Following the national elections of 9 and 10 April 2006, the Italian political and institutional scene changed radically. The centre-right government led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had to step down, and the new government of the centre-left coalition, Ulivo [1], came into power under the leadership of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.[1] http://www.ulivo.it/
In April 2006, after the government elections and the victory of the centre-left coalition, two former trade unionists, Fausto Bertinotti and Franco Marini, were appointed President of the Chamber of Deputies and President of the Senate respectively, marking a new chapter in the history of the Italian Republic.
Political changes
Following the national elections of 9 and 10 April 2006, the Italian political and institutional scene changed radically. The centre-right government led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had to step down, and the new government of the centre-left coalition, Ulivo, came into power under the leadership of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
The 15th legislature of the Italian Republic started with the election of the presidents of the two chambers of parliament: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. For the first time in Italian history, two former trade unionists, Franco Marini and Fausto Bertinotti, were elected to hold two of the three highest state offices. Mr Marini was appointed President of the Senate, while Mr Bertinotti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies.
Profile of newly elected presidents
Born in 1933, Franco Marini is a member of the centre-left Margherita political party and was a former trade union officer of the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, Cisl). During the 1970s and 1980s, he held the role of Deputy Secretary to Cisl’s General Secretary, Pierre Carniti, and was later elected General Secretary of the confederation from 1985 to 1991. He subsequently left the trade union movement in 1991 to pursue a career in politics. Mr Marini is among the founders of both the Italian Popular Party (Partito Popolare Italiano, Ppi) and the Margherita party. He represents one of the most centralist members of the latter party.
Il Sole 24 Ore, the most authoritative Italian economic daily newspaper, defines Mr Marini as ‘a complete political front-liner both regarding trade union and political issues, whose determination and self-control, together with a sense of respect for all those involved in politics, will be very useful to govern a Senate which has a wafer-thin majority, the lowest in the Senate’s history’.
During his first speech to the Senate, Franco Marini underlined his intention of becoming President of the Senate. He stressed the importance of maintaining dialogue with and listening to the majority and the opposition in a balanced way, as should be the case in a democracy.
Fausto Bertinotti, born in 1940, began his involvement within the labour movement in 1964, when he became secretary of the local Federation of Textiles Workers (Federazione italiana degli operai tessili, ex Fiot-Cgil), a sectoral organisation of the General Confederation of Italian Labour (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil). Between 1975 and 1985, he was elected regional General Secretary of Cgil; after an active participation in the struggle of Fiat workers, he became a member of the confederation’s national secretariat, where he was responsible for industrial policies initially and then for the labour market. After nine years, he left the trade union and joined the new communist party (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, Prc), becoming its leader in 1994.
During his first speech to the Chamber of Deputies, Mr Bertinotti showed a remarkable institutional sensitivity by recalling the equal dignity of both the majority and the opposition party, as underlined by Il Sole 24 Ore. He also stressed the importance of dialogue and remarked that it should form the basis of all parliamentary tasks.
Reaction of unions
After Mr Bertinotti’s election, General Secretary of the Cgil trade union confederation, Guglielmo Epifani, wished him well on behalf of the confederation and expressed his satisfaction with the appointment of a man ‘whose life is strictly linked to Cgil’.
Equal satisfaction was also expressed by General Secretary of the Cisl trade union confederation, Raffaele Bonanni. Mr Bonanni explained that it was the first time in the history of the Italian Republic that a man such as Franco Marini, who has been for many years an active trade unionist, held such an important office. According to Mr Bonanni, ‘Franco Marini leaves to the labour movement the valuable inheritance of his ideas and of his work’.
Commentary
The presence of two former trade unionists among Italy’s most important offices has prompted diverging opinions.
Some respected commentators consider the presence of Franco Marini and Fausto Bertinotti in government offices to be a sign of the difficulty among political forces in selecting and training leaders who are able to face the challenges of the country. Nevertheless, the contribution of the trade union movement, which has a long-standing history and a continued strong presence in Italy, is seen as a guarantee that there will always be leaders conscious of the complex problems that Italy faces and competent to deal with them.
Marta Santi, Cesos
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2006), Two former trade unionists elected to top state posts, article.
