91-628: Mariano Rumor ( Italian pronunciation: [maˈrjaːno ruˈmor] ;16 June 1915 – 22 January 1990) was an Italian politician and statesman. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), he served as the 39th prime minister of Italy from December 1968 to August 1970 and again from July 1973 to November 1974. As prime minister, he led five different governments, supported by various coalitions. Rumor served as Italian Minister of Agriculture from 1959 to 1963, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1974 to 1976, and Italian Minister of
182-602: A Campanian DC member for whom a ransom was paid thanks to the local ties of the party with the Camorra ). It was however supported by all the mainstream parties, including the PCI, with the two notable exceptions of the PSI and the Radicals . In the trial for Mafia allegations against Andreotti, it was said that he took the chance of getting rid of a dangerous political competitor by sabotaging all of
273-582: A Catholic -inspired, centrist , catch-all party comprising both centre-right and centre-left political factions, the DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for fifty years, and had been part of the government from soon after its inception until its final demise on 16 January 1994 amid the Tangentopoli scandals. Christian Democrats led the Italian government continuously from 1946 until 1981. The party
364-596: A social conservative party like the DC. Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy ( Italian : Democrazia Cristiana , DC ) was a Christian democratic political party in Italy . The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the nominal successor of the Italian People's Party , which had the same symbol, a crusader shield ( scudo crociato ). As
455-568: A bill of August 1974 extended hospital assistance to all those not previously covered by any scheme. Weathering a cabinet resignation in June 1974, Rumor's final cabinet would fall in October 1974 after failing to come to an agreement on how to deal with rising economic inflation. In November 1974, Rumor was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Aldo Moro 's fourth cabinet. During his ministry, he signed
546-597: A comfortable margin by De Gasperi's DC that defeated the left-wing coalition of the Popular Democratic Front , that comprised the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). As a deputy he became very close to Giuseppe Dossetti , becoming a member of his Christian leftist wing. In 1950, Guido Gonella succeeded Paolo Emilio Taviani as National Secretary of the DC;
637-553: A government, Rumor led a new coalition with the Socialist, Republican, and Democratic Socialist parties from March until July 1970. In 1972, Rumor was appointed Minister of the Interior , in the government of Giulio Andreotti . In 1973, Rumor was the target of an assassination attempt, planned by Gianfranco Bertoli, a self-described anarchist. Four were killed during the bombing, and 45 injured, while Rumor escaped alive from it. Bertoli
728-642: A measure which allowed Italian governmental workers to retire after nineteen and a half years of work or fourteen and a half years if they were a woman; such retirees were later termed "baby pensioners" by detractors. The program, instituted in 1973, was terminated in 1992. As of 2014 it was estimated that around half a million pensioners who benefited from the decree were still drawing an average of €1,500 per month. Rumor never married. During all his lifetime and even after his death, speculations arose around his possible homosexuality . However, Rumor had always denied these speculations, which would have ruined his career in
819-421: A national health service, and initiated low-cost housing in Italy's major cities. De Gasperi served as prime minister until 1953 and died a year later. No Christian Democrat would match his longevity in office and, despite the fact that DC's share of the vote was always between 38 and 43% from 1953 to 1979 , the party was more and more fractured. As a result, Prime Ministers changed more frequently. From 1954
910-518: A new coalition within two weeks, calling upon the Socialists and Democratic Socialists to join with DC from March until October 1974. During his second term, the Parliament approved a law on 2 March 1974, with which legal minimum for pensions was raised to 27.75% of the average industrial wage for 1973. A law of 16 July 1974 extended family allowances to INPS pensioners, in lieu of child supplements. While
1001-591: A new party called Christian Democratic Centre and form an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi 's new party, Forza Italia (FI). The left-wing factions stayed within the new PPI, though a minority would form the Social Christians in 1993 and would join forces with the post-communist Democratic Party of the Left (DPS). Some right-wingers, feeling Casini was still too moderate, joined the National Alliance . In 1995,
