businesses while also introducing innovative social reforms. The Soviet Unions brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 created a split within the PCI, the party leadership, including Palmiro Togliatti and Giorgio Napolitano, regarded the Hungarian insurgents as counter-revolutionaries, as reported at the time in lUnità, the official PCI newspaper
10.
Communist Refoundation Party
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The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist party in Italy. The party participates in the Party of the European Left and its member of the European Parliament sits with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group. The partys current secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, in 1991, when the Italian Communist Party, led by Achille Occhetto, became the Democratic Party of the Left, dissidents led by Armando Cossutta launched the PRC. In the same year Proletarian Democracy, an outfit, merged into the new party. The PRC supported Romano Prodis first cabinet until 1998, when it turned to opposition and he was the only regional President ever belonging to the PRC. The PRC joined the Prodi II Cabinet, which included Paolo Ferrero, in December 2007 the party participated in the creation of the Rainbow Left with the PdCI, the Federation of the Greens, and Democratic Left. The electoral list was defeated in the 2008 general election, when it gained 3. 1% of the vote, at the July congress the internal left-wing prevailed over Bertinottiani and Ferrero was elected secretary. In January 2009 the faction around Vendola and Giordano, silently supported by Bertinotti, decided to leave the party, the goal of MpS was to form a new party with other left-wing groups. This party became Left Ecology Freedom in 2010, some RpS members chose to stay in the party and re-organised themselves as To the Left with Refoundation. After the split of RpS/MpS, the PRC formed a joint list known as the Anticapitalist List with the PdCI, Socialism 2000, the list received 3. 4% of the vote and failed to return any MEPs. In December 2009 the List was transformed into the Federation of the Left. In the 2013 general election the PRC was part of the Civil Revolution coalition, along with the PdCI, in the 2014 European Parliament election the PRC was part of The Other Europe electoral list, under which PRCs Eleonora Forenza was elected MEP. In early 2017 Ferrero chose to step down from secretary and, during a congess held in Spoleto in March-April 2017, he was replaced by Maurizio Acerbo, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies. The majority of the party following the October 2004 congress was led by Fausto Bertinotti, in February 2007 Franco Turigliatto, a senator from the Critical Left, voted twice against the governments foreign policy, leading Romano Prodi to temporarily resign from Prime Minister. In April Turigliatto was expelled from the party and Critical Left was suspended from it, gianninis The Ernesto and Countercurrent, Claudio Bellottis HammerSickle and a minor group of former Bertinottiani called Disarm, Renew, Refound decided to join forces with the Ferrero-Grassi group. Vendola, defeated by Ferrero, announced the creation of a new minority faction, Refoundation for the Left. In January 2009 RpS left the party to form the Movement for the Left, the electoral results of the PRC in the 10 most populated regions of Italy are shown in the table below. Since 2006 the party has run in alliance with the Party of Italian Communists, the 2006 result refers to that of The Left – The Rainbow, a joint list comprising also Democratic Left and the Federation of the Greens
11.
Left Ecology Freedom
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Left Ecology Freedom was a democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party. The partys leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President of Apulia, on 17 December 2016 SEL dissolved into Italian Left, which was officially launched as a party in early 2017. In the election, SL failed to pass the 4% threshold, despite that, it was decided that SL would become a party. In October 2009, during a party congress, the Greens elected a new party leader, Angelo Bonelli, however, Francescato and her faction decided to keep supporting SL as Ecologists with Left Ecology Freedom and leave the Greens. SL was also weakened by the split occurred within PS, when the United Socialists, finally in November SL was hit by the sudden opt-out of the whole PS. Since November 2009 SL was thus composed of MpS, SD, UlS, the Ecologists and Socialism and Left, in December SL was officially launched as a party, and Vendola was elected spokesperson. After an important meeting in September in Naples, where it was decided to add Ecology to the name, in December 2009 Left Ecology. The new symbol was presented and Vendola was confirmed as spokesperson, SEL, often in coalition with the PS, did well in the 2010 regional elections, especially in Central and Southern Italy. Overall, SEL won 3. 0% of the vote, with the PS at 0. 7%, in the Apulian election Vendola was re-elected President of the Region and trailed SEL to 9. 7%, its best regional result. The party was founded in a congress in Florence on 22–24 October 2010. In 2011 and 2012 the party offered a competition to the Democratic Party in coalition primaries in many cities. In May 2011 Giuliano Pisapia and Massimo Zedda, who had supported by SEL in primaries, were elected mayors of Milan and Cagliari. The party gained 5% in Milan, 6% in Turin, 10% in Bologna, 6% in Trieste, 4% in Naples, in occasion of the 2011 referendums of June 2011, SEL gave full support to the yes committees. In May 2012 Marco Doria, another independent close to SEL, was elected Mayor of Genoa, in August 2012 Vendola announced his bid for the primary election in order to select the candidate for Prime Minister of the PD-led centre-left coalition in the 2013 general election. On 25 November Vendola won 15. 6% of the vote and came third behind Democrats Pier Luigi Bersani, in the run-off Vendola supported Bersani, who defeated Renzi 60. 9% to 39. 1%. SEL selected its candidates for the election through a primary in December 2012. In the 2013 general election, which place in February 2013. Common Good, which supported PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani as candidate for Prime Minister, in the election SEL won 3. 2% of the vote, returning 37 deputies and 7 senators
12.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
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Journalist
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A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other current information. A journalists work is called journalism, a journalist can work with general issues or specialize in certain issues. However, most journalists tend to specialize, and by cooperating with other journalists, for example, a sports journalist covers news within the world of sports, but this journalist may be a part of a newspaper that covers many different topics. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports on information in order to present in sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, and make reports. The information-gathering part of a job is sometimes called reporting. Reporters may split their time working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interviewing people. Reporters may be assigned a beat or area of coverage. Depending on the context, the term journalist may include various types of editors, editorial writers, columnists, Journalism has developed a variety of ethics and standards. While objectivity and a lack of bias are of concern and importance, more liberal types of journalism, such as advocacy journalism and activism. This has become prevalent with the advent of social media and blogs, as well as other platforms that are used to manipulate or sway social and political opinions. These platforms often project extreme bias, as sources are not always held accountable or considered necessary in order to produce a written, nor did they often directly experience most social problems, or have direct access to expert insights. These limitations were made worse by a media that tended to over-simplify issues and to reinforce stereotypes, partisan viewpoints. As a consequence, Lippmann believed that the public needed journalists like himself who could serve as analysts, guiding “citizens to a deeper understanding of what was really important. ”Journalists sometimes expose themselves to danger. Organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders publish reports on press freedom, as of November 2011, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 887 journalists have been killed worldwide since 1992 by murder, crossfire or combat, or on dangerous assignment. The ten deadliest countries for journalists since 1992 have been Iraq, Philippines, Russia, Colombia, Mexico, Algeria, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Brazil and Sri Lanka. The Committee to Protect Journalists also reports that as of December 1st 2010,145 journalists were jailed worldwide for journalistic activities. The ten countries with the largest number of currently-imprisoned journalists are Turkey, China, Iran, Eritrea, Burma, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Cuba, Ethiopia, apart from the physical harm, journalists are harmed psychologically. This applies especially to war reporters, but their offices at home often do not know how to deal appropriately with the reporters they expose to danger
14.
