Segni Pact
Patto Segni
LeaderMariotto Segni
FoundedNovember 1993
DissolvedJune 2003
Preceded byChristian Democracy
Succeeded byPact of Liberal Democrats
NewspaperLa Voce
Youth wingYouth Project
Ideology1994-1999
Christian liberalism
1999-2003
Liberal conservatism
Political position1994-1999
Centre[1]
1999-2003
Centre-right
National affiliationPact for Italy (1994)
Pact of Democrats (1995)
The Olive Tree (1996–99)
PS–AN (1999)
European affiliationEPP (1994–1999)
AEN (1999–2004)
European Parliament groupEPP (1994–1999)
UEN (1999–2004)
Colors  Yellow

The Segni Pact (Italian: Patto Segni), officially called Pact of National Rebirth (Patto di Rinascita Nazionale), was a Christian-democratic,[2] centrist[3] and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a former member of the Christian Democrats who was a prominent promoter of referendums.[4]

History

The party was founded in 1993 by the Populars for Reform, a split from Christian Democracy (DC) in 1992[5] whose basic goal was electoral reform from proportional representation to plurality voting, and splinters from the Democratic Alliance (AD).

The party contested the 1994 general election with DC successor the Italian People's Party (PPI) in the Pact for Italy coalition,[6] with the Pact leader Mario Segni designated as "candidate for Prime Minister".[5] The Pact for Italy included in its lists Republicans (Giorgio La Malfa, Alberto Zorzoli, Vittorio Dotti, Danilo Poggiolini and Carla Mazzuca Poggiolini), Liberals (Valerio Zanone, Pietro Milio and Luigi Compagna), Socialists (Giuliano Amato, Giulio Tremonti and Claudio Nicolini), Democratic Socialists (Enrico Ferri and Gian Franco Schietroma), and several former Christian Democrats (Mario Segni himself, Diego Masi, Gianni Rivera, Alberto Michelini, Enrico Indelli, Elisabetta Gardini, Michele Cossa, Livio Filippi, Vincenzo Viola, etc.).

The party obtained 4.7% of the vote and 13 deputies.[7] However soon after the election suffered several splits. The group around Michelini and Tremonti, for instance, founded the Liberal Democratic Foundation and decided to support the Berlusconi I Cabinet (Tremonti even became minister of Finances) and would later join Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI).

In the 1995 regional elections, the Segni Pact formed an electoral list named Pact of Democrats, along with the Italian Socialists and AD.[5]

In 1995 the party and PPI joined the centre-left coalition, with the Pact contesting the 1996 general election as part of Italian Renewal,[5] winning eight seats at the Chamber of Deputies (Masi, Giuseppe Bicocchi, Elisa Pozza Tasca, Gianni Rivera, Antonino Mangiacavallo, Gianantonio Mazzocchin, Bonaventura Lamacchia, Paolo Manca) and one seat at the Senate of the Republic (Mazzuca Poggiolini).

In 1999, after having contributed to the foundation of the Democratic Union for the Republic (UDR), the Pact attracted some former Radicals from FI (Marco Taradash, Giuseppe Calderisi, etc.), but at the same time several members (Pozza Tasca, Poggiolini, Mazzuca Poggiolini, Filippi, Viola, etc.) left to join The Democrats. In the 1999 European Parliament election the party formed a joint list with National Alliance which received 10.3% of the vote, and Segni was re-elected MEP.[8]

The Pact decided not to present lists for the 2001 general election, but Cossa, member of the Sardinian Reformers, the regional section of the party in Sardinia, was elected deputy in a single-seat constituency of Cagliari for the House of Freedoms centre-right coalition.

In 2003 the party was finally transformed into the Pact of Liberal Democrats (also known as the Segni-Scognamiglio Pact).

Electoral results

Chamber of Deputies
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1994 1,811,814 (7th) 4.68
13 / 630
–
Mario Segni
1996 into RI –
8 / 630
Decrease 5
Mario Segni
2001 into CdL –
1 / 630
Decrease 4
Mario Segni
Senate of the Republic
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1994 into PpI –
0 / 315
–
Mario Segni
1996 into RI –
1 / 315
Increase 1
Mario Segni
2001 into CdL –
0 / 315
Decrease 1
Mario Segni

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1994 1,073,424 (7th) 3.26
3 / 81
–
Mario Segni
1999 3,194,661 (3rd)[a] 10.30
1 / 81
Decrease 2
Mario Segni
  1. ^ In a joint list with National Alliance.

References

  1. ^ Ferdinand Muller-Rommel; Thomas Poguntke (2013). Green Parties in National Governments. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-135-28826-6.
  2. ^ Nicolò Conti; Maurizio Cotta; Pedro Tavares de Almeida, eds. (2014). Perspectives of National Elites on European Citizenship: A South European View. Taylor & Francis. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-317-99575-3.
  3. ^ Fabio Padovano; Roberto Ricciuti, eds. (2007). "Appendix 2". Italian Institutional Reforms: A Public Choice Perspective. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-387-72141-5.
  4. ^ Luciano Bardi (2009). "Electoral Change and its Impact on the Party System in Italy". In Martin Bull; Martin Rhodes (eds.). Italy - A Contested Polity. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-317-96809-2.
  5. ^ a b c d André Krouwel (2012). Party Transformations in European Democracies. SUNY Press. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-4384-4481-9.
  6. ^ Roberto Biorcio (2002). "Italy". In Ferdinand Muller-Rommel; Thomas Poguntke (eds.). Green Parties in National Governments. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-135-28826-6.
  7. ^ Luciano Bardi (2009). "Electoral Change and its Impact on the Party System in Italy". In Martin Bull; Martin Rhodes (eds.). Italy - A Contested Polity. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-317-96809-2.
  8. ^ Mark Gilbert; Gianfranco Pasquino (2000). Italian Politics: The Faltering Transition. Berghahn Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-57181-840-9.
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