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, an ex-

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

: 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 Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

also Vittorio Sgarbi, art critic and maverick politician, joined the party. The program of the party included the idea of transforming

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in a

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

'') 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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. 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. Miglio was elected Senator in his single-seat constituency in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

with the support of the

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Governmen ...

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 The Movement for Autonomy ( it, Movimento per l'Autonomia, MpA) is a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The MpA, whose founder and leader is Raffaele Lombardo, demands economic development, greater autono ...

Leadership

*President:

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