Lega Nord Friuli-Venezia Giulia (North League Friuli-Venezia Giulia) is a regionalist political party in Italy which is the regional section of Lega Nord in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The party, who is led by Pietro Fontanini since 2008[1], is represented in the institutions by two deputies (Fulvio Follegot and Massimiliano Fedriga), one senator (Mario Pittoni) and eight regional deputies. Pietro Fontanini is the President of the Province of Udine, while Edouard Ballaman is the President of the Regional Council.
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The party was founded in 1990 as Lega Friuli by leading members of the Friuli Movement, including Roberto Visentin, Pietro Fontanini, Rinaldo Bosco, Sergio Cecotti and Alessandra Guerra. After that the Fiuli Movement decided not join Lega Nord, they formed Lega Friuli in order to join. Visentin was the longstanding leader of the party until 1999.
In its golden age the party controlled the posts of President or Vice President of the Region (1993–2003), President of the Province of Pordenone (1995–1999), President of the Province of Udine (1995–1999), Mayor of Pordenone (1993–2001) and Mayor of Udine (1998–2003). In the 1993 regional election (26.7%) and the 1996 general election (23.2%) Lega Nord Friuli was the largest party in the Region.[2]
In 2001 Lega Nord Friuli was merged with Lega Nord Trieste to form a united regional section. After the end of the leadership of Visentin and the merger with Lega Nord Trieste, the party suffered many splits and a strong decline in term of votes, especially if compared to neighbouring Liga Veneta.
In the 2003 regional election Alessandra Guerra was candidate for President of the House of Freedoms coalition. She was defeated by Riccardo Illy and the party gained only 9.3% of the vote. Between 2001 and 2007 Visentin, Bosco, Cecotti, Fontanini, Guerra, Giuseppe Zoppolato (secretary from 2000 to 2003) and Marco Pottino (secretary from 2005 to 2007) left or were expelled in party struggles. Guerra joined the Democratic Party in 2009.[3]
In 2008 Fontanini, who had been re-integrated into the party shortly before, was elected President of the Province of Udine and shortly after secretary of Lega Nord Friuli. This represented a sort of return to normality for the party, which won 13.0% of the vote in the general election. In the 2009 European Parliament election the party won 17.5% of the vote.
In the past ten years Lega Nord suffered big lossess in term of votes. Anyway, the strongholds of the party remain in Friuli, the western part of the region: in the 2009 European Parliament election it won 24.3% in the Province of Pordenone and 19.0% in Udine.
The electoral results of Lega Nord in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are shown in the table below.
| 1992 general | 1993 regional | 1994 general | 1996 general | 1998 regional | 1999 European | 2001 general | 2003 regional | 2004 European | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2009 European |
| 15.3 | 26.7 | 16.9 | 23.2 | 17.3 | 10.1 | 8.2 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 7.2 | 13.0 | 17.5 |
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