Writer
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A writer is a person who uses written words in various styles and techniques to communicate their ideas. Writers texts are published across a range of media, skilled writers who are able to use language to express ideas well often contribute significantly to the cultural content of a society. The word is used elsewhere in the arts – such as songwriter – but as a standalone term. Some writers work from an oral tradition, Writers can produce material across a number of genres, fictional or non-fictional. Other writers use multiple media – for example, graphics or illustration – to enhance the communication of their ideas, some writers may use images or multimedia to augment their writing. In rare instances, creative writers are able to communicate their ideas via music as well as words, as well as producing their own written works, writers often write on how they write, why they write, and also comment on the work of other writers. Writers work professionally or non-professionally, that is, for payment or without payment and may be either in advance. Payment is only one of the motivations of writers and many are never paid for their work, Writers choose from a range of literary genres to express their ideas. Most writing can be adapted for use in another medium, for example, a writers work may be read privately or recited or performed in a play or film. Satire for example, may be written as a poem, an essay, a film, the writer of a letter may include elements of criticism, biography, or journalism. The genre sets the parameters but all kinds of creative adaptation have been attempted, novel to film, poem to play, Writers may begin their career in one genre and change to another. For example, historian William Dalrymple began in the genre of travel literature, many writers have produced both fiction and non-fiction works and others write in a genre that crosses the two. For example, writers of romances, such as Georgette Heyer, invent characters. In this genre, the accuracy of the history and the level of detail in the work both tend to be debated. Some writers write both fiction and serious analysis, sometimes using different names to separate their work. Dorothy Sayers, for example, wrote crime fiction but was also a playwright, essayist, translator, poets make maximum use of the language to achieve an emotional and sensory effect as well as a cognitive one. To create these effects, they use rhyme and rhythm and they also exploit the properties of words with a range of techniques such as alliteration. A common theme is love and its vicissitudes, Shakespeares famous love story Romeo and Juliet, for example, written in a variety of poetic forms, has been performed in innumerable theatres and made into at least eight cinematic versions
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Left-wing politics
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Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. The term left wing can also refer to the radical, reforming, use of the term Left became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815 when it was applied to the Independents. The word wing was appended to Left and Right in the late 19th century, usually with disparaging intent, throughout the 19th century in France, the main line dividing left and right was between supporters of the French Republic and those of the Monarchy. The June Days Uprising during the Second Republic was an attempt by the Left to assert itself after the 1848 Revolution, in the mid-19th century, nationalism, socialism, democracy, and anti-clericalism became features of the French Left. After Napoleon IIIs 1851 coup and the subsequent establishment of the Second Empire, Marxism began to rival radical republicanism, the influential Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, published in 1848, asserted that all human history is the history of class struggle. They predicted that a revolution would eventually overthrow bourgeois capitalism and create a classless, stateless. It was in period that the word wing was appended to both Left and Right. Following a split between supporters of Marx and Mikhail Bakunin, anarchists formed the International Workers Association, the Second International became divided over the issue of World War I. Those who opposed the war, such as Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg, in the United States after Reconstruction, the phrase the Left was used to describe those who supported trade unions, the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. More recently in the United States, left-wing and right-wing have often used as synonyms for Democratic and Republican. Since the Right was populist, both in the Western and the Eastern Bloc, anything viewed as art was called leftist in all Europe. The following positions are typically associated with left-wing politics, during the industrial revolution, leftists supported trade unions. At the beginning of the 20th century, many leftists advocated strong government intervention in the economy, leftists continue to criticize what they perceive as the exploitative nature of globalization, the race to the bottom, and unjust lay-offs. Other leftists believe in Marxian economics, which are based on the theories of Karl Marx. Marxian economics does not exclusively rely upon Marx, it draws from a range of Marxist and non-Marxist sources, the political relevance of farmers has divided the left. In Das Kapital, Marx scarcely mentioned the subject, Mao Zedong believed that it would be rural peasants, not urban workers, who would bring about the proletarian revolution. Both Karl Marx and the early socialist William Morris arguably had a concern for environmental matters, according to Marx, Even an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together. Are not owners of the earth and they are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations
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Terlizzi
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Terlizzi is a town and comune of the region of Apulia in southern Italy, in the province of Bari, lying to the west of the seaport of Bari on the Adriatic Sea, in the midst of a fertile plain. As of 2008, its population was some 27,400, Terlizzi is first mentioned in an 8th-century AD document, when its Lombard possessor donated the area to the Abbey of Montecassino. After the Byzantine domination, from the 11th century Trelizzi was under the influence of the counts of Giovinazzo, later it was ruled by the Tuzziaco, Wrunfort, Orsini di Taranto and Grimaldi families. The oldest map of Terlizzi still hangs in the Palace at Monte Carlo of the latters house and it became a commune after the Unification of Italy in 1861, when it had 18,000 inhabitants. It had a castle which at one time was strong, and occasionally resorted to by the Emperor Frederick II. Its remains include a 31-metre high clock tower in the center of town that was built by the Norman conquerors in the 12th century AD, the back-lit clock on that tower is the second largest in Europe after Big Ben. The Co-Cathedral of San Michle Arcangelo was built in Neo-Classicist style in the 18th and 19th centuries and it houses several canvasses and a notable collection of wooden statues. The walls and towers of the town remain, but the fosse has been turned into boulevards, Terlizzi has some trade in the wine and fruit of the region. In 1745, a fine Greek-made inkstand inlaid in silver was found in a nearby, ancient cove, starting from that date, was built a 22-metre tall triumphal wagon to keep the picture in Terlizzis streets. One of the last remaining stretches of the Appian Way that is still unpaved runs through the outskirts of Terlizzi and this stretch of the Appian Way is part of the Via Appia Traiana, built by Emperor Trajan sometime around 115 AD. Just off this road,1 kilometre out of the town, is the church of Santa Maria di Cesano and it houses a precious Byzantine fresco of Christ Pantocrator. In the centre of the city is notable the big Palace built by the Barons de Gemmis and it is from the 18th century and was designed by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli
