Lega Nord Sud Tirolo

Logo of Lega Nord Sud Tirolo

Proposed flag of Sud Tirolo by Lega Nord Sud Tirolo

Lega Nord Sud Tirolo/Lega Nord Südtirol (North League South Tyrol, LNST) is a regionalist political party in Italy which is the provincial section of Lega Nord in the Province of Bolzano. It is basically the only inter-ethnic party in the Province, along with the Greens.^[1]

Recent history

For the 2008 provincial election, as always, LNST presented a list with both Italian- and German-speaking candidates.

In the run-up to the election the party was joined by Roland Atz, former Vice President of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Region and leading member of the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP), Elena Artioli, another SVP splinter and one of the few multilingual members of that party, and Paolo Bassani, a centrist politician who had been previously member of the Italian Liberal Party, Forza Italia and finally the Italian Republican Party.^[2][3]

This was part of a strategy designed by Roberto Calderoli, the minister who is working along with Umberto Bossi on federal reform, of good relations between Lega Nord and the SVP, which might lead the SVP into an alliance with Lega Nord and The People of Freedom both at the regional and national level.^[4][5] Kurt Pancheri resigned as national secretary as he did not agree with Calderoli's strategy.^[6][7]

In the election LNST won the 2.1% of the vote and Artioli was elected to the Provincial Council, while Atz and Bassani came short of being elected too.^[8]

Ideology

LNST presents itself as a party "inspired by the principles of Christianity", representing South Tyroleans, regardless their language or ethnicity, including multilingual people. In fact, according to its program, the main goals of the party is to enhance the collaboration and the interaction of the three language groups and to legally recognize the reality of multilingual people. The party professes also a libertarian credo and one of its slogans is "less Province, more private", while emphasizing family, education and health-care issues.^[9][10]

Popular support

The party is a tiny one compared to other "national" sections of Lega Nord. In the 2008 general election it won a mere 2.0% of the votes in the Province of Bolzano, due to the electoral strength of German-speaking regionalist parties, notably the South Tyrolean People's Party, Union for South Tyrol and The Libertarians. Its counterpart in the Province of Trento, Lega Nord Trentino, was much stronger (16.4% in 2008). In the 2009 European Parliament election LNST however gained 4.8%, its best result ever in the Province.

The electoral results of Lega Nord Sud Tirolo in the Province of Bolzano are shown in the table below.

Leadership

• National Secretary: Umberto Montefiori (1991–1998), Kurt Pancheri (1999–2008), Sergio Divina (2008–present)
• National President: unknown (1991–1999), Sergio Tamajo (1999–2008)

References

External links

• Official website