"party's secretary. Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as the 10th President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and then from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008. He is considered the founder of the Italian centre-left and one of the most prominent and iconic figures of the so-called Second Republic. Prodi is often nicknamed ""Il Professore"" (""The Professor"") due to his academic career. A former professor of economics and international advisor"
"Sachs, Prodi ran in 1996 as lead candidate of The Olive Tree coalition, winning the general election and serving as Prime Minister of Italy until 1998. Following the victory of his coalition The Union over the House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi in the April 2006 Italian elections, Prodi took power again. On 24 January 2008, he lost a vote of confidence in the Senate house and consequently tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, but he continued in office for almost four months for routine business, until early elections were held and a new"
"Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the European Constitution and headed the Amato Group. He is commonly nicknamed ""dottor Sottile"", (which means ""Doctor Subtilis"", the sobriquet of the Scottish Medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus, a reference to his political subtlety). From 2006 to 2008, he was the Minister of the Interior in Romano Prodi's government. On 12 September 2013,"
"Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 2013 to 2014, leading a grand coalition comprising the centre-left Democratic Party, the centre-right People of Freedom, and the centrist Civic Choice. He has also been a Member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006. Letta was Minister of European Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister of Industry from 1999 to 2001, and served as Secretary to the Council of Ministers from 2006 to 2008. Letta is a founding member of the Democratic Party; formerly, he belonged to Christian"
"summoned Bertinotti and Marini, the two speakers of the houses of the Italian parliament, acknowledging the end of the legislature, on 5 February 2008. He dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008. Major competitors in the election were Silvio Berlusconi, as leader of the centre-right opposition coalition, and Walter Veltroni, leader of the Democratic Party. Berlusconi's right coalition was leading by a significant margin in opinion polls. The 71-year-old Berlusconi, who was twice prime minister—from May 1994 to January 1995 and again from May 2001 to May 2006—was not considered too old for the job though he had had heart surgery"
"listening to Dire Straits and playing Subbuteo. He speaks French and English fluently. Notes References Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 2013 to 2014, leading a grand coalition comprising the centre-left Democratic Party, the centre-right People of Freedom, and the centrist Civic Choice. He has also been a Member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006. Letta was Minister of European Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister of Industry from 1999 to 2001, and served as Secretary to the Council of Ministers from 2006 to"
"of confidence, by three votes, in October 1998. A new government was formed by Democrats of the Left leader and former communist Massimo D'Alema, but in April 2000, following poor performance by his coalition in regional elections, D'Alema resigned. The succeeding centre-left government, including most of the same parties, was headed by Giuliano Amato (social-democratic), who previously served as Prime Minister in 1992–93, from April 2000 until June 2001. In 2001, the centre-right formed the government and Silvio Berlusconi was able to regain power and keep it for a complete five-year mandate, becoming the longest government in post-war Italy. Berlusconi"
"Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician who was the 53rd Prime Minister from 1998 to 2000. Later he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. He is also a journalist and served for a time as national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Sometimes media refers to him as ""Leader Maximo"", due to his first name Massimo, but also for his dominant position in the left-wing coalitions during the Second Republic. Earlier in his career he was a member of the Italian Communist Party,"
"and won by a coalition of right-wing and centre-right parties. On 7 May 2008, President Napolitano appointed Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister, following his landslide victory in the general election. The cabinet was officially inaugurated one day later, with Berlusconi thus becoming the second Prime Minister under President Napolitano. On 6 February 2009, President Napolitano refused to sign an emergency decree made by the Berlusconi government in order to suspend a final court sentence allowing suspension of nutrition to 38-year-old coma patient Eluana Englaro; the decree could not be enacted by Berlusconi. This caused a major political debate within Italy"
