Fabrizio Cicchitto (born 26 October 1940) is an Italian politician, whose career has followed a trajectory from radical socialism to centre-right reformism.
Biography
Fabrizio Cicchitto entered politics in the early 1960s, supporting the
Riccardo Lombardi-led
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
left-wing of the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and then becoming
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of the party's
youth organization
The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for Minor (law), minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted othe ...
(''Federazione Giovanile Socialista Italiana'', Italian Young Socialist Federation). Cicchitto also became sympathetic to
Eurocommunism and the
Historic Compromise path taken by the
Italian Communist Party (PCI), while being highly critical of
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.
Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
(DC) itself, as well as of the American
CIA and the Italian
Servizio Informazioni Difesa
(; , ) was the military intelligence intelligence agency, agency of Italy from 1977 to 2007.
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISMI was replaced by Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE). ...
. According to him, the DC exploited the
Red Brigades' activities and the
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...
case to cut off relations with the PCI.
In 1981, Cicchitto confessed to being a member of the masonic lodge
Propaganda Due (P2). Shortly after this move, Cicchitto was excluded from the PSI. Readmitted toward the end of the 1980s, he followed the policies of
Bettino Craxi and held minor posts throughout the ''
Mani pulite''-''
Tangentopoli'' scandals that saw the disestablishment of most Italian political parties. Cicchitto joined
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
's centre-right party
Forza Italia (FI), leading its
social-democratic wing
We Blue Reformers (NRB). He had been a PSI member of either the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
or the
Senate of the Republic for three successive terms. He was the vice president of Forza Italia's group in the chamber and national deputy coordinator of the party from 2003.
Cicchitto contributed to steps taken by Italy in its adoption of the
European Monetary System and the
Maastricht Treaty, and took part in debates over
privatization in the country. Since 1998, Cicchitto began to contribute to
editorials of ''
Il Giornale'', and is a member of the editorial staff for ''
Avanti!'' In November 2009, he founded
Reformism and Freedom (REL), a
reformist and mainly social-democratic
think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
within
the People of Freedom (PdL). After the split of the PdL, Cicchitto joined the
New Centre-Right (NCD) party. In 2017, he became a member of the moderate conservative
Popular Alternative (AP) grouping, which was established following the dissolution of the NCD.
He currently contributes to editorials of ''
Libero'', ''
Il Riformista'' and the Italian edition of the ''
HuffPost''.
References
Works
* ''Il pensiero economico cattolico''
* ''Politiche nuove per l'industria italiana''
* ''Dall'utopia al potere''
* ''Rapporto pubblico e privato e modernizzazione dell' industria italiana''
* ''Rodolfo Morandi, il partito e la democrazia industriale''
* ''Il governo Craxi''
* ''Storia del centro-sinistra''
* ''Riflessioni sulla fine della prima repubblica e sulla sinistra di governo''
* ''De Gasperi e Togliatti, due protagonisti''
* ''La DC dopo il primo ventennio''
* ''Le scelte dei democratici''
* ''Dal centro-sinistra all'alternativa''
* ''Il grande inganno''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicchitto, Fabrizio
1940 births
Living people
Writers from Rome
Italian Socialist Party politicians
Socialist Party (Italy, 1996) politicians
Forza Italia politicians
The People of Freedom politicians
New Centre-Right politicians
Popular Alternative politicians
Operation Gladio
Italian economists
Italian essayists
Italian male writers
Italian journalists
Italian male journalists
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)
Italian male essayists
Propaganda Due