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Province of Bari
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The Province of Bari was a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari and it has an area of 5,138 km2, and a total population of 1,594,109. On 1 January 2015 it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Bari, the arable land in the former province of Bari is exploited with the cultivation of olive and grapes but also cherries, peaches, and almonds. From that agricultural activity is derived olive oil, wine and table grapes, bitonto is especially noted for its extra virgin olive oil, and Corato, Coratina and Giovinazzo are along notable producing areas. The centers of production are mainly concentrated in Gravina and Ruvo di Puglia, in the north of Bari. Also important is the production of cherries, the Apulian red is especially prevalent in the countryside of Turi and Putignano
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Italian Communist Youth Federation
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The Italian Communist Youth Federation was the youth wing of the Partito Comunista Italiano, and the direct heir of the Federazione Giovanile Comunista dItalia of the PCdI. In 2016 it was refounded under the name as the young wing of the Italian Communist Party. Constituted in 1949, its peak was in the 1960s, when its membership reached 200,000, the Federations newsletters and publications thus assumed a more avant-garde role, most importantly La città futura and Nuova generazione. The proposal was passed, with 91 votes in favour,10 abstentions and 13 against. On 19 December 1990, the 25th and last congress of the FGCI opened at Pesaro, most of the FGCI moved to the new Partito Democratico della Sinistra, which in 1992 gave birth to the Sinistra Giovanile del PDS. A minority, which first adhered to the Movimento per la Rifondazione Comunista and then to the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, periodicals printed by the FGCI were Gioventù davanguardia, Il costruttore, Nuova generazione, La città futura
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Literature
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Literature, in its broadest sense, is any single body of written works. Its Latin root literatura/litteratura was used to refer to all written accounts, developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature. There have been attempts to define literature. Simon and Delyse Ryan begin their attempt to answer the question What is Literature, with the observation, The quest to discover a definition for literature is a road that is much travelled, though the point of arrival, if ever reached, is seldom satisfactory. Most attempted definitions are broad and vague, and they change over time. In fact, the thing that is certain about defining literature is that the definition will change. Concepts of what is literature change over time as well, definitions of literature have varied over time, it is a culturally relative definition. In Western Europe prior to the century, literature as a term indicated all books. A more restricted sense of the term emerged during the Romantic period, contemporary debates over what constitutes literature can be seen as returning to the older, more inclusive notion of what constitutes literature. Cultural studies, for instance, takes as its subject of both popular and minority genres, in addition to canonical works. The value judgment definition of literature considers it to cover exclusively those writings that possess high quality or distinction and this sort of definition is that used in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition when it classifies literature as the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing. The formalist definition is that literature foregrounds poetic effects, it is the literariness or poetic of literature that distinguishes it from ordinary speech or other kinds of writing. Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura learning, a writing, grammar, originally writing formed with letters, in spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts. Poetry is a form of art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of. Possibly as a result of Aristotles influence, poetry before the century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art. As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and sustained by an oral tradition, novel, a long fictional prose narrative. It was the close relation to real life that differentiated it from the chivalric romance, in most European languages the equivalent term is roman. In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the fifteenth century, with the meaning of news, it came to indicate something new
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Thesis
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A thesis or dissertation is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the authors research and findings. In some contexts, the thesis or a cognate is used for part of a bachelors or masters course, while dissertation is normally applied to a doctorate, while in other contexts. The term graduate thesis is used to refer to both masters theses and doctoral dissertations. The required complexity or quality of research of a thesis or dissertation can vary by country, university, or program, the word dissertation can at times be used to describe a treatise without relation to obtaining an academic degree. The term thesis is used to refer to the general claim of an essay or similar work. The term thesis comes from the Greek θέσις, meaning something put forth, Dissertation comes from the Latin dissertātiō, meaning path. A thesis may be arranged as a thesis by publication or a monograph, with or without appended papers, an ordinary monograph has a title page, an abstract, a table of contents, comprising the various chapters, and a bibliography or a references section. They differ in their structure in accordance with the different areas of study. In a thesis by publication, the chapters constitute an introductory, Dissertations normally report on a research project or study, or an extended analysis of a topic. The structure of the thesis or dissertation explains the purpose, the research literature which impinges on the topic of the study, the methods used. Degree-awarding institutions often define their own style that candidates have to follow when preparing a thesis document. Other applicable international standards include ISO2145 on section numbers, ISO690 on bibliographic references, some older house styles specify that front matter uses a separate page-number sequence from the main text, using Roman numerals. They therefore avoid the traditional separate number sequence for front matter, however, strict standards are not always required. Most Italian universities, for example, have only general requirements on the size and the page formatting. A thesis or dissertation committee is a committee that supervises a students dissertation, the committee members are doctors in their field and have the task of reading the dissertation, making suggestions for changes and improvements, and sitting in on the defense. Sometimes, at least one member of the committee must be a professor in a department that is different from that of the student, all the dissertation referees must already have achieved at least the academic degree that the candidate is trying to reach. At English-speaking Canadian universities, writings presented in fulfillment of undergraduate coursework requirements are normally called papers, a longer paper or essay presented for completion of a 4-year bachelors degree is sometimes called a major paper. High-quality research papers presented as the study of a postgraduate consecutive bachelor with Honours or Baccalaureatus Cum Honore degree are called thesis