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#17330939767281092-409: A number of progressive reforms were carried out. A law of 11 December 1969 extended access to higher education to all students holding a higher secondary school diploma. It was formerly limited to students who came from classical, and in some cases, scientific, curricula. A bill, approved on 30 April 1969 introduced broad provisions covering pensions under the general scheme. The multiplying coefficient
1183-575: A position he also maintained in De Gasperi VIII Cabinet and, after De Gasperi's retirement in 1954, in the short-lived government led by Giuseppe Pella . In the brief first Fanfani government , from January to February 1954, Rumor was appointed to Secretary of the Council of Ministers . In 1954, after the National Congress of Naples , which saw the affirmation of Democratic Initiative and
1274-407: A progressive, led the party and Andreotti the government. This custom, in clear contrast with the principles of a Westminster system , deeply weakened DC-led governments, so that even with broad majorities they were unable to resolve differences between the several factions of the party, and ultimately turning the Italian political system into a de facto particracy ( partitocrazia ). From the 1980s
1365-766: A two-week stalemate of unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement. The killing of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone prompted his election. His mandate ended in May 1999, and he automatically became a lifetime member of the Senate . On 7 April 1994, Scalfaro co-officiated at the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah at the Sala Nervi in Vatican City, along with Pope John Paul II , and Chief Rabbi of Rome Elio Toaff . In recent times, Scalfaro
1456-625: Is the last Italian attorney to have obtained a death sentence: in July of that year, along with two others, he was a public prosecutor in the trial against former Novara prefect Enrico Vezzalini and servicemen Arturo Missiato, Domenico Ricci, Salvatore Santoro, Giovanni Zeno and Raffaele Infante, accused of "collaborating with the German invaders". After a three-day-long debate, all six were condemned to death. The death sentences were carried out on 23 September 1945. Later on, he obtained one more death sentence, but
1547-584: The 1919 and 1921 general elections , but was declared illegal by the Fascist dictatorship in 1926 despite the presence of some Popolari in Benito Mussolini 's first government. As World War II was ending, the Christian Democrats started organising post-Fascist Italy in coalition with all the other mainstream parties, including the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the Italian Socialist Party (PSI),
1638-739: The 1948 general election the party had its best result ever (48.5%) and an absolute majority in the Italian Parliament . The party won 66.8% in eastern Lombardy (73.6% in the Province of Bergamo ), 60.5% in Veneto (71.9% in the Province of Vicenza ), 69.6% in Trentino and 57.8% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , that is to say where the late Italian People's Party had its strongholds. In the Centre-South
1729-697: The 2001 election . DL would be formed as an official political party in 2002, succeeding the PPI and its three allies. In 2007, DL would merge with the Democrats of the Left , the successor of the DPS, to form the Democratic Party , which is today the largest centre-left political party in Italy. The party's ideology drew on the Christian democratic doctrines developed from the 19th century referred to as Catholic social teaching ,
1820-763: The Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), while others directly joined Forza Italia . A split from the PPI, the United Christian Democrats (CDU), joined Forza Italia and the CCD in the centre-right Pole of Freedoms coalition (later becoming the Pole for Freedoms ), while the PPI was a founding member of The Olive Tree centre-left coalition in 1996. In its early years, the party was stronger in Northern Italy (especially in eastern Lombardy and Veneto ), due to
1911-536: The Italian Communist Party , DC members had ample opportunity to abuse their power, and some did. In the 1960s, scandals involved frauds such as huge illegal profits in the administration of banana import quotas and preferential allocation of purposely misprinted and therefore rare postage stamps. Giovanni Leone was forced to resign as President of the Italian Republic in 1978 after the Lockheed bribery scandals . He
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#17330939767282002-688: The Italian Liberal Party (PLI), the Italian Republican Party (PRI), the Action Party (Pd'A) and the Labour Democratic Party (PDL). In December 1945 Christian Democrat Alcide De Gasperi was appointed Prime Minister of Italy . The Christian Democracy party was opposed to both Fascism and Communism. In elections Italians were voting based on a way of life, not just a political party. Christian ideals were usually paired with
