The Lega Autonomia Veneta (Venetian Autonomy League, LAV) was a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

History

The party's long-standing leaders were Mario Rigo, a former Mayor of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

(1975–1985) and MEP (1984–1989) for the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

, and incumbent

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 Oscar De Bona, Socialist 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. ...

since 1990. In the 1990 regional election the party, at time called ''Iniziativa Civica'' ("Civic Initiative") won 0.9% of the vote, but, as Liga Veneta–

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 ...

boomed in the early 1990s, the party changed its name into Lega Autonomia Veneta, with a very small word "Autonomia", and its symbol into former Liga's symbol the

lion of Saint Mark The Lion of Saint Mark, representing Mark the Evangelist, pictured in the form of a winged lion, is an aspect of the Tetramorph. On the pinnacle of St Mark's Cathedral he is depicted as holding a Bible, and surmounting a golden lion which is t ...

. The LAV increased its share of votes, gaining 5-6% of the vote in Senate elections. Rigo was elected for the party to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

(along with Pierluigi Ronzani to the

Senate 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 ...

) in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and to the Senate in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

(in coalition with The Olive Tree). De Bona was re-elected President of the Province of Belluno for LAV and Dolomitic Agreement in 1995 and 1999, prior to joining the

New Italian Socialist Party The New Italian Socialist Party or New PSI ( it, Nuovo Partito Socialista Italiano or ''Nuovo PSI'', NPSI), more recently styled as Liberal Socialists – NPSI, is a political party in Italy which professes a social-democratic ideology and claims t ...

and the centre-right

House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms ( it, Casa delle Libertà, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government and the Pole fo ...

. In 1997 LAV was merged, at the regional level, with the Northeast Movement of

Massimo Cacciari Massimo Cacciari (; born 5 June 1944) is an Italian philosopher, politician and public intellectual. Biography Born in Venice, Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua (1967), where he also received his doctorate, writing a ...

, while, at the national level, it became the League of Regions. The Movement of Cacciari was merged into The Democrats in 1999 and the League of Rigo disappeared by 2001.

Popular support

The electoral results of the party in Veneto are shown in the table below. For general elections the results refer to the Senate election.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

*Francesco Jori, ''Dalla Łiga alla Lega. Storia, movimenti, protagonisti'', Marsilio,

2009 *Ezio Toffano,
Short History of the Venetian Autonomism
',

Raixe Venete Raixe Venete (translation: Venetian Roots) is a Venetist cultural association. Founded in 2002, Raixe Venete is aimed at "keeping the Venetian identity alive through the promotion, the protection and the circulation of the millennial Venetian cul ...

Political parties in Veneto Venetian nationalism