"of Forza Italia and Prime Minister of Italy from 1994–1995, 2001–2006 and 2008–2011, has sometimes been described as a right-wing populist, although his party is not typically described as such. A number of national conservative, nationalist and arguably right-wing populist parties are strong especially in Lazio, the region around Rome and Southern Italy. Most of them are heirs of the Italian Social Movement (a neo-fascist party, whose best result was 8.7% of the vote in the 1972 general election) and its successor National Alliance (which reached 15.7% of the vote in 1996 general election). They include the Brothers of Italy"
"of The World's Most Powerful People due to his domination of Italian politics, throughout more than twenty years at the head of the centre-right coalition. Berlusconi was Prime Minister for nine years in total, making him the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister of Italy, and the third longest-serving since Italian unification, after Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Giolitti. He was the leader of the centre-right party Forza Italia from 1994 to 2009, and its successor party The People of Freedom from 2009 to 2013. Since November 2013, he has led a revived Forza Italia. Berlusconi was the senior G8 leader from 2009"
"that causes delocalization of jobs from Europe to Asia. Nevertheless, in 2009 he gave an important lecture at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. He is currently a member of the Italy-USA Foundation, chairman of the Aspen Institute Italia and a frequent guest columnist on the ""Corriere della Sera"". Giulio Tremonti Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finances under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to"
"previously served as prime minister in 1992–1993 and had at the time sworn never to return to active politics. National elections held on 13 May 2001 returned Berlusconi to power at the head of the five-party center-right House of Freedoms coalition, comprising the Prime Minister's own party, Forza Italia, the National Alliance, the North League, the Christian Democratic Center and the United Christian Democrats. Between 17 May 2006 and 21 February 2007, Romano Prodi served as prime minister of Italy following the narrow victory of his The Union coalition over the House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi in the"
"had been President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and Prime Minister of Italy from 1996 to 1998. On the other hand, Silvio Berlusconi led the centre-right House of Freedoms; Berlusconi had been the incumbent Prime Minister since the 2001 general election, and had previously served as Prime Minister also in 1994 and 1995. The House of Freedoms was the coalition supporting the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and mainly included the same parties as in the previous general election. The New Italian Socialist Party (NPSI), a small social-democratic party composed of former members of"
"I (1996–1998), D'Alema I (1998–1999), D'Alema II (1999–2000) and Amato II Cabinet (2000–2001), Berlusconi returned to power in 2001 after winning the 13 May general election. He eventually lost the 2006 general election five years later to Romano Prodi and his Union coalition but won the 2008 general election and returned to power in June 2008. In November 2011, Berlusconi lost his majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and resigned. His successor, Mario Monti formed a new government, composed of ""technocrats"" and supported by both the center-left and the center-right parties. After the 2013 election resulted in a hung parliament,"
"and he was the first former communist to become prime minister of a NATO country. Massimo D'Alema was born in Rome on 20 April 1949, the son of , a communist politician. He is married to Linda Giuva, a professor at the University of Siena, and has two children, Giulia and Francesco. He later became a notable member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), part of which in 1991 gave origin to the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), and in 1998 to the Democrats of the Left (DS). In 1998, succeeding Romano Prodi, he became Prime Minister, as the"
"Italia party. She was reelected in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2008. In 2004, she was appointed as Minister for Equal Opportunities by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. She was reappointed in that capacity in 2006. Between 2008 and 2011, she was Minister for Environment, Land and Sea. Stefania Prestigiacomo has expressed support for the construction of new nuclear plants in Italy, a country with very limited reserves of fossil fuel and that currently imports (nuclear) electricity from France due to insufficient domestic capacity. She also authorized the drilling of off-shore oil wells in the Adriatic Sea in the proximity of Tremiti Islands,"