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Film director
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A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects, the director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. Under European Union law, the director is viewed as the author of the film, the film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized, or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions, there are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors or actors, other film directors have attended a film school. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors dialogue, while others control every aspect. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners, some directors edit or appear in their films, or compose the music score for their films. Film directors create a vision through which a film eventually becomes realized/noticed. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of production, as well as directing the shooting timetable. This entails organizing the crew in such a way as to achieve their vision of the film. This requires skills of leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful. Moreover, it is necessary to have an eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus. Thus the director ensures that all involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as a jigsaw puzzle with egos. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when, omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating, thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that 20-hour days are not unusual, under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Auteur theory is a film criticism concept that holds that a directors film reflects the directors personal creative vision
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Pier Paolo Pasolini
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Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer and intellectual. Pasolini also distinguished himself as an actor, journalist, philosopher, novelist, playwright, painter and his murder prompted an outcry in some circles of Italy, with its circumstances continuing to be a matter of heated debate. Pasolini was born in Bologna, traditionally one of the most leftist politically of Italian cities and he was the son of Carlo Alberto Pasolini, a lieutenant of the Italian army, and Susanna Colussi, an elementary school teacher. His parents married in 1921, Pasolini was born in 1922 and his family moved to Conegliano in 1923 and, two years later, to Belluno, where another son, Guidalberto, was born. In 1926, Pasolinis father was arrested for gambling debts and his mother moved with the children to her familys house in Casarsa della Delizia, in the Friuli region. That same year, his father Carlo Alberto, first detained, at any rate, Carlo Alberto was persuaded of the virtues of fascism. Pasolini began writing poems at the age of seven, inspired by the beauty of Casarsa. One of his influences was the work of Arthur Rimbaud. In 1931, his father was transferred to Idria in the Julian March, in 1933 they moved again to Cremona in Lombardy, and later to Scandiano and Reggio Emilia. Pasolini found it difficult to adapt to all moves, though in the meantime he enlarged his poetry and literature readings. In the Reggio Emilia high school, he met his first true friend, the two met again in Bologna, where Pasolini spent seven years while completing high school, here he cultivated new passions, including football. With other friends, including Ermes Parini, Franco Farolfi, Elio Meli, in 1939 Pasolini graduated and entered the Literature College of the University of Bologna, discovering new themes such as philology and aesthetics of figurative arts. He also frequented the cinema club. Pasolini always showed his friends a virile and strong exterior, totally hiding his interior travail and he took part in the Fascist governments culture and sports competitions. In his poems of this period, Pasolini started to include fragments in Friulan, I learnt it as a sort of mystic act of love, a kind of félibrisme, like the Provençal poets. After the summer in Casarsa, in 1941 Pasolini published at his own expense a collection of poems in Friulan, the work was noted and appreciated by intellectuals and critics such as Gianfranco Contini, Alfonso Gatto and Antonio Russi. His pictures had also been well received, Pasolini was chief editor of the Il Setaccio magazine, but was fired after conflicts with the director, who was aligned with the Fascist regime. A trip to Germany helped him also to perceive the status of Italian culture in that era
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Arcigay
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Arcigay is Italys first and largest national gay organization. The association was first founded as an association in Palermo in 1980. The organisation became known throughout Italy for its campaign for civil unions, the President of Arcigay is Flavio Romani, its honorary president, who helped found the organization, is Franco Grillini. Arcigay has often protested against the Vaticans opposition to homosexuality and LGBT rights
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Achille Occhetto
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Achille Occhetto, is an Italian political figure. He is married to the activist and former actress Elisa Kadigia Bove and they have two sons, Malcolm and Massimiliano, both of whom were born in Sicily. He was appointed in 1986 as national coordinator of the PCI and became its secretary in 1988, under his leadership, the party witnessed the collapse of both the Berlin wall and the communist regime in the Soviet Union. He responded by declaring the communist experience over, and dissolved the PCI in order to form a new leftist party and this political shift was accepted by approximately 70% of the members at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party. In 1994, he challenged and was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the 1994 election, leading the Alliance of Progressives, in 2009, he joined the new left-wing formation Left Ecology Freedom. A declaration about Il Cantiere, a new political project
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Antimafia Commission
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The Italian parliamentary Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The first commission, formed in 1963, was established as a body of inquiry tasked with investigating the phenomenon of the Mafia and those who provide testimony to the Commission are obliged by law to tell the truth. The Commission can also submit reports to the Parliament as often as desired, the attack was attributed to the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano. Nevertheless, the Mafia was suspected of involvement in the Portella della Ginestra massacre and many other previous, however, the proposal was turned down by the Minister of the Interior, Mario Scelba, amidst indignant voices about prejudice against Sicily and Sicilians. Ten years later, in 1958, senator Ferruccio Parri again proposed to form a Commission, however, in March 1962, amidst gang wars in Palermo, the Sicilian Assembly asked for an official inquiry. On April 11,1962, the Senate in Rome approved the bill and it was finally approved it on December 20,1962. It took a time to form because newspapers and parliamentarians alike were opposed to the inclusion of Sicilians. It lasted less than three months before