The 2017
Lega Nord
Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...
leadership election took place on 14 May 2017.
Background and race
Under the leadership of
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...
, who was elected in the
2013 leadership election, the party embraced a very critical view of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, especially of the
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, which he described a "crime against mankind". Ahead of
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, Salvini started to cooperate with
Marine Le Pen
Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
, leader of the French
National Front, and
Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
. All this was criticised by
LN founder
Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has fou ...
, who re-called his left-wing roots, and Mayor of
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
Flavio Tosi
Flavio Tosi (born 18 June 1969) is an Italian politician who served as the mayor of Verona from 2007 to 2017.
He has been a long-time member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.
Political career
Having joined Liga Veneta (LV) in 1991, Tosi was elected ...
, who represented the party's centrist wing and defended the Euro. In March 2015, after a long struggle with
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia (born 27 March 1968) is a Venetian and Venetist politician, who has been President of Veneto since 2010.
Prior to that, Zaia was President of the Province of Treviso from 1998 to 2005, Vice President of Veneto from 2005 to 2008 and M ...
and Salvini, Tosi was ejected from the party. In May 2015 Zaia was re-elected
President of Veneto for a second term
in the regional election with a
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
.
In the run-up of the 2017 leadership election Salvini was focused on becoming the leader of the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
and, possibly, changing the
LN's name by ditching "North".
Paolo Grimoldi
Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Paolo
Art
*Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter
*Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American s ...
, the regional secretary of
Lega Nord for Lombardy, chose not to run (and
Roberto Maroni, the President of Lombardy Region, maintained his neutrality), but
Giovanni Fava, Lombard minister of Agriculture in the old social-democratic tradition, announced his bid aiming at representing the federalist/autonomist/separatist wings of the party.
Gianluca Pini
Gianluca is an Italian masculine given name. Its English translation is "John Luke" and it is often a shorter form of "Giovanni Luca".
* Gianluca Alfenoni (born 1996), Argentine footballer
*Gianluca Arrighi (born 1972), Italian writer
*Gianluca ...
, President of
Lega Nord Romagna
Lega Romagna ( en, Romagna League), whose complete name is ( en, Romagna League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Romagna, part of Emilia-Romagna region. The party was a "national" section of Lega Nord (LN) from 19 ...
, supported Fava: note that Fava's best results in this
LN primary (over 40% but under 45%) are only in Romagna.
Giovanni Fava, who is anti-
prohibition of drugs
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances.
While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the ...
, pro-
civil unions for
same-sex couples, pro-
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, pro-
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, and anti-
National Front ("
tis one of the most centralist and conservative blocs in Europe, what has it to do with us?"), recalled an old
LN activist saying "let's hurry up in making Padania, that I want to return voting the left" and added "this was the League and it has to be like this anew". Salvini accused Fava to be "too friend of
Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
" and specially of "wanting to submit the
LN to
Forza Italia
Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...
".
This is a ''closed primary'' where all ordinary and militant members with at least 12 months of membership are reserved for 31 December 2016 and they also have the right to sign in support of secretarial nominations, which they need a minimum of 1000 signatures to be able to apply. Each candidate must be registered for at least 10 years as ordinary and militant members of
LN: the only candidates for the post of Federal Secretary are those of
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...
and
Giovanni Fava, both of which exceed the minimum of 1000 signatures (precisely 6925 for Salvini and 1025 for Fava).
Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has fou ...
, the founder of
LN, support
Giovanni Fava and his plan of approach to
Forza Italia
Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...
and
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
from which the
LN has gradually gone away (in favor of
Giorgia Meloni
Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the ...
's
Brothers of Italy
Brothers of Italy ( it, Fratelli d'Italia, FdI) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Italy. It is led by Giorgia Meloni, the incumbent Prime Minister of Italy and the first woman to serve in the position. Accor ...
) during Salvini's leadership since the
previous primary election of December 2013. On 14 May Salvini was re-elected secretary by a landslide. His re-election was ratified by the party's federal congress on 21 May in
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
.
Lega, Salvini avverte Berlusconi: "Maggioritario se vuoi davvero vincere"
/ref>
Candidates
Primary election
Results by regions
References
{{Reflist, 2
2017 elections in Italy
Political party leadership elections in Italy
May 2017 events in Italy
Lega Nord leadership election