"media magnate Silvio Berlusconi) and centre-left coalitions (led by university professor Romano Prodi) alternately governed the country. In the late 2000s, Italy was severely hit by the Great Recession. From 2008 to 2013, the country suffered 42 months of GDP recession. The economic crisis was one of the main problems that forced Berlusconi to resign in 2011. The government of the conservative Prime Minister was replaced by the technocratic cabinet of Mario Monti. Following the 2013 general election, the Vice-Secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta formed a new government at the head of a right-left Grand coalition. In 2014,"
"Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from February 2014 until December 2016. After the rejection of his constitutional reform in the December 2016 referendum, Renzi formally resigned on 12 December when Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni was appointed new head of the government by President Sergio Mattarella. Renzi served, with a brief interruption, as Secretary of the Democratic Party from 2013 to 2018, when he resigned after the 2018 electoral defeat. He was also President of the Province of Florence from 2004 to 2009 and"
"the first time. The 1994 elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi (leader of ""Pole of Freedoms"" coalition, which included Forza Italia, the regionalist far-right ""Lega Nord"" party and the far-right ""Alleanza Nazionale""), into office as Prime Minister. Berlusconi, however, was forced to step down in December 1994 when the ""Lega Nord"" withdrew support. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a technical government headed by Lamberto Dini, which left office in early 1996. A series of center-left coalitions dominated Italy's political landscape between 1996 and 2001, which introduced a number of progressive reforms in areas such as social security. In"
"success in May elections, Sivio Berlusconi was returned head of the Italian government, the longest-serving cabinet in the history of the Italian republic. Again all key ministerial posts were given to Forza Italia members: Interior (Claudio Scajola 2001–2002, Giuseppe Pisanu 2002–2006), Defence (Antonio Martino 2001–2006), Finance (Giulio Tremonti, 2001–2004 and 2005–2006), Industry (Antonio Marzano 2001–2005, Claudio Scajola 2005–2006) and Foreign Affairs (Franco Frattini, 2002–2004). Additionally, National Alliance leader Gianfranco Fini was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from 2004 to 2006, while Roberto Castelli, senior figure of Lega Nord was Justice Minister from 2001 to 2006. In 2004 European"
"government was sworn in on 1 June. He was married to Marisa Chiazzese, daughter of Lauro Chiazzese, a professor of Roman law and rector of the University of Palermo. His wife died in 2012. He has three children: Bernardo Giorgio (born 1968), Laura (1968) and Francesco (1973). Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, lawyer and academic serving as the 12th and current President of Italy since 2015. He was previously Minister for Parliamentary Affairs from 1987 to 1989, Minister of Education from 1989 to 1990, Deputy Prime Minister of Italy from 1998 to"
"Italian Prime Ministers Massimo D'Alema and Giuliano Amato during EU budget negotiations like Agenda 2000, and the Lisbon Agenda, at summits of the European Council and the G8. He was an International Monetary Fund official from 2001 to 2005 as the Italian Executive Director and as Board Member in charge of European coordination. He is a Consultant to the World Bank, European Commission and European Central Bank, where he has called for aggressive easing. He has been criticizing budget cutbacks in the euro zone's weakest economies, struggling with debt, which he has called periphery countries. Since June 2007 he has"
"the Pact for Italy and the Alliance of Progressives. On 21 April 1996, The Olive Tree won 1996 general election in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), making Romano Prodi the Prime Minister of Italy. It was the first time since 1946 that the Communists, now gathered in the Democratic Party of the Left, took part in the government of the country and one of their leaders, Walter Veltroni, who ran in ticket with Prodi in a long electoral campaign, was Deputy Prime Minister. On 9 October 1998, the Prodi I Cabinet fell when PRC left the alliance. Since"
"notably including Giovanni Toti, Mariarosaria Rossi, Deborah Bergamini and Francesca Pascale (Berlusconi's partner); Since being elected President of Liguria in 2015, Toti has become more autonomous from Berlusconi and a strong supporter of closer ties with Lega Nord. Forza Italia (2013) Forza Italia (translated to ""Forward Italy"" or ""Let's Go Italy"", known also by its acronym FI) is a centre-right political party in Italy whose ideology includes elements of liberal conservatism, Christian democracy, and liberalism. Its leader is Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy (1994–1995, 2001–2006, 2008–2011). The party, formed out of the former People of Freedom (PdL), is"
