Lega Nord Toscana

Lega Nord Toscana
Secretary Manuel Vescovi
President Francesco Pellati
Founded 1987
Ideology Federalism
Regionalism
National affiliation Lega Nord
Regional Council of Tuscany
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Website
http://www.naz-toscana.leganord.org/
Politics of Tuscany
Political parties
Elections
Proposed flag of Toscana by Lega Nord Toscana

Lega Nord Toscana (English: Northern League Tuscany, LNT) is a regionalist political party in Tuscany, Italy. Founded in 1987, it has functioned as the "national" (hence, regional) section of Lega Nord in the region. Its current leader is Manuel Vescovi.

History

The party was founded in 1987 as the Movement for Tuscany (Movimento per la Toscana, MpT). In 1988, under the leadership of Tommaso Fragassi, the party changed name to Tuscan Alliance (Alleanza Toscana, AT).[1][2]

AT participated to the 1989 European Parliament election as part of the coalition Lega Lombarda – Alleanza Nord. In 1989–1990 it took part in the process of federating the Northern regionalist parties, ahead of the regional elections. In February 1991 it merged into Lega Nord (LN), taking the current name, and since then it is the regional section of that party in Tuscany.[1][2]

In the 1992 and 1994 general election Riccardo Fragassi was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (in 1992 along with Gianmarco Mancini),[3] while his father Tommaso resigned from secretary because he rejected the alliance between LN and the centre-right Pole of Freedoms. In 1995, when the alliance was dissolved, R. Fragassi left the party in opposition to that break-up and formed the Tuscan Federalist Alliance instead.[4] He would return into the fold ten years later.[5]

The party's new secretary, Simone Gnaga, was elected to the Chamber in the 1996 general election. He would too leave in 1998 in order to join National Alliance.[2][6] Between 1998 and 2006 the party was led by Vincenzo Soldati, a member of the party's libertarian wing.[7] The party was then led by federal commissioner Luca Rodolfo Paolini, national secretary of Lega Nord Marche, from 2006 to 2008, when Claudio Morganti was elected national secretary. In the 2008 general election the party elected a deputy, Paolini himself, after almost ten years of no representation in the Italian Parliament. In the 2009 European Parliament election Morganti was elected MEP.[8] In the 2010 regional election the party won 6.5% of the vote, its best result ever, and entered the Regional Council for the first time, with four councillors.[9]

Despite these electoral results, Morganti's leadership was openly contested by many party members. In April 2011 Dario Locci, a regional councillor, left in protest.[10][11] In September 2011 Morganti resigned from secretary and was replaced by federal commissioner Giovanni Fava.[12][13] The move was not enough for Locci, who made no return, and another group of disgruntled members, including regional councillor Marina Staccioli, who left the party to form Tuscan Identity in December.[14] In October 2012 the two remaining regional councillors of the party, Antonio Gambetta Vianna and Gian Luca Lazzeri, responded to the emphasis posed by the new federal secretary Roberto Maroni on the North and the establishment of a Padanian euroregion by changing the denomination of their group from "Lega Nord Toscana" to "More Tuscany".[15][16][17] Vianna and Lazzeri were soon expelled from the party, which was left without regional councillors.[18][19] In April 2013 also Morganti was expelled from the party.[20] These internal clashes resulted in a dismal result in the 2013 general election, during which LNT garnered a mere 0.7% of the vote.[21]

In April 2013 the national congress of the party elected Manuel Vescovi as its new national secretary.[22]

Popular support

Lega Nord is not particularly strong in Tuscany, but in the 2010 regional election it gained its best result ever (6.5%). The party was particularly strong, by Tuscan standards, in the provinces of Prato (9.8%), Lucca (8.5%), Arezzo (8.3%), Pistoia (7.4%) and Massa-Carrara (6.7%), while being weaker in the province of Florence (5.1%) and in the coastal and southern parts of the region.

The electoral results of Lega Nord Toscana in the Region are shown in the table below.

1990 regional1992 general1994 general1995 regional1996 general1999 European2000 regional2001 general2004 European2005 regional2006 general2008 general2009 European2010 regional2013 general2014 European
0.83.12.20.71.80.60.60.60.81.31.12.04.36.50.72.6

Leadership

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Riccardo Fragassi, Leghismo, Agemina, Sesto Fiorentino 1992
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 La Storia | Lega Nord Toscana. Naz-toscana2.leganord.org (2013-01-24). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  3. ↑ (Italian) Gianmarco Mancini / Deputati / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico. Storia.camera.it (1994-04-14). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  4. ↑ Avanti Po: la Lega Nord alla riscossa nelle regioni rosse - Paolo Stefanini - Google Libri. Books.google.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  5. ↑ (Italian) Per l'Europa dei popoli - V Congresso Federale della Lega Nord (1ª giornata). RadioRadicale.it (2012-06-30). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  6. ↑ Camera dei Deputati - XIII legislatura - Deputati - La scheda personale. Leg13.camera.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  7. ↑ http://www.toscanalibertaria.org/cammino/2003-12-03-vincenzo-soldati.html
  8. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/view.do;jsessionid=98DFA32AC0C2B128300CF06468190DA3.node1?language=EN&partNumber=1&country=IT&id=97280
  9. ↑ Regione Toscana: Elezioni 2010. Elezioni2010.regione.toscana.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  10. ↑ Emorragia nel Carroccio la Lega perde pezzi in Regione - Firenze - Repubblica.it. Firenze.repubblica.it (2011-04-19). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  11. ↑ Clamoroso: il consigliere regionale avv. Dario Locci di Sansepolcro, lascia la Lega Nord | Archivio del Fendente. Fendente3.wordpress.com (2011-04-21). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  12. ↑ (Italian) Morganti se ne va: 'Troppe correnti sta arrivando un commissario' - La Repubblica. Ricerca.repubblica.it (2011-09-22). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  13. ↑ http://www.iltoscano.org/lega-nord-toscana-arrivato-il-commissario-giovanni-fava
  14. ↑ E’ Nata “Identita’ Toscana”, Ora Le Adesioni | L'Indipendenza. Lindipendenza.com (2011-12-22). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  15. ↑ Lega Nord cambia nome in Regione è "Più Toscana" - Firenze - Repubblica.it. Firenze.repubblica.it (2012-10-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  16. ↑ Firenze: la Lega Nord cambia nome in “Più Toscana” | L'Indipendenza. Lindipendenza.com (2011-12-22). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  17. ↑ Consiglio regionale della Toscana, Regione Toscana. Consiglio.regione.toscana.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  18. ↑ Lega Nord senza più consiglieri in Regione: espulsi Vianna e Lazzeri - La Nazione - Toscana. Lanazione.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  19. ↑ Lega: Toscana, in due anni persi tutti e 4 consiglieri regionali - - Libero Quotidiano. Liberoquotidiano.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  20. ↑ Morganti espulso dalla Lega Nord: «L’ho saputo da Facebook» - Cronaca - il Tirreno. Iltirreno.gelocal.it (2013-04-16). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  21. ↑ Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali. Elezioni.interno.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  22. ↑ [ Calenzano ] La Lega Nord nel suo congresso regionale conferma il segretario Manuel Vescovi di Agliana. gonews.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.

External links