Christian Solinas (born 2 December 1976) is an Italian politician, leader of the

Sardinian Action Party The Sardinian Action Party (, , PSd'Az or PSdA) is a Sardinian nationalism, Sardinian nationalist, Regionalism (politics), regionalist and Separatism, separatist list of political parties in Sardinia, political party in Sardinia founded by Sardin ...

and former President of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Biography

Born in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, Solinas has been a long-time member of the

and has been regional councilor of transports from 2011 to 2014, under the presidency of

Ugo Cappellacci Ugo Cappellacci (born 27 November 1960 in Cagliari, Italy) is an Italian Sardinian politician and member of the Forza Italia (FI) political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular ...

. In 2015, Solinas was elected Secretary of the

, leading the party towards

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

positions, promoting a twinning with

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...

's Northern League. In the 2018 election, Solinas was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, becoming the only member of the

in the Senate and joining the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

's parliamentary group. Solinas graduated in Law at the

University of Sassari The University of Sassari (, UniSS) is a public university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 13 departments. The University of Sassari earned first place in the rankings for the best “medium-sized” Italian ...

in December 2018. In November 2018, Solinas was appointed as the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

candidate for the office of President of Sardinia for the 2019 regional election, leading a coalition that includes the

, the

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...

, the Union of the Centre, the

Union of Sardinians The Union of Sardinians – Nationalist Project (''Unione dei Sardi – Progetto Nazionalitario'', UdS–PN), previously known as Sardinian Democratic Union (''Unione Democratica Sarda'', UDS) was a regionalist, Sardinian nationalist and Christi ...

Fortza Paris Fortza Paris (English: Forward Together) is a regionalist, Sardinian nationalist and mainly Christian-democratic political party in Sardinia. The party was established in 2004 at the merger of the Sardinian People's Party (PPS) – splinter gr ...

Energies for Italy Energies for Italy (, EpI) was a political party in Italy, launched in November 2016 and officially established on 1 April 2017. Its leader is Stefano Parisi, a former director-general of Confindustria and CEO of Fastweb, who was an unsuccessfu ...

and the

Sardinian Reformers The Sardinian Reformers (, RS) is a regionalist and liberal-conservative political party in Sardinia, led by Michele Cossa. The party, which has always been part of the centre-right at the Sardinian regional level, is a keen supporter of the fr ...

Legal proceedings

On Dec. 18, 2020, the Cagliari Public Prosecutor's Office issued a notice of conclusion of preliminary investigation against Solinas - in conjunction with other individuals - for the crimes of

abuse of office Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, concluding the investigation phase that began in October 2019. On Feb. 21, 2023, it was learned of a new investigation by the Cagliari Public Prosecutor's Office against Solinas and three other suspects on charges of bribery and money laundering and the seizure of telephones and computers. The matters under investigation concern the house bought by Solinas on Via dei Tritoni, a stone's throw from Cagliari's Poetto beach, and alleged pressure for Raimondi's appointment to the ENPI's top management. According to the hypothesis of prosecutor Pilia and the financiers, Solinas allegedly appointed Raimondi to the ENPI leadership in exchange for university lectures in Rome and Tirana and in exchange for an honorary degree in the Albanian Athenaeum. The Regional President's computer was not seized because he himself reportedly declared its theft the very day before the seizure order.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solinas, Christian 1976 births Living people People from Cagliari University of Sassari alumni Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy Members of the Regional Council of Sardinia Presidents of Sardinia Sardinian Action Party politicians