2093-528: The Marxist idea of class struggle . The party thus advocated collaboration between social classes and was basically a catch-all party which aimed to represent both right-wing and left-wing Italian Catholics under the principle of the "political unity of Catholics" against socialism , communism and anarchism . It ultimately represented the majority of Italians who were opposed to the Italian Communist Party . The party was, however, originally equidistant between
2184-618: The Osimo Treaty with Yugoslavia , defining the official partition of the Free Territory of Trieste . The port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the north west (Zone A) was given to Italy; a portion of the north-western part of the Istrian peninsula (Zone B) was given to Yugoslavia. The Italian government was harshly criticized for signing the treaty, particularly for the secretive way in which negotiations were carried out, skipping
2275-585: The Political Affairs Committee in 1980, serving in that post until he left the European Parliament in 1984. Rumor died of a heart attack in Vicenza on 22 January 1990 at the age of 74. In the years since his death, Rumor's legacy has been widely debated. The Lockheed bribery scandals , of which Rumor was exonerated by the Italian Parliament , took place under his government and culminated in
2366-460: The Segni Pact , and contemporary polling suggested heavy losses for the DC in the upcoming 1994 general election . In hopes of changing the party's image, the DC's last secretary, Mino Martinazzoli decided to change the name of the party into the Italian People's Party (PPI). Pier Ferdinando Casini , representing the right-wing faction of the party (previously led by Forlani) decided to launch
2457-512: The general elections of 1968 , the DC managed to increase its votes, albeit slightly, gaining 39% of votes. This result was experienced as a success by the Rumor secretariat and he became a natural candidate for the leadership of the government. On 13 December 1968, Mariano Rumor was sworn in as prime minister for the first time, leading a government composed of Christian Democrats, Socialists and Republicans . During his first term as prime minister,
2548-549: The 1980s, the Italian economy was being undermined by a constant devaluation of the Italian lira and the issuing of large amounts of high-interest treasury bonds, so that, between 1982 and 1992, the excessive budget deficit built a significant proportion of the debt that would plague the country well into the 21st century. In 1992 the Mani pulite investigation was started in Milan , uncovering
2639-512: The Centre . Former DC members are also spread among other parties, including the centre-right Forza Italia and the centre-left Democratic Party . It was a founding member of the European People's Party in 1976. The party was founded as the revival of the Italian People's Party (PPI), a political party created in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo , a Catholic priest. The PPI won over 20% of the votes in
2730-594: The Communists and the hard right represented by the Italian Social Movement . As a catch-all party, the DC differed from other European Christian Democratic parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , that were mainly conservative political groupings. The DC, which included conservative as well as social-democratic and liberal elements was characterised by factionalism and by
2821-520: The Compromise, was abducted and murdered by the Red Brigades . The event was a shock for the party. When Moro was abducted, the government, at the time led by Giulio Andreotti , immediately took a hardline position stating that the "State must not bend" on terrorist demands. This was a very different position from the one taken in similar cases before and after (such as the kidnapping of Ciro Cirillo ,
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2912-563: The DC gained more than 50% of the vote in Lazio (51.9%), Abruzzo (53.7%) and Campania (50.5%). From the late 1950s, the DC's support started to move South and by the 1980s it was stronger in the South than in the North, with the exception of Veneto, which remained one of the party's strongholds. In the 1983 general election the party suffered a dramatic decrease in term of votes and its electoral geography
3003-563: The DC had lost part of its support among Italian voters. In 1981, Giovanni Spadolini of the PRI was the first non-Christian Democrat to lead a government since 1944, at the head of a coalition comprising the DC, the PSI, the PSDI, the PRI and the PLI, the so-called Pentapartito . In the successive 1983 general election , the DC suffered one of its largest declines in votes up to that point, receiving only 32.5% of
3094-448: The DC joined with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) as well as the Italian Republican Party (PRI). Then, from August 1969 to February 1970 he led a DC-only government; its collapse led to a 45-day long period without government, with issues such as Italian divorce law and the status of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) generating instability. After this period, which included an attempt by former Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani to form
