Gianpaolo Bottacin (born 17 October 1969 in

Feltre Feltre ( vec, Fèltre) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy. A hill town in the southern reaches of the province, it is located on the Stizzon River, about from its junction with the Piave, and southwes ...

) is a Venetist politician from

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

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 ...

. A member of

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and su ...

–

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 ...

since 1993, Bottacin was elected to the

Regional Council of Veneto The Regional Council of Veneto (''Consiglio Regionale del Veneto'') is the regional parliament of Veneto. The Council, which has its seat at Palazzo Ferro Fini, located along the Grand Canal in Venice. was first elected in 1970, when ordinary ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Between 2008 and 2009 he was floor leader of the party. In 2009 he was elected President of the

Province of Belluno The Province of Belluno ( it, Provincia di Belluno; de-AT, Provinz Belluno; lld, Provinzia de Belum) is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno. It has an area of and a total population of about 205,000. ...

and, consequently, left his seat in the Council. In 2011, however, he suffered a vote of no confidence, was forced to resign and entered a period of political inactivity, also due to clashes with

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 ...

's leadership of Liga Veneta. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, after Tosi was sidelined by the federal party, Bottacin made a comeback in regional politics: he was elected to the Regional Council from

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 ...

's personal list and Zaia, who had been re-elected

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 ...

, appointed him regional minister of the Environment and Civil Protection in his second government. In the 2020 regional election Bottacin was re-elected from Zaia's personal list by a record of over 9,000 preference votes in the scarcely populated province of Belluno and was appointed regional minister of the Environment, Climate and Civil Protection in Zaia's third government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottacin, Gianpaolo 1969 births Living people People from Feltre Presidents of the Province of Belluno Venetist politicians Lega Nord politicians Members of the Regional Council of Veneto 21st-century Italian politicians