The (
Political Party which advocates
Autonomy for that part of Northern
Italy which they call
Padania . (See the article for usage of this geo-political term). It is a personality-driven party led by
Umberto Bossi .
One of its principal precursors, the
Lombard League , attained national significance in
1987 when its leader, Bossi, was elected to the
Senate . Since then on he has commonly been referred to as the ''Senatur'', the word for ‘senator’ in a number of northern
Dialects —a nickname maintained even when he was no longer a senator.
In 1983, the
Liga Veneta , based in
Veneto , elected one MP
Achille Tramarin and a Senator
Walter Girardi .
The party was formed in
1991 as a merger of the various regional movements (often named "league"), including the
Lombard League (''Lega lombarda'') and the
Liga Veneta . Support for the party skyrocketed in the early nineties because of the huge political corruption scandal known as
Tangentopoli and the
Mani Pulite investigations.
In
1994 the Northern League, along with the post-fascist
National Alliance , joined
Forza Italia to form a coalition under
Silvio Berlusconi . However this government was short-lived and the League was instrumental in its demise which occurred before the end of the year.
Having forced Berlusconi to resign, the Northern League attacked him vehemently and Umberto Bossi stated in a television interview that Berlusconi's fortune came from
Mafia sources. In
1996 the movement announced that its aim was the
Independence of Northern Italy under the name ''Padania'', a name referring to the
Po River valley, but which the Northern League gave a geographically broader usage that has been steadily gaining currency, at least among its followers. The capital of Padania would be
Mantua , and elections were organized by the party for a "northern parliament" (with no international recognition).
In
2001 they re-joined forces with Berlusconi's coalition, previous disagreements notwithstanding. The league is currently the most loyal party to Berlusconi's government, except of course
Berlusconi's Own .
Today, they hold 30 of 630 seats in the
Chamber Of Deputies and 17 of the 325
Senate seats.
In later years the League have deemphasised demands for independence, and focused rather on
Devolution , while remaining within the framework of Italy.
In February 2006, the Northern League announced that it had reached an agreement with the
Movement For Autonomy , a brand-new centrist party of Southern Italy led by MEP and President of the Province of Catania
Raffaele Lombardo . Thus, the two parties will present a joint list for the
Italian General Election, 2006 in the whole country.
In the
European Parliament , its
MEP s are part of the grouping
Independence And Democracy .
The league's culture is a mix of pride in the heritage of northern Italy (particularly with historical references to the anti-
Imperial Lombard League , the warrior figure on the party emblems belong to
Alberto Da Giussano , a mythical figure of wars against
Barbarossa ), distrust of southern Italians and especially of
Roman authorities, often bordering on
Racism ,
Xenophobia , including some support for
Free Market Economics , and
Independentism ,
Hate for Italy and especially its
Flag , and claims of a
Celtic Heritage . The league has been often criticised, in Italy and abroad, for being too similar to a
Fascist party, having also organised a
Paramilitary group of "green shirts".
The Northern League has supported
Slobodan Milošević and
Jörg Haider .
]]
Especially in the early years, it exploited resentment against
Rome and the Italian government, common in northern Italy, because some northern Italians felt that the governments in Rome wasted resources collected with northern Italians'
Tax es.
Discrimination against southern Italians, often dubbed ''
Terroni '', and racism against immigrants were also exploited. The Lega Nord's successes began roughly when large numbers of dark-skinned immigrants began to be spotted in northern italian cities.
Another key factor was public disillusionment with old political parties, as the scandals of
Tangentopoli were unveiled from
1992 on. However, the League's secretary himself, Umberto Bossi, was convicted for receiving a 200-million
Lire illegal contribution.
The exact program of Lega Nord was not clear in the early years: some opponents claimed it wanted
Secession in
Yugoslav style, other times it appeared they simply requested more autonomy for northern regions. The League eventually settled on the
Federalism , that became rapidly a
Buzzword and a popular issue in most Italian political parties, with the exception of
Fascist s and
Communist s, which opposed it for respectively breaking up the
Fatherland (in the case of the former) and undermining cross-regional
Solidarity (in the case of the latter), especially important in Italy because of the wide economic divide between the rich north and the poorer south.
Flag Ratio: 1:2
Padania's flag, the ''Sun of the Alps'', proposed by the Northern League]]
The party later moved on, in ,
Etruria and the
South . The South was only later given the name
Ausonia . As a symbolic act of birth of the new nation, Bossi took a bottle of water from the springs of
Po (which in
Latin is ''padus'', giving background for the name ''Padania''), which was poured in the sea of
Venice by a little girl a few days later.
A voluntary group of militants, the
Green Shirts (
Green being the colour of Padania), was also established. Opponents saw in this an echo of the
Black Shirts of the
Fascist Movement , but the green shirts have declared themselves non-violent, and have not been found to possess any weapons.
The renewed alliance with Berlusconi in
2001 forced the party to tone down, and Padania became the name of a proposed "macro-region", for which the League asks some degree of autonomy. The new buzzword
Devolution (often used in
English ) was also introduced, but with less success than federalism.
The choice to tone down and settle just for devolution instead of secession caused criticism by part of his party's base, which led to the formation of some minor breakaway factions.
While the League leadership dismiss charges of racism, there have been instances of speeches, interviews and banners pointing to that. Umberto Bossi himself said that
Africa n immigrants, whom he called ''Bingo-bongo''s, should not receive popular housing paid for with Lombard money.
Erminio Boso proposed to
Segregate immigrants in train cars different than for Italians. Umberto Bossi, in an interview, suggested opening fire on the boats of immigrants who would disembark in Italy , but after widespread criticism he declared he meant the empty boats. The former
Mayor of
Treviso ,
Giancarlo Gentilini , talking about those he called ''immigrant slackers'', said that "We should dress them up like hares and bang-bang-bang". In June
2005 , at a festival organised by the League, a banner inciting to "''
Rape Pecoraro''", (
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio , secretary of the
Federation Of The Greens and openly
Bisexual ) was exposed; the banner caused outcry, and was condemned by the League's leadership.
In 2005,
Mario Borghezio , MP for the League at the
European Parliament , was found guilty of
Arson , for having set on fire the belongings of some immigrants sleeping under a
Bridge in
Turin in
2000 .
Through the association Associazione Umanitaria Padana Onlus ("Onlus" Padanian Humanitarian Association), the Northern League participates in social and economic humanitarian projects which are intended to respect local cultures, traditions, and identities. The campaigns are carried out in underdeveloped nations or in those that have suffered from war or from natural catastrophes. Locations of recent missions have included
Darfur ,
Iraq , and
Afghanistan . .
In February 2006, great controversy surrounded the role of the League's Minister for Institutional Reforms, ers took to the streets of
Bengasi ,
Libya , and assaulted the Italian
Consulate . Eleven people were killed by Libyan
Riot Police attempting to fend off the assault. Calderoli, considered responsible for inflaming the tension, was forced to resign from Silvio Berlusconi's government.