3185-522: The DC suffered a sharp decline of consensus. Rumor was appointed Minister of the Interior in the short-lived government chaired by Giovanni Leone . As minister, he had to face one of the most tragic events in Italian republican history, the Vajont Dam disaster. On 9 October 1963, a landslide occurred on Monte Toc , in the province of Pordenone . The landslide caused a megatsunami in the artificial lake in which 50 million cubic metres of water overtopped
3276-412: The DC was led by progressive Christian Democrats, such as Amintore Fanfani , Aldo Moro and Benigno Zaccagnini , supported by the influential left-wing factions. In the 1950s the party formed centrist or moderately centre-left coalitions, and even a short-lived government led by Fernando Tambroni relying on parliamentary support from the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the post-fascist party. In 1963
3367-472: The Democratic Socialists, who hoped for more leftist policies, in 1951. Under De Gasperi, major land reforms were carried out in the poorer rural regions in the early postwar years, with farms appropriated from the large landowners and parcelled out to the peasants. In addition, during its years in office, Christian Democrats passed a number of laws safeguarding employees from exploitation, established
3458-402: The Interior in two brief periods, in 1963 and from 1972 to 1973. Rumor was the secretary of the DC from 1964 to 1969. Mariano Rumor was born in Vicenza , Veneto, on 16 June 1915. His father, Giuseppe Rumor, was the owner of a printing studio and promoter of a local magazine, "The Catholic Worker" founded by Rumor's grandfather. His mother, Tina Nardi, came from a liberal family. He attended
3549-618: The PLI and the PRI. In the 1948 general election the DC went on to win a decisive victory, with the support of the Catholic Church and the United States , and obtained 48.5% of the vote, its best result ever. Despite his party's absolute majority in the Italian Parliament , De Gasperi continued to govern at the head of the centrist coalition, which was successively abandoned by the Liberals, who hoped for more right-wing policies, in 1950 and
3640-484: The PPI would ally with the DPS and several smaller centre-left parties to form The Olive Tree . The alliance, whose primary components were two legal successors to the two major political forces of pre-1990s Italy, won the election. Romano Prodi , an independent former PPI member, led the list and became prime minister. Faced with flagging poll numbers, the PPI formed Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL) after allying three other smaller, social liberal parties to contest
3731-523: The accused was pardoned before the execution could take place. In 1946 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly and later in 1948, he became a deputy representing the district of Turin . He was re-elected ten times in a row until 1992. Within the Democrazia Cristiana party, he was associated with its right wing. On 25 May 1992, he was elected as President of the Italian Republic, after
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3822-423: The centre-left) and Giulio Andreotti (closer to the centre-right). Moreover, it was often the case that if the government was led by a centre-right Christian Democrat, the party was led by a left-winger and vice versa. This was what happened in the 1950s when Fanfani was party secretary and the government was led by centre-right figures such as Scelba and Segni, as well as in the late 1970s when Benigno Zaccagnini ,
3913-505: The centre-right United Christian Democrats , which were led by Rocco Buttiglione , split off from the PPI and also entered in alliance with FI. In the following years, most Christian Democrats joined FI, which became the party with the most ex-DC members in absolute terms. In December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the European People's Party . The PPI would continue in a rump fashion, usually finding itself in left of centre political coalitions. In 1996 , under Franco Marini ,
4004-747: The classical lyceum Antonio Pigafetta in Vicenza, then he earned a degree from the University of Padua in literature in 1939. After his graduation, Rumor became a teacher at an Italian lyceum until his mobilization as a lieutenant in the Italian Army during the Second World War . Subsequent to the Armistice of Cassibile in 1943 between Italy and the Allied powers , Rumor joined the Italian resistance movement . After
4095-540: The consensus lost in the previous elections. Rumor embodied the typical characteristics of the Dorotheans: caution, moderation, the propensity for mediation rather than for decision, attention to practical and concrete topics, rather than to major strategies, the representation of the interests of the provincial middle class , the privileged link with the public administration, with the Catholic world and with direct farmers. In