the elections of April 28,1963. The second president in the new legislature was the Christian Democrat Donato Pafundi, and was formed on June 5,1963. Later that month, on June 30,1963, a car exploded in Ciaculli. The bomb was intended for Salvatore Ciaschiteddu Greco, head of the Sicilian Mafia Commission, the Ciaculli massacre changed the Mafia war into a war against the Mafia. It prompted the first concerted efforts by the state in post-war Italy. On July 6,1963 the Antimafia Commission met for the first time and it would take 13 years and two more legislatures before a final report was submitted in 1976. Matta’s arrival in 1972 created a scandal, he had mentioned in a report and was summoned to testify in the previous legislature about the role of the Mafia in real estate speculation. The PCI called for his resignation, and in the end the whole Commission under the presidency of Luigi Carraro had to resign, the law extended 1956 legislation concerning individuals considered to be ‘socially dangerous’ to those ‘suspected of belonging to associations of the Mafia type’. The law gave powers to a prosecutor or questor to identify. However, the efficacy of the new law was severely limited, firstly, because there was no legal definition of a Mafia association. Secondly, because the obligation for mafiosi to reside in areas outside Sicily, actually opened up new opportunities to develop activities in the cities of northern
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Sicilian Mafia
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The Sicilian Mafia, also known as simply the Mafia or Cosa Nostra, is a criminal syndicate in Sicily, Italy. It is an association of criminal groups that share a common organisational structure. The basic group is known as a family, clan, or cosca or cosche in Sicilian, each family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves men of honour, although the public refers to them as mafiosi. The mafias core activities are protection racketeering, the arbitration of disputes between criminals, and the organizing and oversight of illegal agreements and transactions, following waves of emigration, the Mafia has spread to other countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. The word mafia originated in Sicily, though its origins are uncertain, the Sicilian adjective mafiusu roughly translates to mean swagger, but can also be translated as boldness, bravado. In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising and proud, in reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective mafiusa means beautiful and attractive. The Sicilian word mafie refers to the caves near Trapani and Marsala, Sicily was once an Islamic emirate, therefore mafia might have Arabic roots. The words mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play, the play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia, a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of umirtà and pizzu. The play had great success throughout Italy, soon after, the use of the term mafia began appearing in the Italian states early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo Filippo Antonio Gualterio, the term mafia has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests. Nowadays people have gone so far in the direction that it has become an overused term. According to mafia turncoats, the name of the mafia is Cosa Nostra. Italian-American mafioso Joseph Valachi testified before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U. S. Senate Committee on Government Operations in 1963 and he revealed that American mafiosi referred to their organization by the term cosa nostra. At the time, it was understood as a name, fostered by the FBI. The FBI even added the article la to the term, calling it La Cosa Nostra, in 1984, mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta revealed to anti-mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone that the term was used by the Sicilian Mafia, as well. Buscetta dismissed the word mafia as a literary creation. Other defectors such as Antonino Calderone and Salvatore Contorno confirmed the use of Cosa Nostra by members, mafiosi introduce known members to each other as belonging to cosa nostra or la stessa cosa, meaning he is the same thing as you — a mafioso
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Organized crime in Italy
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In the 20th century, two new criminal organizations, Stidda of Sicily and Sacra Corona Unita of Apulia, were created. The latest creation of Italian organized crime, Mafia Capitale, has recently been disbanded by the police, the most notorious Italian organized crime group is the Mafia or Sicilian Mafia. As the original Mafia, the Sicilian Mafia is the basis for the current colloquial usage of the mafia to refer to organized crime groups. The Mafia or Sicilian Mafia notably expanded into foreign countries, especially the United States. Based primarily in Sicily, the Sicilian Mafia formed in the century by clans which sprang out of groups of bandits. In Sicily, the word tends to mean manly and a Mafioso considers himself a Man of Honor. However, the organization is known as Cosa Nostra—Our Thing—or Our Affair, in the 1950s, Sicily experienced a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian Mafia gained control of the building contracts, today, the Sicilian Mafia has evolved into an international organized crime group. The Sicilian Mafia is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting and it is estimated to have 3, 500–4,000 core members with 100 clans, with around 50 in the city of Palermo alone. The Sicilian Mafia has had influence in legitimate power, particularly under the corrupt Christian Democratic governments from the 1950s to the early 1990s. It has had influence with lawyers, financiers, and professionals, also it has had power and resources by bribing or pressuring politicians, judges, the Sicilian Mafia became infamous for aggressive assaults on Italian law enforcement officials during the reign of Toto Riina. In Sicily the term Excellent Cadaver is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals, some of their high ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members. On May 23,1992, the Sicilian Mafia struck Italian law enforcement, Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone, Director of Prosecutions and for the court of Palermo and his team was moving to prepare cases against most of the Mafia leadership. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Falcones caravan was traveling and this became known as the Capaci Massacre. Less than two months later, on July 19,1992, the Mafia struck Falcones replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino, also in Palermo, provenzano was himself captured in 2006 after being wanted for 43 years. In July,2013, the Italian police conducted sweeping raids targeting top mafia crime bosses, in Ostia, a coastal community near the capital, police arrested 51 suspects for alleged crimes connected with Italy’s Sicilian Mafia. Allegations included extortion, murder, international drug trafficking and illegal control of the slot machine market, la Stidda is the name given to the Sicilian organization started by criminals Giuseppe Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, both of Palmi di Montechiaro, Agrigento province
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The Union (Italy)
