Roberto Ernesto Maroni (; 15 March 1955 – 22 November 2022) was an Italian politician from

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

and a past

President of Lombardy The president of Lombardy is the supreme authority of Lombardy, the most populated region of Italy. Election Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Lombardy, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', the president is elected by pop ...

. He was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking

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 ...

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

for

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

Padania Padania (, also , ) is an alternative name and proposed independent state encompassing Northern Italy, derived from the name of the Po River (Latin ''Padus''), whose basin includes much of the region, centered on the Po Valley (), the major plai ...

. From 1992 to 2013 he was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the

Italian Republic 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 ...

, always elected in Lombard constituencies. He was Interior Minister of the Italian Republic from 1994 to 1995, and from 2008 to 2011.

Career

Early political career

In 1979, Maroni received a law degree with a dissertation in Civil Law, from the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

. He became a lawyer after spending two years working as a Legal Affairs Manager for various companies.

Secretary of Varese and Minister of Interior

In 1990, he was elected Province Secretary of the Northern League in

. He also became a town councilor in Varese that year. Two years later, he was elected Chairman of the Northern League Parliamentary Group. He also entered the party's Federal Council and campaigned heavily for the Northern League prior to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's first Cabinet. He also served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

during the first Berlusconi cabinet, from 1994 to 1995. He also served as

Minister of Labour and Welfare Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from 2001 to May 2006 in Berlusconi's second and third cabinets. In April 2006, after Berlusconi narrowly lost his re-election bid to

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

, Maroni alleged problems with the election comparable to those in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

during the 2000 Presidential election. "The level pegging is very similar to what happened in Florida. With one vote more or one vote less, you lose or you win," he said. After the 2008 electoral victory of the centre-right coalition in Italy, Maroni assumed the office of Minister of the Interior in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet.

Secretary of Lega Nord and President of Lombardy (2013–2018)

Following the forced retirement of

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 f ...

due to his alleged involvement in a scandal, Maroni was elected Political Secretary of the Northern League at its Congress in

Assago Assago ( lmo, Assagh or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It contains the headquarters of Nestlé's Italian branch and the Mediolanum Forum Mediolanum Forum (originally ...

(on 30 June and 1 July 2012). After the election on 24 February 2013, he became the ninth

Passion for music

In September 2006, Maroni told '' Vanity Fair'' that he downloads music illegally and thinks music should be "free and accessible to all". He added that authors should still be able to stop their work from being widely distributed on the Internet. Maroni said his confession was intended to spark a discussion in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

about changing Italy's

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

s, which are among the strictest in Europe.

Basic income

On 12 May 2015, Maroni announced that his intenton to introduce a

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

, as a pilot project, "to ensure all families in the region have enough money to be able to pay for basic necessities". He also said that the plan was to use 220 million

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

from the European Social Fund (ESF) for the initiative.Lombardy to experiment basic income, says Maroni
ansa.it; accessed 29 June 2015.

Terrorism

Shortly after the 2016 Normandy church attack, Maroni called on the Pope to "immediately proclaim"

Jacques Hamel Jacques Hamel (30 November 1930 – 26 July 2016) was a French Catholic priest who served in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. On 26 July 2016, Hamel was murdered during the 2016 Normandy church attack by two Muslim men pledging allegiance to the Isla ...

"St Jacques."

Electoral history

First-past-the-post elections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroni, Roberto 1955 births 2022 deaths Presidents of Lombardy Italian politicians convicted of crimes Italian Ministers of the Interior Politicians from Varese Lega Nord politicians University of Milan alumni 20th-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers Italian Roman Catholics Italian Ministers of Labour Deputy Prime Ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy