| Sardinia Nation | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Bustianu Cumpostu |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | corso Garibaldi 108 08100 Nuoro |
| Newspaper | Indipendentzia.sar |
| Membership | unknown |
| Ideology | Separatism, Democratic socialism |
| International affiliation | none |
| European affiliation | none |
| European Parliament Group | no MEPs |
| Website | |
| http://www.sardignanatzione.it | |
| Politics of Sardinia Political parties Elections |
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Sardinia Nation (Sardigna Natzione, SN) is a minor separatist and democratic-socialist political party in Sardinia, Italy. Its leader is Bustianu Cumpostu.
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The party was founded in 1994 as the development of the Sardinian Independence Party (PSIn) by Angelu Caria, long-time leader of the PSIn. After the sudden death of Carria in 1994, Bustianu Cumpostu was elected new leader of the party, by defeating Gavino Sale.
In the 1996 general election SN won 4.3% in single-seat constituencies (11.6% in Tortolì and 9.6% in Iglesias), despite being present only in 10 constituencies out of 14, and 2.3% for proportional representation, as it suffered the competition of the Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az) that gained 3.8%.[1]
In the 1999 regional election SN had its best result ever, as Bustiano Cumpostu received 5.8% of the vote for President of the Region, despite the competition of the PSd'Az that gained 8.3% with Franco Meloni. However, as Cumpostu did not surpass the 6% threshold and the party list stopped at 1.8%, the party did not get into the Regional Council.
Both for the 2001 general election and the 2004 regional election SN formed an alliance with the PSd'Az. This led Gavino Sale, who refused any collaboration with non-secessionist parties, and his faction to leave the party in 2001 to form the Independence Republic of Sardinia (IRS). In the regional election Sardist electorate was very fragmented (also because of the presence of the Sardinian Democratic Union, UDS, that ran a "nationalist" platform) and most formerly SN voters voted Gavino Sale for President (1.9%) and the IRS party list (0.7%), while only a minority voted for SN (0.4%).
SN won 1.1% of the vote in the 2006 general election and 0.7% in 2008. In the 2009 regional election the party formed a "nationalist" left-wing alliance with the communist To the Left for Independence and other minor secessionist groups, but it gained only 0.5%, while Gavino Sale (IRS) won 3.1% of the vote. In fact IRS, that followed a more coherent and instransigent secessionist platform, is more mainstream than SN, thanks to the charismatic leadership of Sale and a more centrist position.
SN has campaigned, among other things, against the proposed use of Sardinian areas as nuclear dumping ground for Italy's nuclear waste, generated before the banning of nuclear power by a referendum. The party uses extensively, if not exclusively, the Sardinian language in its official announcements and relationships, as well as among its members.
The electoral results of SN in Sardinia since 1994 are shown in the table below.
| 1994 regional | 1996 general | 1999 European | 1999 regional | 2001 general | 2004 European | 2004 regional | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2009 regional |
| 1.2[2] | 2.3[3] | - | 1.8[4] | -[5] | - | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5[6] |