4186-433: The constituency of Verona–Padova–Vicenza–Rovigo . He became a member of the new-born Chamber of Deputies in 1948 . The 1948 elections were heavily influenced by the Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, and are now best known for the covert political warfare waged by the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency on behalf of the DC. The elections were eventually won with
4277-406: The construction industry. In foreign policy, Rumor signed, on 28 January 1969, of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty . However, his first term as prime minister was deeply marked by the Piazza Fontana massacre , a terrorist attack that occurred on 12 December 1969 when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of National Agrarian Bank in Piazza Fontana , Milan, killing 17 people and wounding 88. In
4368-426: The dam in a wave of 250 metres (820 ft), leading to the complete destruction of several villages and towns, and 1,917 deaths. In the previous months, the Adriatic Society of Electricity (SADE) and the Italian government, which both owned the dam, dismissed evidence and concealed reports describing the geological instability of Monte Toc on the southern side of the basin and other early warning signs reported prior to
4459-402: The declaration of support for De Gasperi and the Atlantic Pact , Dossetti's principles of a Christian reformist party were reaffirmed, with the aim of moving the country towards a "democratic evolution". Rumor immediately played a leading role in the faction. This position, led him to hold the first government posts, becoming Undersecretary for Agriculture in De Gasperi's seventh government ,
4550-418: The disaster. Immediately after the disaster, government and local authorities insisted on attributing the tragedy to an unexpected and unavoidable natural event. However, numerous warnings, signs of danger, and negative appraisals had been disregarded in the previous months and the eventual attempt to safely control the landslide into the lake by lowering its level came when the landslide was almost imminent and
4641-541: The double adherence of members to the party and to factions which were often identified with individual leaders. The DC's factions spanned the political spectrum from left to right and continually evolved over time. In the early years, centrists and liberal-conservatives such as Alcide De Gasperi , Giuseppe Pella , Ezio Vanoni and Mario Scelba led the party. After them, progressives led by Amintore Fanfani were in charge, though opposed by right wing led by Antonio Segni . The party's left wing, with its roots in
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#17330939767284732-404: The end of the war, he was among the founders of the Christian Associations of Italian Workers (ACLI), the widespread lay Catholic associations, and joined the Christian Democracy (DC) party, of which he became one of the main leaders in Veneto, very close to Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi . In the 1946 election , Rumor was elected with more than 29,000 votes to the Constituent Assembly , for
4823-454: The faction, including Rumor himself, put the Secretary in minority during the National Congress of March 1959. In this way, Democratic Initiative split up between the followers of Fanfani and the dissident group, now renamed by all Dorotei ("Dorotheans"), from the place where they had gathered before the congress, the convent of the sisters of Santa Dorotea in Rome. The new faction was built around Antonio Segni , Mariano Rumor and Aldo Moro, who
4914-445: The government. During the Second World War, in 1944, Scalfaro lost his 20-year-old wife Maria Inzitari , by whom he had a daughter, Marianna. He never married again. After the 2008 parliamentary election , he was again asked to preside as pro tempore Speaker of the Senate after Rita Levi-Montalcini again refused the post, but this time he also declined to serve. Scalfaro passed away on 29 January 2012 in Rome. As President of
5005-403: The idea of freedom. In the 1946 general election the DC won 35.2% of the vote. In May 1947 De Gasperi broke decisively with his Communist and Socialist coalition partners under pressure from U.S. President Harry Truman . This opened the way for a centrist coalition that included the Italian Workers' Socialist Party (PSLI), a centrist break-away from the PSI, as well as its usual allies,
5096-426: The left of the late Italian People's Party ( Giovanni Gronchi , Achille Grandi and controversial Fernando Tambroni ), was reinforced by new leaders such as Giuseppe Dossetti , Giorgio La Pira , Giuseppe Lazzati and Fanfani himself. Most of them were social democrats by European standards. The party was often led by centrist figures unaffiliated to any faction such as Aldo Moro , Mariano Rumor (both closer to
