Marco Follini (real name Giuseppe Follini, born 26 September 1954) is an Italian politician and journalist. Follini was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He was National Secretary of the

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC), whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats" (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lore ...

until 15 October 2005. He was also Vice-Prime Minister of

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 fr ...

's second government, taking office up to April 2005. A former member of the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

party, then he joined the

Christian Democratic Centre The Christian Democratic Centre ( it, Centro Cristiano Democratico, CCD) was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy from 1994 to 2002. Formed from a right-wing split from Christian Democracy, the party joined the centre-right coalition, a ...

and subsequently the UDC, becoming the national party leader in 2002, after the election of

Pierferdinando Casini Pier Ferdinando Casini (; born 3 December 1955) is an Italian politician. He served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006. Casini is the honorary president of the Centrist Democrat International and the Inter-Parliamentary Un ...

as President of 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 ...

. He unexpectedly resigned from his UDC leader position on 15 October 2005, following the approval of a new proportional electoral law by the ruling coalition the

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 f ...

, stating this was not the electoral law he actually wished. Elected in the 2006 general election as Senator, he, along with

Bruno Tabacci Bruno Tabacci (born 27 August 1946) is an Italian politician and member of the Chamber of Deputies. He is the president of the Democratic Centre. In the past, he was member of Christian Democracy and served as the president of Lombardy from 19 ...

continued to show his disagreement of Berlusconi's leadership in the House of Freedoms. Follini also clashed with the rest of his party on several occasions, supporting, again with

's support,

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

's candidacy in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

and successfully campaigning in opposition to the constitutional reform approved by the House of Freedoms in 2005, then cancelled by a referendum. On 18 October 2006 Follini officially left UDC and announced the foundation of a new centrist movement, called Middle Italy. On 24 February 2007, after President

sent the resigning Prodi cabinet to the Senate for a confidence vote, Marco Follini announced he would vote in favour of it. On 22 May 2007 he was appointed a member of the organizing committee of the embryonic centre-left Democratic Party.

References

External links

Personal site
1954 births Living people Politicians from Rome Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Christian Democratic Centre politicians Union of the Centre (2002) politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Deputy Prime Ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Senators of Legislature XV of Italy Senators of Legislature XVI of Italy {{Italy-politician-DemocraticPartyItaly-stub