Gianfranco Miccichè (born 1 April 1954 in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Sicily) is an Italian politician.

Biography

Gianfranco Miccichè was born into a wealthy family of Palermo. He was business executive at the IRFIS company for eleven years. In 1984, thanks to the knowledge of

Marcello Dell'Utri Marcello Dell'Utri (born 11 September 1941) is a former Italian politician and senior advisor to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Formerly Senator in the Italian Senate.

, he became executive of Publitalia '80, a company led by

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 ...

. In 1993, together with other men of Publitalia '80, he joined

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 ...

, of which he was appointed regional coordinator in Sicily. In the 1994 general election he was elected for the first time in the Chamber of Deputies and served as Undersecretary at the Ministry of Transport and Navigation in the

Berlusconi I Cabinet The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the Italian Republic. It was the first right-wing and non-Christian Democrats government since World War II. Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994. History In order to win the March ...

. At the 1997 local elections he was candidate as mayor of Palermo for the

Pole for Freedoms The Pole for Freedoms ( it, Polo per le Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, which was active from 1996 to 2000. It included Forza Italia (FI), the National Alliance (AN), Union of the Centre (UdC), Christian De ...

, but he was defeated by

Leoluca Orlando Leoluca Orlando (born 1 August 1947), is an Italian politician, Mayor of Palermo for over twenty years and President of Italian Federation of American Football (FIDAF). He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia during his m ...

. In 2001 he served as Vice-Minister of Economy and Finance in the

Berlusconi II Cabinet The second Berlusconi government was the 57th government of the Italian Republic and the first government of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 Italian general election, 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until ...

and in 2005 he was appointed Minister for Development and Territorial Cohesion in the

Berlusconi III Cabinet The third Berlusconi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 23 April 2005 to 17 May 2006. It was the 58th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the second cabinet of the XIV Legislature. Formation House of Freedoms did not do ...

. In the

2006 Sicilian regional election The 2006 Sicilian regional election for the renewal of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the Presidency of Sicily was held on 28 May 2006. The election was competed by three competitors: Salvatore Cuffaro, incumbent President and House of Freed ...

he was elected in the

Sicilian Regional Assembly The Sicilian Regional Assembly is the legislative body of Sicily. While it has a long history as an autonomous entity, the modern Region of Sicily was established by Royal Decree on 15 May 1946, before the Italian Republic. The Regional Assembly ...

, of which he was appointed President. In the 2008 general election he was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies. On 12 May 2008 the Council of Ministers appointed Miccichè as Undersecretary of State with responsibility for CIPE (Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning). In 2010 he left

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 ...

to found his own party,

Force of the South Force of the South ( it, Forza del Sud, FdS) was a liberal-conservative political party in Italy based in Sicily. In September 2010, after years of weighting, Gianfranco Micciché, long-time leader of Forza Italia and, later, The People of Fre ...

, that in 2011 changed name into Great South. At the 2012 Sicilian regional election he was candidate as President of the region and he gained the 15.41% of the votes, thus contributing to the defeat of the centre-right candidate

Nello Musumeci Sebastiano "Nello" Musumeci (born 21 January 1955) is a right-wing Italian politician. Musumeci is serving as Minister for Civil Protection and Sea Policies since 22 October 2022 in the government of Giorgia Meloni. He previously served as Presi ...

and to the victory of the candidate of the centre-left

Rosario Crocetta Rosario Crocetta (born 8 February 1951) is an Italian politician. He was the first openly gay mayor in Italy when he became Mayor of Gela in 2003, a post he held until 2009. A prominent figure in the fight against the Sicilian Mafia, in 2009 he ...

. In the 2013 general election he was candidate for the Senate with his party Great South, but he was not elected. Subsequently, he was appointed as Undersecretary of State for Public Administration and Simplification in the

Letta Cabinet The Letta government was the 62nd government of the Italian Republic. In office from 28 April 2013 to 22 January 2014, it comprised ministers of the Democratic Party (PD), The People of Freedom (PdL), Civic Choice (SC), the Union of the Centre ...

but he resigned in August after that the Court of Cassation notified the condemnation of Berlusconi. In November 2013 he joined the reborn

. In the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

he was candidate with Forza Italia, but he was not again elected, being the first of the unelected. He entered however in 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 2018 when

Salvo Pogliese Salvatore Domenico Antonio Pogliese (born 3 March 1972) is an Italian politician, Mayor of Catania from 2018 to 2022. Biography Pogliese graduated in Economy at the University of Catania and has been a chartered accountant. He entered in polit ...

is elected mayor of

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, allowing Miccichè to take over his seat. In the

2017 Sicilian regional election The 2017 Sicilian regional election for the renewal of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the election of the President of Sicily was held on 5 November 2017. Incumbent President Rosario Crocetta was not his party's candidate due to his low popu ...

he was elected to the

. On 16 December 2017 he has been elected President of the Assembly. On 19 July 2018 he became an MEP to replace

, who resigned after being elected mayor of

. Despite the double mandate, he did not resign as an MEP, until the Court of Cassation declared him lapsed on 4 September 2018, due to incompatibility with his role as regional deputy. Innocenzo Leontini took his place in the European Parliament.Gianfranco Miccichè ‘buttato fuori’ dal Parlamento europeo dalla Cassazione!
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References

External links

Gianfranco Miccichè's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micciché, Gianfranco 1954 births Living people 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 Forza Italia politicians The People of Freedom politicians Forza Italia (2013) MEPs Politicians from Palermo Presidents of the Sicilian Regional Assembly MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 Government ministers of Italy