Pentapartito
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The Pentapartito (from
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, "five", and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, "party"), commonly shortened to CAF (from the initials of
Craxi Craxi ( or , ) is an Italian surname which originated from Sicily. Notable people with the surname include: *Bettino Craxi (1934–2000), Italian politician *Bobo Craxi Vittorio Michele Craxi, commonly known as Bobo Craxi (born 6 August 1964), is ...
, Andreotti and
Forlani Forlani is an Italian surname, which is a variant of Furlan and Forlán. Notable people with the surname include: *Arnaldo Forlani (born 1925), Italian politician and Prime Minister *Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born 17 December 19 ...
), refers to the coalition government of five Italian political parties that formed between June 1981 and April 1991. The coalition comprised 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 ...
(DC), 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, ...
(PSI),
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 ...
(PSDI),
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 ...
(PLI) and
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 ...
(PRI).


History


The new majority

The Pentapartito began in 1981 at a meeting of the Congress of 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, ...
(PSI) when the
Christian Democrat 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 ...
Arnaldo Forlani Arnaldo Forlani, (; born 8 December 1925) is an Italian former politician and statesman who served as the 43rd prime minister of Italy from 18 October 1980 to 28 June 1981. He also held the office of deputy prime minister, minister of Foreign A ...
and Socialist Secretary
Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...
signed an agreement with the blessing of
Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...
. As the agreement was signed in a trailer, it was called the "pact of the camper." The pact was also called "CAF" for the initials of the signers, Craxi-Andreotti-Forlani. With this agreement, the DC party recognized the equal dignity of the so-called "secular parties" of the majority (i.e., the Socialists,
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
, Liberals and Republicans) and also guaranteed an alternation of government (in fact, Giovanni Spadolini of the PRI and Bettino Craxi of the PSI became the first non-Christian Democrats to hold the premiership). With the birth of the Pentapartito, the possibility of the growth of the majority toward the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
(PCI) was finally dismissed. The Christian Democrats remained the leaders of the coalition, and managed several times to prevent representatives of the secular parties from becoming Prime Minister ( Ciriaco De Mita was opposed, for example, by a continuous veto against Craxi). Other sources, however, claim that the "pact of the camper" was only stipulated between Craxi, Forlani and Andreotti in 1989, in a parking lot of Ansaldo in Milan, where the Congress of the Italian Socialist Party took place. The pact would have provided a path that would have started with the fall of the De Mita's government and the formation of a cabinet with a social democrat-led transition, culminating in another Craxi's government, when it would release the armchair del Quirinale where the investiture is scheduled or of Andreotti and Forlani.
Eugenio Scalfari Eugenio Scalfari (; 6 April 1924 – 14 July 2022) was an Italian journalist. He was editor of the news magazine ''L'Espresso'' (1963–1968), a member of parliament in the Chamber of Deputies (1968–1972), and co-founder of the newspaper ''La ...
in July 1989 will define "an agreement of a regime."


The end and Tangentopoli

The coalition ended in 1991 when the PRI withdrew its support from the coalition over its failure to be given the Ministry of Communications. On 29 March 1991, the 5-party Andreotti VI cabinet was replaced with the 4-party (quadripartito)
Andreotti VII cabinet The Andreotti VII Cabinet was a cabinet of the Italian Republic. It held office from 1991 to 1992. Initially the executive was also composed of three ministers of the Italian Republican Party (Antonio Maccanico as Minister for Regional Affairs, A ...
(lasting until 24 April 1992). This ruling coalition belongs to the twilight period of the so-called first Republic in Italy, the season ended with the mani pulite investigation conducted by the Prosecutor's Office in Milan, involving numerous politicians and almost all the national leaders of the parties that made up the pentapartito: Giulio Andreotti (DC), Arnaldo Forlani (DC), Ciriaco De Mita (DC),
Paolo Cirino Pomicino Paolo Cirino Pomicino (born 3 September 1939) is an Italian politician, who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2006 Italian general election representing the Christian Democracy for the Autonomies. Biography Pomicino was born in Napl ...
(DC), Bettino Craxi (PSI),
Renato Altissimo Renato Altissimo (4 October 1940 – 17 April 2015) was an Italian politician and minister. Biography He was born in Portogruaro, near Venice. Altissimo was a member of the Italian Liberal Party (''Partito Liberale Italiano''; PLI), a small p ...
(PLI), Francesco De Lorenzo (PLI), Giorgio La Malfa (PRI) and many others, with the notable exception of Giovanni Spadolini, which never had charges against him. This phase of Italian democracy is known as
Tangentopoli ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italia ...
. After the 1992 election, the quadripartito remained in power under the Amato Cabinet, although Prime Minister
Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...
resigned on 28 April 1993 and subsequently, President of the Republic
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centr ...
appointed the Governor of the
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Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...
, new Prime Minister with the mandate to deal with the serious economic crisis and rewrite the electoral law. An electoral law was passed in predominantly majority either way for the
Chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...
and 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 ...
. They returned to the polls in 1994 in order to locate the repositioning of the parties in the light of new electoral legislation (which was still applied only in 1996 and, for the last time, in 2001).


Successor parties

The unofficial successor of the Pentapartito was the
Pact for Italy The Pact for Italy ( it, Patto per l'Italia) was a centrist political and electoral alliance in Italy launched by Mario Segni and Mino Martinazzoli in 1994. History The alliance was composed of the Italian People's Party (PPI), the main successo ...
, the centrist coalition led of
Mariotto Segni Mariotto Segni (born 16 May 1939) is an Italian politician and professor of civil law. He founded several parties, which focused on fighting for electoral reform through referendums. He is the son of the politician Antonio Segni, one time Presid ...
and Patto Segni, the Italian People's Party of Mino Martinazzoli, inheritors of the DC, the PRI of
Giorgio La Malfa Giorgio La Malfa (born 13 October 1939 in Milan) is an Italian politician. Biography La Malfa was born in Milan, the son of Ugo La Malfa, a long-time Italian political leader and minister. La Malfa served as secretary of the Italian Republican ...
and the Liberal Democratic Union (''Unione Liberaldemocratica'') of Valerio Zanone. In the 1994 Italian general election the PPI reached only 11.07%, 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 form ...
(with PRI and FdL, the successor of PLI) reached 4.68%, the PSI reached only 2.19% and the PSDI only reached 0.46%.


Ideology

The Pentapartito was a collection of parties from the centre and center-left, which opposed to both the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
on the left and the Italian Social Movement on the right. Despite having the character of a secular coalition and far more tending to the left, the alliance underwent conservative influences both from some small groups 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 ...
and from 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 ...
. The PSI had strong social democratic,
keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...
and
liberal socialist Liberal socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates liberal principles to socialism. This synthesis sees liberalism as the political theory that takes the inner freedom of the human spirit as a given and adopts liberty as the goal, ...
majority groups, but some factions had less libertarian ideas on issues such as
drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
(the "
War on Drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
" of Craxi). Internationally, the Pentapartito relied on a strong
pro-Europeanism Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
and
atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, ...
from a pro-
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policy, (Craxi and Andreotti). This fact caused many frictions between the Liberals and the Socialists, and was one of the causes of disintegration of the coalition.


Composition


1981–1991 (Pentapartito)


1991–1993 (Quadripartito)


Electoral results

While for European elections each party stood individually, in general elections the Pentapartito coalition emerged and in various electoral debates the Pentapartito parties did not attack each other (maintaining between them a form of neutrality), concentrating their hostility against the PCI, MSI and other minor parties. The coalition governed Italy with a strong electoral majority from 1980 to 1991, the year of the Republican Party defection from the coalition. This defection with the rise of
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 ...
and the disaffection towards Christian Democracy led to a sharp decline of the Pentapartito's electoral pool. In 1992 general election the coalition lost its absolute electoral majority in both houses of parliament, losing over 3 million votes, however majoritarian distortions hidden in the proportional electoral system (as the remainders counting in electoral constituencies), permitted the coalition to achieve narrow majorities in both Chamber (majority of 16 seats) and Senate (majority of only 5 seats; 8, considering senators for life
Taviani Paolo Taviani (; born 8 November 1931) and Vittorio Taviani (; 20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on film productions. At the C ...
, Andreotti from DC and De Martino from PSI). The chaos provoked during the 1992 presidential election, the weak leadership of socialist Prime Minister
Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...
, the eruption of Tangentopoli with many ministers and majority MPs investigated or arrested, and the new electoral law, nicknamed ''
Mattarellum The Italian electoral law of 1993 (better known as Mattarellum) was a reform of the electoral laws of Italy, passed on 4 August 1993. The nickname, conceived by Giovanni Sartori, derived from its author Sergio Mattarella. The law was also nickname ...
'' (from its author
Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...
, the future President of Italy), led to the removal of almost all party oligarchies (from both majority and opposition, with the exceptions of the post-communists, MSI, Lega Nord and other regional parties), the subsequent dissolution of all the parties of Pentapartito and to a snap election after two years in March 1994.


Italian Parliament


References

{{Historical Italian political parties Defunct political party alliances in Italy Giulio Andreotti