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The Union was an heterogenous centre-left political and electoral alliance of political parties in Italy. The Union was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, the Union was the direct heir of The Olive Tree coalition which represented the centre-left in the 1996 and 2001 general elections. However, The Union also included parties of the radical left, the parties which were part of the coalition for most of the time are, DS, DL and MRE contested elections as The Olive Tree federation. The Democratic Party, a merger of DS and DL, replaced its predecessor parties as a member of The Union upon its foundation in October 2007, also during that time, the SDI became the Socialist Party. As of 2005, the coalition was assumed to be led by Prodi, primary elections were a novelty in Italian politics, as the proportional system in place until the early 1990s was supposed to present sufficient variety to electors. With the new electoral system, two clear blocks emerged since 1996. The primary elections for The Union took place on 16 October 2005, the institute of primary election came under criticism from some centre-left moderates, as in their opinion it had produced a useless candidate doomed to failure. When the primary elections were first proposed, they were meant as a plebiscite for Romano Prodi. The secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party, Fausto Bertinotti, then announced he would run for the leadership, even if only to act as a symbolic candidate, after some time, more candidates were presented. The seven candidates for the leadership of The Union were, in the order in which appear on the electoral ballot, Fausto Bertinotti. Antonio Di Pietro, former prosecutor in the Mani Pulite investigation. Ivan Scalfarotto, a living in London and a blogger. The faceless candidate, formally represented in person by Simona Panzino and this was a symbolic candidate from the anti-globalization movement. Some priests close to these movements were initially suggested for the name to place on the ballots. Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, secretary of the Federation of the Greens, other than environmentalism, he had a civil rights-oriented and pacifist agenda. Romano Prodi, leader of The Olive Tree coalition, former Prime Minister of Italy, Prodi was supported by DS, DL and PdCI. Clemente Mastella, leader of the Union of Democrats for Europe, a former ally of Silvio Berlusconi, he was considered the most Catholic and centrist candidate. The primary election had been held nationwide on 16 October 2005, Most of the party leaders claimed a result of 1 million voters would be a good success for the election
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Communism
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Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include Marxism, anarchism, and the political ideologies grouped around both. The primary element which will enable this transformation, according to analysis, is the social ownership of the means of production. Likewise, some communists defend both theory and practice, while others argue that historical practice diverged from communist principles to a greater or lesser degree, according to Richard Pipes, the idea of a classless, egalitarian society first emerged in Ancient Greece. At one time or another, various small communist communities existed, in the medieval Christian church, for example, some monastic communities and religious orders shared their land and their other property. Communist thought has also traced back to the works of the 16th-century English writer Thomas More. In his treatise Utopia, More portrayed a society based on ownership of property. In the 17th century, communist thought surfaced again in England, criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine, in the early 19th century, Various social reformers founded communities based on common ownership. But unlike many previous communist communities, they replaced the emphasis with a rational. Notable among them were Robert Owen, who founded New Harmony in Indiana, in its modern form, communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for the misery of the new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. Foremost among these critics were Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels, in 1848, Marx and Engels offered a new definition of communism and popularized the term in their famous pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. The 1917 October Revolution in Russia set the conditions for the rise to power of Lenins Bolsheviks. The revolution transferred power to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in which the Bolsheviks had a majority, the event generated a great deal of practical and theoretical debate within the Marxist movement. Marx predicted that socialism and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist development, Russia, however, was one of the poorest countries in Europe with an enormous, largely illiterate peasantry and a minority of industrial workers. Marx had explicitly stated that Russia might be able to skip the stage of bourgeois rule, the moderate Mensheviks opposed Lenins Bolshevik plan for socialist revolution before capitalism was more fully developed. The Great Purge of 1937–1938 was Stalins attempt to destroy any possible opposition within the Communist Party and its leading role in the Second World War saw the emergence of the Soviet Union as a superpower, with strong influence over Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. The European and Japanese empires were shattered and Communist parties played a role in many independence movements
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Conservatism
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Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The term, historically associated with right-wing politics, has since used to describe a wide range of views. There is no set of policies that are universally regarded as conservative, because the meaning of conservatism depends on what is considered traditional in a given place. Thus conservatives from different parts of the world—each upholding their respective traditions—may disagree on a range of issues. In contrast to the definition of conservatism, political theorists such as Corey Robin define conservatism primarily in terms of a general defense of social. In Great Britain, conservative ideas emerged in the Tory movement during the Restoration period, Toryism supported a hierarchical society with a monarch who ruled by divine right. Tories opposed the idea that sovereignty derived from the people, and rejected the authority of parliament, Robert Filmers Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings, published posthumously in 1680 but written before the English Civil War of 1642–1651, became accepted as the statement of their doctrine. However, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 destroyed this principle to some degree by establishing a government in England. Faced with defeat, the Tories reformed their movement, now holding that sovereignty was vested in the three estates of Crown, Lords, and Commons rather than solely in the Crown, Toryism became marginalized during the long period of Whig ascendancy in the 18th century. Conservatives typically see Richard Hooker as the father of conservatism, along with the Marquess of Halifax, David Hume. Halifax promoted pragmatism in government, whilst Hume argued against political rationalism and utopianism, Burke served as the private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham and as official pamphleteer to the Rockingham branch of the Whig party. Together with the Tories, they were the conservatives in the late 18th century United Kingdom, Burkes views were a mixture of liberal and conservative. He supported the American Revolution of 1765–1783 but abhorred the violence of the French Revolution and he insisted on standards of honor derived from the medieval aristocratic tradition, and saw the aristocracy as the nations natural leaders. That meant limits on the powers of the Crown, since he found the institutions of Parliament to be better informed than commissions appointed by the executive and he favored an established church, but allowed for a degree of religious toleration. Burke justified the order on the basis of tradition, tradition represented the wisdom of the species and he valued community. Burke was a leading theorist in his day, finding extreme idealism an endangerment to broader liberties, despite their influence on future conservative thought, none of these early contributors were explicitly involved in Tory politics. Hooker lived in the 16th century, long before the advent of toryism, whilst Hume was an apolitical philosopher, Burke described himself as a Whig. Shortly after Burkes death in 1797, conservatism revived as a political force as the Whigs suffered a series of internal divisions
