Federalist Italian League

The Federalist Italian League ("Lega Italiana Federalista", LIF) was a short-lived federalist and liberal Italian political party.

History

The party was founded by dissident members of Lega Nord on 13 February 1995, including Luigi Negri (who had been secretary of Lega Lombarda until 9 January), Riccardo Fragassi (son of Tommaso, founder and long-standing leader of Lega Nord Toscana), Enrico Hüllwech and Giorgio Vido. Under the leadership of they elected Sergio Cappelli federal coordinator of the party during a founding convention in Genoa. [ [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/febbraio/13/Cavaliere_benedice_altro_Carroccio_co_0_9502135013.shtml Il Cavaliere " benedice " l' altro Carroccio ] ] They had left the party of Umberto Bossi in disagreement with his decision to bring down Berlusconi I Cabinet in December 1994. At its maximum strength LIF had more than 30 MPs.

At that time Lega Nord was split between those who supported the new course of the party and those who wanted to continue the alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. Among the latter figured also Roberto Maroni, Minister of Interior under Berlusconi and number two of the party. The decision of Bossi led him to leave resign from Parliament on 11 February. LIF members hoped that Maroni would have joined their party (to become its leader) and tried to convince him to run as their candidate for the post of President of Lombardy [ [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/febbraio/27/Negri_candida_Maroni_vertice_del_co_0_95022712369.shtml Negri candida Maroni al vertice del Pirellone ] ] . Contrarily to what most people expected, Maroni never left Lega Nord and returned to active politics in July.

This was a hard blow for Negri and his followers which led many of them to switch to the the Federalist Union (UF) of Gianfranco Miglio or the Federalists and Liberal Democrats (FLD), led by Furio Gubetti and Raffaele Costa (leader of the Union of the Centre). On 14 July the party's group in the Chamber of Deputies was reduced to a sub-group within the Mixed Group. [ [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/luglio/15/Muore_Lif_nasce_Unione_federalista_co_0_950715578.shtml Muore la Lif, nasce Unione federalista ] ] On 20 December most members of LIF, including Luigi Negri, joined FLD. [ [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/dicembre/21/Sottoscritto_appello_co_0_95122113382.shtml Sottoscritto un appello ] ]

In the 1996 general election, when Lega Nord, despite the several splits had its best result ever (10.1% nationally), Luigi Negri was elected to the Chamber and soon joined Forza Italia along with what remained of UF, FLD and FLD. He later left also this party to join the Italian Republican Party and thus the centre-left coalition supporting Romano Prodi's government. Among the other leading members of LIF, Enrico Hüllwech was elected Mayor of Vicenza in 1998 for Forza Italia, while Giorgio Vido was a leader of Fronte Marco Polo and Liga Veneta Repubblica.

Leadership

*Federal Coordinator: Sergio Cappelli (1995–1996)

References