The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC) was a minor

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. The party was a successor of the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party ...

History

The party was founded on 27 May 1993 as a " Giscardian ''rassemblement''" by

Raffaele Costa Raffaele Costa (born 8 September 1936 in Mondovì) is an Italian politician. He was the President of the Province of Cuneo, from June 2004 to June 2009. He was previously a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies representing the Italian Libe ...

, leader of the

(PLI). The UdC included Liberals (

Alfredo Biondi Alfredo Biondi (29 June 1928 – 24 June 2020) was an Italian politician and lawyer. In 1994 he served as Minister of Justice of the Italian Republic during the first cabinet chaired by Silvio Berlusconi. Biography Born in Pisa, Biondi was Secr ...

Stefano De Luca Stefano De Luca (born 7 April 1942 in Paceco, Sicily) is an Italian politician and lawyer. Biography De Luca was member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1983 to 1994 for the Italian Liberal Party. He also served as Undersecretary at the Ministry ...

Giacomo Paire Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob. People * Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name Other uses * Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby * ''Giácomo'' (film) ...

, Valentino Martelli, etc.), members of the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...

(

Guglielmo Castagnetti Guglielmo () is the Italian form of the masculine name William. It may refer to: People with the given name Guglielmo: * Guglielmo I Gonzaga (1538–1587), Duke of Mantua and Montferrat * Guglielmo Achille Cavellini (1914–1990), influential I ...

Vincenzo Garaffa Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor *Vincenzo Bell ...

Gaetano Gorgoni Gaetano Gorgoni (26 August 1933 – 13 May 2020) was an Italian politician who served as a Deputy. References 2020 deaths Italian politicians 1933 births {{Italy-politician-stub ...

, etc.), members of the

Italian Democratic Socialist Party The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party, was a minor social-democratic political party in Italy. The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy, the PSDI had been an im ...

(as

Maurizio Pagani Maurizio Pagani (1936–2014) was an Italian engineer and politician who served as the minister of post and telecommunications in the period 1992–1994 in two successive cabinets and as the mayor of Novara. Early life and education Pagani was ...

) and even

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(as

Eugenio Tarabini Eugenio Tarabini (2 May 1930 – 25 August 2018) was an Italian politician. Tarabini was born in Morbegno on 2 May 1930. He married Lucia, with whom he had three children, and was a lawyer. A member of Christian Democracy, he sat on the Italia ...

). In February 1994 the PLI was dissolved into the

Federation of Liberals The Federation of Liberals ( it, Federazione dei Liberali, FdL) was a minor liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded on 6 February 1994 as the legal successor of the Italian Liberal Party (PLI): Alfredo Biondi, incumbent presiden ...

(FdL), which elected

Raffaello Morelli Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a confe ...

secretary and Biondi president. Costa refused to join the new party and led the UdC into the coalitions formed around

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 ...

(FI), 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 ...

in the North and the

Pole of Good Government The Pole of Good Government ( it, Polo del Buon Governo) was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Freedo ...

in the South. At the 1994 general election the UdC elected some candidates with FI: Biondi (who was still president of the FdL, which sided with the

Segni Pact The Segni Pact ( it, Patto Segni), officially called Pact of National Rebirth (''Patto di Rinascita Nazionale''), was a Christian-democratic, centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a forme ...

), Costa, Biondi,

Enrico Nan Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), Enr ...

and Enzo Savarese 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 ...

, Livio Caputo and

Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Sena ...

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 ...

. The latter was elected

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

, while Biondi was justice minister and Costa health minister in

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

's first government (1994–1995). In the

1994 European Parliament election The 1994 European Parliamentary election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994. This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall number ...

two members of the UdC, de Luca and Luigi Florio, were elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. In the 1996 general election the UdC had three deputies (Biondi, Costa, Nan and Savarese) and two senators (Scognamiglio and

Jas Gawronski Jas Gawronski (born 7 February 1936) is an Italian journalist and politician. He was a member of the European Parliament for North-West with Forza Italia, member of the Bureau of the European People's Party, and sits on the European Parliament ...

) elected. In 1998 the UdC was merged into FI. The activity of the UdC continued through the Liberal Union of the Centre, a political association, and

Popular Liberalism Popular Liberalism (''Liberalismo Popolare'', LP), subsequently known also as Houses of the Citizen (''Case del Cittadino'', CdC), was a liberal faction within Forza Italia, a political party in Italy. The group was basically composed of those Libe ...

, a faction within FI. Both Biondi and Costa later left FI/

PdL PDL is an initialism for: Politics *Democratic Liberal Party (Romania), Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania *Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former politi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union of the Centre (Historical) Political parties established in 1994 Defunct political parties in Italy 1994 establishments in Italy Liberal parties in Italy Conservative liberal parties Classical liberal parties