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Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
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Pax Christi
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Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website claims its mission is to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, Pax Christi was established in France in 1945 through the inspiration of Marthe Dortel-Claudot and Bishop Pierre-Marie Théas. Both were French citizens interested in reconciliation between French and German citizens in the aftermath of World War II. Some of the first actions of Pax Christi were the organisation of peace pilgrimages, in 1983, Pax Christi International was awarded the UNESCO Peace Education Prize. The Pax Christi network membership is made up of 18 national sections and 115 Member Organizations working in over 50 countries, Pax Christi focuses on five main issues, human rights, human security, disarmament and demilitarization, just world order, and religion and peace. Pax Christi is made up of sections of the movement, affiliated organizations. Its International Secretariat is in Brussels, Pax Christi has consultative status as a non-governmental organization at the United Nations. Maurice Feltin Bernard Alfrink Luigi Bettazzi Franz König Godfried Danneels Michel Sabbah In 2007, a co-presidency was created, a Bishop, laurent Monsengwo Marie Dennis Kevin Dowling Catholic peace traditions Religion and peacebuilding Roger S. Powers, et al. eds. Protest, Power, and Change, An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action
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Bible
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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
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House of Freedoms
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The House of Freedoms, was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government, the latter coalition, which did not include the LN, lost the 1996 general election to The Olive Tree, the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi. The CdL won the 2001 general election by a landslide and, consequently, in 2003 the CdL was routed in local elections by The Olive Tree and the LN threatened to pull out. Also the 2004 European Parliament election were disappointing for FI and the coalition as a whole, even though AN, the UDC, as a result, Berlusconi and FI were weaker within the CdL. In 2005 the coalition lost heavily in regional elections, losing six of the eight regions it controlled. The defeat was particularly damaging in the South, while the two regions which the coalition managed to keep, Lombardy and Veneto, were in the North. This led to a government crisis, particularly after the UDC pulled its ministers out, a few days later, the Berlusconi III Cabinet was formed with minor changes from the previous cabinet. In the 2006 general election the CdL, which had opened its ranks to a number of minor parties, lost to The Olive Tree. In the run-up of the 2008 general election FI, AN and minor parties joined forces and formed The People of Freedom, the alliance has since been generically referred to as the centre-right coalition. It was initially composed of the political parties, Composition during the 2006 general election
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Paolo Ferrero
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Paolo Ferrero is an Italian politician. He is a member of the Communist Refoundation Party and served as Minister of Social Solidarity from 2006 to 2008 as part of the Prodi II Cabinet, Ferrero was born in Pomaretto, in the province of Turin. A former FIAT worker, he started his political commitment at the age of 17 and he served as Turin city councillor from 1993 to 1997. He has two children, aged 18 and 12, Ferrero was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 2006. Prior to his appointment to the cabinet of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in 2006, he was responsible for the Communist Refoundation Partys social, economic and he is responsible for social policy, national civil service, non-EU immigrants and drug-related policies. On 27 July 2008 Ferrero was elected secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party, winning over the other major candidate Nichi Vendola
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Prodi II Cabinet
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The Prodi II Cabinet was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year,11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the cabinet of the XV Legislature. It was composed of 26 ministers,10 deputy-ministers and 66 under-secretaries, for a total of 102 members. Romano Prodi led his coalition to the campaign preceding the election, eventually won by a very narrow margin of 25,000 votes. Prodis appointment was delayed, as the outgoing President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, ended his mandate in May. After the acrimonious election of Giorgio Napolitano to replace Ciampi, Prodi could proceed with his transition to government, on 16 May he was invited by Napolitano to form a government. The following day,17 May 2006, Prodi and his cabinet were sworn into office. Romano Prodi obtained the support for his cabinet on 19 May at the Senate, the latter was led by Clemente Mastella, former chairman of Christian Democracy. Therefore, according to critics, it was difficult to have a policy in different key areas, such as economics. In his earlier months as PM, Prodi had a key role in the creation of a peacekeeping force in Lebanon following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Prodis government faced a crisis over policies in early 2007, after just nine months of government, three ministers in Prodis Cabinet boycotted a vote in January to continue funding for Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan. At around the time, Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, of the coalition member UDEUR Populars. Tens of thousands of people marched in Vicenza against the expansion of Caserma Ederle, harsh debates followed in the Italian Senate on 20 February 2007. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Massimo DAlema declared during a visit in Ibiza, Spain that, without a majority on foreign policy affairs. The following day, DAlema gave a speech at the Senate representing the government, clarifying his foreign policy and asking the Senate to vote for or against it. Prodis spokesman indicated that he would agree to form a new Government if. On 22 February, centre-left coalition party leaders backed a non-negotiable list of political conditions given by Prodi as conditions of his remaining in office. President Napolitano held talks with leaders on 23 February to decide whether to confirm Prodis Government
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Movement for the Left
