Franco Marini (9 April 1933 – 9 February 2021) was an Italian politician and a prominent member of the centre-left Democratic Party. From 2006 to 2008, he was the president of 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 ...

Biography

Trade unionist

Marini was born in San Pio delle Camere, in the

Province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

(

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

). A law graduate and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist, Marini joined 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 ...

party in 1950 and was elected leader of the Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (CISL) trade union in 1985. He left CISL in 1991 in order to become the Minister of Labour in the government of

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...

. A candidate in the

1992 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on 5 and 6 April 1992.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1048 They were the first without the traditionally second most important political force in Italian p ...

for Christian Democracy, he was to emerge as the most voted candidate in the country for the leading Italian party at the time. In 1997 Marini was appointed leader of the Italian People's Party, heir of the disbanded Christian Democracy, but he left the position in 1999 because of the party's poor electoral performance in the 1999 European election. After the Italian People's Party became part of

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 ...

, he became the organizational secretary for the newly founded party.

President of the Senate

After the centre-left Union victory in the 2006 Italian general election, Marini was elected as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

after three votes; he defeated

, the candidate of the

House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms (, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/ Pole of Good Government and the Pole for Freedoms. The former ...

and his former party fellow during the Christian Democracy times, by 165 votes to 156, and succeeded

Marcello Pera Marcello Pera (; born 28 January 1943) is an Italian philosopher and politician. He was the president of the Italian Senate from 2001 to 2006.

. On 30 January 2008, President

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

summoned Marini to the

Quirinale The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outskirts of Rome, som ...

after having met with the different political parties following the vote of no confidence received by the

Prodi II Cabinet The second Prodi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the only cabinet of the XV Legislatur ...

and the

2008 Italian political crisis On 24 January 2008, the Italian Senate voted down a motion of confidence in Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, causing the collapse of the second Prodi government. Prodi's resignation led the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano to ask the p ...

it caused. He asked Marini to attempt to form an interim government, which would work to reform electoral laws prior to a new election. Marini decided that his task was impossible on 4 February, after meeting with right-wing leaders

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 ...

and

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is a retired Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian ...

, because he "could not find a significant majority on a precise electoral reform". Napolitano therefore dissolved Parliament and an early election was called for April 2008. Marini was re-elected to the

in that election. Senator for the Democratic Party, Franco Marini was not re-elected in the February 2013 general election; his term as Senator expired on 15 March 2013.

Candidate for the Presidency of Italy

On 17 April 2013, the Democratic Party (center-left), the People of Freedom (center right) and

Civic Choice Civic Choice (; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his political agenda. In t ...

(center) designated Franco Marini as candidate for the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. He failed to win the necessary two-thirds majority in the first round of voting.

Death

He died in 2021 at the age of 87, a victim of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marini, Franco 1933 births 2021 deaths Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy politicians Italian People's Party (1994) politicians Italian Roman Catholics MEPs for Italy 1999–2004 People from the Province of L'Aquila Presidents of the Italian Senate Candidates for President of Italy Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lazio