5187-400: The moderate Italian Democratic Socialist Party , the Italian Liberal Party , and the Italian Republican Party , before moving towards the Organic Centre-left involving the Italian Socialist Party . The party was succeeded by a string of smaller parties, including the Italian People's Party , the Christian Democratic Centre , the United Christian Democrats , and the still active Union of
5278-407: The new faction, called "Democratic Initiative", which brought together not only Dossetti's followers, such as Giorgio La Pira , Amintore Fanfani and Aldo Moro , but also members of the centrist pro-De Gasperi majority, as Paolo Emilio Taviani and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro . Rumor himself presented the manifesto of Democratic Initiative, published on a magazine with the same name. In this text, alongside
5369-483: The party was divided between the centre-right led by Arnaldo Forlani (supported also by the party's right wing) and the centre-left led by Ciriaco De Mita (whose supporters included trade unionists and the internal left), with Andreotti holding the balance. De Mita, who led the party from 1982 to 1989, tried to transform the party into a mainstream "conservative party" in line with the European People's Party to preserve party unity. He became prime minister in 1988 but
5460-408: The party, under Prime Minister Aldo Moro , formed a coalition with the PSI, which returned to ministerial roles after 16 years, the PSDI and the PRI. Similar " Organic Centre-left " governments became usual through the 1960s and the 1970s. From 1976 to 1979 the DC governed with the external support of the PCI, through the Historic Compromise . Moro, who was the party main leader and who had inspired
5551-449: The political thought of Romolo Murri and Luigi Sturzo , and ultimately the tradition of the defunct Italian People's Party . Two Papal encyclicals , Rerum novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII , and Quadragesimo anno (1931) of Pope Pius XI , offered a further basis for the DC's social and political doctrine. In economics , the DC preferred competition to cooperation , supported the model of social market economy , and rejected
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#17330939767285642-409: The prosecution of Prime Minister Moro and Minister Rumor, for the crime of treason , as stated in Article 241 of the Italian Criminal Code, which mandated a life sentence for anybody found guilty of aiding and abetting a foreign power to exert its sovereignty on the national territory. The defeat in the 1975 regional elections led to the removal of Amintore Fanfani from the party secretariat. Rumor
5733-425: The public. Leaders such as Antonio Gava , Calogero Mannino , Vito Ciancimino , Salvo Lima and especially Giulio Andreotti were perceived by many to belong to a grey zone between simple corruption and Mafia business, even if most of them were later acquitted. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈɔskar luˈiːdʒi ˈskalfaro] ; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012)
5824-448: The reform won a landslide victory in the referendum. Scalfaro was the oldest surviving former Italian president and the second oldest member of the Senate, after Rita Levi-Montalcini . He consequently took the temporary presidency of the newly elected assembly which followed the 2006 general election , as Levi Montalcini refused the role because of her age. This made him one of the three politicians in Italian history to have presided over
5915-403: The rescue options and ultimately leaving the captors with no option but killing him. During his captivity Moro wrote a series of letters, at times very critical of Andreotti. . Later the memorial written by Moro during his imprisonment was subject to several plots, including the assassination of journalist Mino Pecorelli and general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa . At the beginning of the 1980s,
6006-443: The same afternoon, three more bombs were detonated in Rome and Milan, and another was found unexploded. The attack was planned by a neo-fascist group, Ordine Nuovo ("New Order"), whose aim was to prevent the country falling into the hands of the left-wing by duping the public into believing the bombings were part of a communist insurgency. During his first term, Rumor led three different governments. From December 1968 to July 1969,
6097-407: The so-called Tangentopoli scandals (endemic corruption practices at the highest levels), and causing numerous, often controversial, arrests and resignations. After the dismal result in the 1992 general election (29.7%), also due to the rise of Lega Nord in northern Italy and two years of mounting scandals (which included several Mafia investigations which notably touched Andreotti), the party
6188-416: The strong Catholic roots of those areas, than it was in the South . There, the Liberal establishment that had governed Italy for decades before the rise of Benito Mussolini still had grip on voters, as well as the Monarchist National Party and the Common Man's Front . The DC was very weak in Emilia-Romagna and Central Italy , where the Italian Communist Party was the dominant political force. In
