Lega Padana Lombardia (Padanian League Lombardy), briefly in 2008 part of the Lombardia Autonoma (''Self-Governing Lombardy'') coalition, was a Padanist and autonomist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

active in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, northern

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 ...

, between 2001 and 2011. The party emerged in 2001 as a split from Lega Lombarda–

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 ...

led by

Roberto Bernardelli The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

, a long-time member of Lega Nord, at the time a regional deputy for Lombardy. The main reason why Bernardelli left the party was that he considered it to be too similar 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 ...

, the coalition partner of Lega Nord since 2000. In the 2005 regional elections in Lombardy, the party won 0.9% of the vote, despite not having candidates in all provinces. In 2008 the party joined Independentist Front Lombardy (led by Max Ferrari) and Lombardy Project (led by Giulio Arrighini) in order to form Lombardia Autonoma, a coalition of parties offering an alternative to Lega Lombarda. In 2009 the party returned to the name of Lega Padana Lombardia. Max Ferrari was a candidate for

Autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

in the 2009 European Parliament election. In the provincial election of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, the party won 2.9% of the vote, while its candidate Arrighini scored 3.2%. In February 2010 the party chose not to run its own lists in the 2010 regional election. In a press release, Ferrari explained that the party was only at 1.8–2.3% in the opinion polls (below the 3% threshold needed by parties outside big coalitions to elect any regional councillors) and that the only result of their standing would have been to damage the like-minded "cousins" in Lega Lombarda–Lega Nord and to help

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

. The candidate of LPL would have been

Giancarlo Pagliarini Giancarlo Pagliarini (born 23 April 1942) is an Italian politician. Born in Milan, he was later elected to the Italian Senate for Lega Nord in 1992 and re-elected in 1994, then elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1996 and in 2001. He was Mini ...

, a former minister for Lega Nord. In 2011 local elections the party won 2.6% of the vote in the

Province of Mantua The Province of Mantua ( it, provincia di Mantova; Mantovano, Lower Mantovano: ; Upper Mantovano: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Mantua. It is bordered to the north-east by the Province o ...

and 1.5% in the

Province of Pavia The province of Pavia ( it, Provincia di Pavia) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. ...

, while its candidate for mayor of

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 ...

, Giancarlo Pagliarini, gained just 0.6% of the vote. All of these results fell short of the electoral thresholds. In November 2011 the party was merged into the

Padanian Union The Padanian Union (''Unione Padana'', UP) is a Padanian nationalism, Padanist and separatism, separatist list of political parties in Italy, political party active in Lombardy, Italy. The party emerged in November 2011 by the merger of Lega Padan ...

Leadership

*Secretary:

(2001–2010), Giulio Arrighini (2010–2011) *President:

(2010–2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
2001 establishments in Italy Padanian nationalist parties Political parties established in 2001 Political parties in Lombardy Padanian independence activists