The Network (), whose complete name was Movement for Democracy – The Network (''Movimento per la Democrazia – La Rete''), was a

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

led by

Leoluca Orlando Leoluca Orlando (born 1 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He was mayor of Palermo for over twenty years and was president of the Italian Federation of American Football (FIDAF). He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Ma ...

History

The party was formed on 24 January 1991 by

mayor of Palermo The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022. Overview ...

and member of the

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 ...

, who had broken with this party in 1991 due to its relations with the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

. The party was

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

-inspired, while including several former members of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

( Diego Novelli, Alfredo Galasso, etc.), anti-Mafia and anti-

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. It proposed an end to

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

, greater judicial powers to tackle Mafia, and a parliament with fewer lawmakers. Describing itself as a

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

rather than a party, the Network aimed to be a loose "civic movement" without formal memberships or rigid party structure. The party succeeded in gaining elected office in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, including five seats in the 1991 regional election (thanks to 7.4% of the vote) and, again, the mayorship of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

in 1993. In the 1992 national election, the party won 1.9% (nationally), 12 deputies and 3 senators, who teamed up with those of the

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens (, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. The FdV was part of the Eur ...

. It later participated in the

Alliance of Progressives The Alliance of Progressives () was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The alliance was a predecessor of the mod ...

, which included the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the A ...

, the Democratic Alliance, the

, the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party (, PRC) is a Communism, communist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who r ...

, the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

and the

Social Christians The Social Christians () are a Christian social-democratic faction within the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy. Before that, they were a party (1993–1998) and a faction of the Democrats of the Left (1998–2007). The CS are a me ...

. The coalition unsuccessfully contested the 1994 general election against

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 coalitions, the

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms () was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Government, both forming the f ...

and the

Pole of Good Government The Pole of Good Government () was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Freedoms, both forming the first ...

, and the party had 1.9% of the vote, 6 deputies and 6 senators. In the 1996 general election the party was part of The Olive Tree coalition and elected in

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s five deputies, who divided themselves between the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

and a sub-group named "Italy of Values", and one senator. After the election, Orlando stated the aim of creating a "Democratic Party" modelled on the Democratic Party of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the party changed its name to The Network for the Democratic Party. In 1999 it was absorbed by The Democrats of

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

. Before that, some of its members had joined

Antonio Di Pietro Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor in the ''Mani pulite'' corruption ...

Italy of Values Italy of Values (, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former ''Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the party in 2014. IdV has ai ...

, which was also merged into The Democrats. After The Democrats (1999–2002), Orlando would later be active in

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties with ...

, Italy of Values and

The Network 2018 The Network 2018 () was a centre-left politics, centre-left list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy led by Leoluca Orlando, former leading member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy in Sicily, founder of The Net ...

Election results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Literature

References

External links

Official website of Leoluca Orlando – Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Network (political party) Political parties established in 1991 Political parties disestablished in 1999 Antimafia Defunct political parties in Italy 1991 establishments in Italy 1999 disestablishments in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Catholic political parties Anti-corruption parties