"Enzo Biagi that he was forced to do so to avoid imprisonment. He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. His career was racked with controversies and trials; amongst these was his failure to honour his promise to sell his personal assets in Mediaset, the largest television broadcaster in Italy, in order to dispel any perceived conflicts of interest. In the early 1990s, the ""Pentapartito"" – the five governing parties, Christian Democracy (""Democrazia Cristiana""), the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Social-Democratic Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Italian"
"2001 parliamentary elections, he was again the centre-right candidate for Prime Minister and won against the centre-left candidate Francesco Rutelli. Berlusconi then formed his second and third cabinets, until 2006. Berlusconi was leader of the centre-right coalition in the April 2006 parliamentary elections, which he lost by a very narrow margin, his opponent again being Romano Prodi. He was re-elected in the parliamentary elections of April 2008 following the collapse of Prodi's government and sworn in for a third time as Prime Minister on 8 May 2008. After losing his majority in parliament amid growing fiscal problems related to the"
"Forza Italia (2013) Forza Italia (translated to ""Forward Italy"" or ""Let's Go Italy"", known also by its acronym FI) is a centre-right political party in Italy whose ideology includes elements of liberal conservatism, Christian democracy, and liberalism. Its leader is Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy (1994–1995, 2001–2006, 2008–2011). The party, formed out of the former People of Freedom (PdL), is a revival of the defunct Forza Italia (FI), active from 1994 to 2009, when it was merged with National Alliance (AN) and several minor parties to form the PdL. Forza Italia's leading members include Antonio Tajani (President of"
"but in many aspects, for example family values, it was a typical social conservative party. In 1994, the media tycoon and entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi founded the liberal conservative party Forza Italia (FI). Berlusconi won three elections in 1994, 2001 and 2008, governing the country for almost ten years as Prime Minister. Forza Italia formed a coalition with right-wing regional party Lega Nord while in government. Besides FI, now the conservative ideas are mainly expressed by the New Centre-Right party led by Angelino Alfano, Berlusconi form a new party, which is the reborn Forza Italia founding a new conservative movement. Alfano"
"was forced to step down in December 1994 when the Lega Nord withdrew support. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a technical government headed by Prime Minister Lamberto Dini, which left office in early 1996. A series of center-left coalitions dominated Italy's political landscape between 1996 and 2001. In April 1996, national elections led to the victory of a center-left coalition, The Olive Tree, under the leadership of Romano Prodi. Prodi's government became the third-longest to stay in power before he narrowly lost a vote of confidence, by three votes, in October 1998. In May 1999, the Parliament selected Carlo"
"In 1997–98 he was head of Consob, Italy's stock market supervision agency. He was a member of the European Central Bank's six-member executive board from its foundation in 1998 until the end of May 2005. In October 2005 he became president of Paris-based think tank Notre Europe. On 17 May 2006 he was appointed as Economy and Finance Minister in the government of Romano Prodi, serving in that post until May 2008, when a new government headed by Silvio Berlusconi took office following the April 2008 general election. From October 2007 to April 2008 he was Chairman of the IMFC"
"such party and instead opted to join the Democratic Party in March 2008. Alessandro Bianchi (politician) Alessandro Bianchi (born 28 January 1945, in Rome) is an Italian academic and politician, best known for having formerly served as Minister of Transportation from 2006 to 2008. A registered member of the Italian Communist Party until its disbandment, Bianchi is currently professor of Urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture of University of Reggio Calabria. He was part of the Prodi II Cabinet from May 17, 2006 to May 8, 2008; his name was chosen by a list of prominent left-wing independent people"
"2006 Italian general election The 2006 Italian general election for the two Chambers of the Italian Parliament was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms. Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed. On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory; Berlusconi never conceded defeat explicitly but this is not required by the Italian law. Preliminary results showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the Chamber"