6279-407: The subsequent election of Fanfani as party's Secretary, Rumor was elected again deputy secretary. He held this office for the next five years, until Democratic Initiative split up. In fact, many members of the faction, started criticizing the political line of Fanfani's secretariat, who cautiously began to open to the prospect of a collaboration with Italian Socialist Party (PSI). Prominent members of
6370-408: The successor parties of the DC continued to be key political actors only in the South, where the clientelistic way of government practised by the Christian Democrats and their allies had left a mark. In the 1996 general election the League gained 7 out of 8 single-seat constituencies in the Province of Bergamo and 5 out of 6 in the Province of Vicenza, winning well over 40%, while the combined score of
6461-407: The target of the new secretariat was to build a unitary management of the party in support of the government led by Alcide De Gasperi. In this context, Rumor was nominated for the first time as National Deputy Secretary, together with Dossetti. The withdrawal from politics of Giuseppe Dossetti, left his faction without a charismatic leader; however, Mariano Rumor played a decisive role in the birth of
6552-622: The three highest-ranked offices in the Italian Republic: President of the Republic, President of the Senate, and President of the Chamber of Deputies; the others are Sandro Pertini and Enrico De Nicola . A staunch Catholic , and in the past, a rather conservative and anti-communist politician, Scalfaro nevertheless distrusted many members of the DC who changed support to Forza Italia , and
6643-548: The three main post-DC parties (the new PPI , the CCD and the CDU ) was highest in Campania (22.3%). In the 1996 Sicilian regional election the combined score of those parties was 26.4%. The electoral results of the DC in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1946 are shown in the chart below. Having ruled Italy for over 40 years with no alternative other than
6734-548: The traditional diplomatic channels. Italian nationalists of the MSI rejected the idea of giving up Istria , since Istria had been an ancient "Italian" region together with the Venetian region ( Venetia et Histria ). Furthermore, Istria had belonged to Italy for 25 years between World War I and the end of World War II , and the west coast of Istria had long had a sizeable Italian minority population. Some nationalist politicians called for
6825-572: The trials of two former Defense ministers , Luigi Gui and Mario Tanassi . Rumor was implicated in the scandal after a Lockheed codebook referenced "Antelope Cobbler" as "Prime Minister", which could have been any of Rumor, Aldo Moro , or then-President Giovanni Leone during the relevant time period. While Leone later resigned from the Presidency due to accusations of corruption, none of the three men were ever convicted of being "Antelope Cobbler". Others have criticized his Presidential Decree No. 1092,
6916-510: The vote cast (a decline of -5.8% relative to 1981). Subsequently, Bettino Craxi (leader of the rising PSI) reclaimed for himself the post of prime minister, again at the head of a Pentapartito government. DC re-gained the post of prime minister in 1987, after a modest recovery in the 1987 general election (34.2%), and the Pentapartito coalition governed Italy almost continuously until 1993. While Italy experienced steady economic progress in
7007-457: Was consistently on bad terms with Silvio Berlusconi . He openly supported the centre-left coalition , which included Democratic Party of the Left , which won the 1996 and 2006 elections. Despite his age, he also actively campaigned, for the "No" side, in the June 2006 referendum on a constitutional reform . This reform had been proposed by Berlusconi's House of Freedom coalition during its control of
7098-423: Was disbanded in 1994. In the 1990s most of the politicians prosecuted during those investigations were acquitted, sometimes however on the basis of legal formalities or on the basis of statutory time limit rules. In 1992, Mario Segni led a breakaway faction called Populars for Reform (PR). The DC suffered heavy defeats in the 1993 provincial and municipal elections. Subsequently, Segni's PR would be reformed as
7189-439: Was elected new Secretary. In the same year, as one of the faction's leaders, Rumor was appointed Minister of Agriculture , in the second Segni's government, a position he would keep in the governments of Fernando Tambroni , and Fanfani. In this role, Rumor contributed to the definition of one of the first plans for the development and innovation of the national agricultural sector, the so-called "Green Plan". In 1963 election ,
7280-528: Was given a life-term in 1975. Bertoli was an informant of SISMI , the "Military Intelligence and Security Service", at the time. Court proceedings later showed that this connection was one of mistaken identity. After three years under Emilio Colombo and Giulio Andreotti 's ministries, Rumor returned to the office of Prime Minister, first leading a coalition composed of Christian Democrats, Socialists, Republicans, and Democratic Socialists from July 1973 to March 1974. After this government collapsed, Rumor formed