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Movement for the Left was a socialist and communist political party in Italy. It emerged as a split from the Communist Refoundation Party and later merged into Left Ecology Freedom and they supported the candidacy of Nichi Vendola for party secretary in the 24–27 July 2008 congress of the party. Vendola was defeated and Paolo Ferrero, a former bertinottiano who gained the support of the partys left-wing, rpS represented the modernisers within the party and supported the creation of a united left with greens, socialists and other radicals, both in Italy and in Europe. In January 2009 the new leadership of the PRC replaced the editor of Liberazione, the decision was strongly opposed by Vendoliani. On 24 January the group around Vendola, including Franco Giordano, Gennaro Migliore and Alfonso Gianni, finally decided to leave the party and to transform their faction into a party. The goal of MpS was that of forming a new party with other left-wing groups, including Democratic Left, Unite the Left, according to Vendola, such a coalition could become a stable and reliable ally for Democratic Party. On 22 October 2010, Left and Freedom, renamed Left Ecology Freedom, another short-lived political party with the same name was launched in March 2007 by Aleandro Longhi as a split from the Democrats of the Left, shortly before their merger into the Democratic Party. Shortly after Longhi merged MpS with the Party of Italian Communists, official website Manifesto for the Refoundation
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Democratic Party (Italy)
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The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy. The partys acting leader is Matteo Orfini, who replaced Matteo Renzi after his resignation in February 2017, in April–May the party will hold a leadership election and Renzi is again running for secretary. The PD was founded on 14 October 2007 upon the merger of various centre-left parties which had part of The Olive Tree list. The PDs main ideological trends are thus social democracy and the Italian Christian leftist tradition, the party has been also influenced by social liberalism, which was already present in some of the founding components of the DS and DL, and more generally by a Third Way progressivism. Following the 2013 general election and the 2014 European Parliament election, the PD was the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the European Parliament. From 2013 the Italian government has been led by three successive Democratic Prime Ministers, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, and Paolo Gentiloni. As of 2017, other than the government, Democrats head fourteen regional governments out of twenty and function as coalition partner in Tuscany. Former bigwigs include Giorgio Napolitano, Sergio Mattarella, Romano Prodi, Giuliano Amato, Massimo DAlema, Pier Luigi Bersani, Francesco Rutelli, the coalition, in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party, won the 1996 general election and Prodi became Prime Minister. In February 1998 the PDS merged with minor parties to become the Democrats of the Left, while in March 2002 the PPI, RI. In the summer of 2003 Prodi suggested that the forces would participate in the 2004 European Parliament election with a common list. Whereas the Union of Democrats for Europe and the far-left parties refused, four parties accepted, the DS, DL, the Italian Democratic Socialists and the European Republicans Movement. They launched a joint list named United in the Olive Tree, the project was later abandoned in 2005 by the SDI. In the 2006 general election the list obtained 31. 3% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, eight parties agreed to merge into the PD, Democrats of the Left Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. Southern Democratic Party, Sardinia Project, European Republicans Movement, Democratic Republicans, Middle Italy, while the DL agreed to the merger with virtually no resistance, the DS experienced a more heated final congress. On 19 April 2007 approximately 75% of party members voted in support of the merger of the DS into the PD, the left-wing opposition, led by Fabio Mussi, obtained just 15% of the support within the party. A third motion, presented by Gavino Angius and supportive of the PD only within the Party of European Socialists, during and following the congress, both Mussi and Angius announced their intention not to join the PD and founded a new party called Democratic Left. On 22 May 2007 the composition of the committee of the nascent party was announced. On 18 June the committee met to decide the rules for the election of the 2,400 members of the partys constituent assembly
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Union of the Centre (2002)
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The Union of the Centre, whose complete name is Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, is a Christian democratic political party in Italy. Lorenzo Cesa is the current secretary, hence its leader. Pier Ferdinando Casini who, for years, was the most recognisable figure and de facto leader of the party, the UdC is a member of the European Peoples Party and the Centrist Democrat International, of which Casini was president from 2004 to 2015. The party was formed as Union of Christian and Centre Democrats in December 2002 upon the merger of the Christian Democratic Centre, the UDC was part of the Pole/House of Freedoms from its establishment through 2008. Later it has been affiliated neither to the centre-right nor the centre-left at the national level, in the 2013 general election the UdC was part of With Monti for Italy, the coalition formed around Mario Montis Civic Choice. More recently the party, which sits in the Renzi Cabinet, has sided with the Angelino Alfanos New Centre-Right within the so-called Popular Area, the UdC left the alliance, while suffering an internal split, in December 2016. The party was founded on 6 December 2002 by the merger of three parties, the Christian Democratic Centre, the United Christian Democrats and European Democracy, at the 2001 Italian general election the three precursors of the UDC had scored 5. 6%. Follini and Buttiglione became respectively national secretary and president of the new party, at the 2004 European Parliament election the UDC won 5. 9% of the vote and five MEPs. The partys growth was reflected by Follinis entry in Berlusconis second cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister with the goal of strengthening the government while diminishing the influence of Lega Nord. At the 2005 regional elections the UDC and the House of Freedoms faced a defeat by winning only 2 regions out of 14. Follini asked Silvio Berlusconi to resign and form a new government, in the new executive Buttiglione became minister of Culture, while Follini step down from his previous post in order to concentrate on the party. On 15 October 2005 Follini suddenly resigned from his position as party secretary and was replaced on 27 October by Lorenzo Cesa, an ally of Casini. The party took part to the 2006 general election with a new logo, characterised by the inclusion of the name of Casini, despite the defeat of the House of Freedoms, the UDC improved its electoral performance by gaining 6. 8% of the vote. After the departure of Follini, however, Casini became highly critical of Berlusconi too and they were soon followed by many others. Despite having lost many votes to the PdL, the UDC was able to woo some new voters from the centre-left and gained 5. 6% of the vote,36 deputies and three senators. Soon after the election, Mario Baccini, one of the leaders of The Rose, after the election, Casini relaunched his plan for a new centrist party, as an alternative to both the PdL and the PD. In the 2009 European Parliament election the UdC won 6. 5% of the vote and five of its candidates were elected to the European Parliament, including De Mita and Magdi Allam. In December 2010 the UdC was a member of the New Pole for Italy, along with Future and Freedom
