The Federalist Party (''Partito Federalista'') was a

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

Italian political party. It was founded as Federalist Union (''Unione Federalista'') on 1 June 1994 by

Gianfranco Miglio Gianfranco Miglio (11 January 1918 – 10 August 2001) was an Italian jurist, political scientist, and politician, founder of the Federalist Party. For thirty years, he presided over the political science faculty of Milan's Università Catto ...

, an influent

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and political scientist who left the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

in May over disagreements with

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 ...

, and

Umberto Giovine Umberto is a masculine Italian given name. It is the Italian form of Humbert. People with the name include: * King Umberto I of Italy (1844–1900) * King Umberto II of Italy (1904–1983) * Prince Umberto, Count of Salemi (1889–1918) * Umberto ...

, an ex- Socialist who was at the time member of

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 ...

. In July 1995 the group was strengthened by the joining of eleven deputies: all former members of Lega Nord, who had previously joined the

Federalist Italian League The Federalist Italian League (''Lega Italiana Federalista'', LIF) was a short-lived federalist and liberal political party in Italy. History The party was founded by dissident members of Northern League on 13 February 1995, including Luigi Ne ...

and the

Federalists and Liberal Democrats The Federalists and Liberal Democrats ( it, Federalisti e Liberaldemocratici, FLD) was a liberal and federalist political party in Italy, founded in 1994 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies. The bulk of FLD was renamed Liberal Fe ...

. This made possible the establishment of a sub-group within the Mixed Group in the Chamber. The Federalist Party was officially founded on 17 December 1995. At the founding congress in Milan also Vittorio Sgarbi, art critic and maverick politician, joined the party. The program of the party included the idea of transforming Italy in a federal state, modelled onto the examples of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the United States, composed by three

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

('' Padania'', ''

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

'' and '' Mediterranea'') and the five existing

autonomous regions An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy— ...

. The federation would have been presided by a strong President. For the

1996 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general election ...

Sgarbi left Miglio to form a list with Marco Pannella, the

Pannella-Sgarbi List The Pannella List ( it, Lista Pannella, LP) is a liberal and libertarian association, which was also the electoral list of the Italian Radicals between 1992 and 1999, when it was replaced by the Bonino List. Its standard-bearer was Marco Pannel ...

. Miglio was elected Senator in his single-seat constituency in Como with the support of the Pole of Freedoms as Umberto Giovine, the party's secretary, did in Lodi. In 1997 the Federalist Party formed joint lists with the Union of the Centre at the local level and continued its approachment with Forza Italia. The party was almost disbanded after the death of Miglio in 2001, but continued to exist and to be active as Federalist Movement (''Movimento Federalista'') under the leadership of Giovine until 2008, when it was merged into the Movement for Autonomy.

Leadership

*President:

(1994–2001) **Vice President: Vittorio Sgarbi (1995–1996) *Secretary:

(1994–2008)

References

{{Historical Italian political parties Political parties disestablished in 2008 Defunct political parties in Italy Regionalist parties in Italy Political parties established in 1994 1994 establishments in Italy 2008 disestablishments in Italy