7371-505: Was increased to 1.85%, applied to average earnings of the best 3 years in the last 5 years of work (maximum pension, after 40 years of contribution: 74% of previous earnings). A social pension was also introduced for people over the age of 65 with low incomes and not eligible for any type of pension. In addition, cost of living indexation for all pensions (with the exception of social pensions) was introduced. A law of 2 February 1970 extended earnings replacement benefits to artisan undertakings in
7462-512: Was later acquitted. Like the other parties of the Pentapartito coalition, the DC was invested in the Tangentopoli scandals and in the subsequent Mani pulite . Moreover, as Southern Italy had become the party's stronghold in the 1970s and the 1980s, it was likely that the Sicilian Mafia and dishonest politicians tried to collaborate. The DC was the party most associated with Mafia among
7553-489: Was nicknamed the "White Whale" ( Italian : Balena bianca ) due to its huge organisation and official colour. During its time in government, the Italian Communist Party was the largest opposition party. From 1946 until 1994, the DC was the largest party in the Italian Parliament , governing in successive coalitions, including the Pentapartito system. It originally supported liberal-conservative governments, along with
7644-552: Was proposed by Moro as the new party secretary, but he was vetoed by some members of his own faction. Due to this veto, Rumor abandoned the Dorotheans, approaching the positions of the new secretary Benigno Zaccagnini . Following the Dorotheans' split, Rumor was slowly excluded from relevant positions in the party and in the government. In 1979, Mariano Rumor was elected in the European Parliament , where he later became Chair of
7735-416: Was raised in a religious atmosphere. He became a member of the association Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) at the age of 12 and kept its badge on his lapel until his death. Scalfaro studied law at Milan 's Università Cattolica and graduated on 30 July 1941. On 21 October 1942, he entered the magistrature. In 1945, after the end of World War II , he became a public prosecuting attorney, and to date, he
7826-560: Was replaced by Forlani in 1989. Disagreements between de Mita and Forlani brought Andreotti back to the prime-ministership from 1989 to 1992. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the great Cold War ideological conflict, and ultimately the Tangentopoli scandals, the heterogeneous nature of the party led it to its collapse. The bulk of the DC's membership joined the new Italian People's Party (PPI), but immediately several centre-right elements led by Pier Ferdinando Casini joined
7917-637: Was stronger precisely in the traditional Christian Democratic heartlands, the DC was reduced to 21.0% in Piedmont (with the League at 16.3%), 32.1% in western Lombardy (League at 25.2%), 31.7% in Veneto (League at 17.3%) and 28.0% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (League at 17.0%). As the DC's role was reduced, the 1919 PPI strongholds and the DC's traditional heartlands would become the Lega Nord's power base. Meanwhile,
8008-642: Was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre-left Democratic Party when it was founded in 2007. Before his election to the Presidency, he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Turin for 44 years from 1948 to 1992 . Scalfaro was born in Novara , Province of Novara , on 9 September 1918, son of Guglielmo, Barone Scalfaro (born Naples , 21 December 1888) and wife Rosalia Ussino. He
8099-401: Was the chairman of the committee that advocated the abrogation, in the referendum of 25 and 26 June 2006, on the constitutional reform that had been passed in parliament the previous year by the former centre-right majority. Along with all the centre-left (and a few centre-right personalities, too), Scalfaro considered it to be dangerous for national unity and for other reasons. The opponents of
8190-420: Was too late to prevent it. The communist newspaper L'Unità was the first to denounce the actions of management and government. In January 1964, Rumor was elected the DC secretary, holding the office until January 1969 and leading the party in a complex phase of government cooperation with the socialists. In the five years leading the DC, Rumor tried to reassure the moderate electorate, in an attempt to recover
8281-524: Was very different from 30 or even 10 years before, as the region where it obtained the best result was Apulia (46.0%). In the 1992 general election the shift was even more evident as the party was over the 40% mark only in some Southern regions (41.1% in Campania , 44.5 in Basilicata and 41.2% in Sicily ), while it barely reached 20-25% of the vote in the North. As a result of the rise of Lega Nord , which
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