Gianluca Forcolin (born 28 August 1968 in San Donà di Piave) is a Venetist politician from Veneto, Italy. A member of Liga Veneta–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

since 1993, Forcolin was long involved in municipal politics in his hometown,

Musile di Piave Musile di Piave is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. Piave River flows through the town. Musile di Piave was an important town in World War I due to its position near the river. In 1918 it was occup ...

, of which he had been councillor, assessor, deputy mayor and finally mayor from 2007 to 2015. In the 2008 general election he was elected to 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 Bourbon R ...

, where he sat in the Finance Committee, but did not stand for re-election

five years later ''Five Years Later'' is an album by Ralph Towner and guitarists John Abercrombie (guitarist), John Abercrombie, recorded in 1981 and released by ECM Records, ECM in 1982.

because he, a Venetist close to Luca Zaia as well as loyal to former Lega Nord leader

Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has fou ...

, was not popular with the new leadership led by

Flavio Tosi Flavio Tosi (born 18 June 1969) is an Italian politician who served as the mayor of Verona from 2007 to 2017. He has been a long-time member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord. Political career Having joined Liga Veneta (LV) in 1991, Tosi was elected ...

. He was even suspended from the party for ten months by the local leader

Daniele Stival Daniele Stival (born 2 September 1962, in San Martino di Lupari) is an Italian Venetist politician. A member of Liga Veneta– Lega Nord, he was first elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, c ...

. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, after Tosi was sidelined by the federal party, Forcolin made his comeback: he was elected to the Regional Council as the most voted candidate of Liga Veneta in the province of Venice and Zaia, who had been re-elected President, appointed him Vice President and minister of Budget and Local Government. In the run-up of the

2020 Venetian regional election The 2020 Venetian regional election took place in Veneto on 20 and 21 September 2020. Originally scheduled to take place on 31 May 2020, it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and was part of a round of multiple regional electi ...

Forcolin resigned from the Regional Government, after announcing that his accountant office had asked (but not received) a fiscal bonus related to the Covid-19 crisis, a move that was deemed umpopular by the public and President Zaia himself; Forcolin also renounced to run for re-election. After that, Forcolin returned to the political wilderness and was appointed at the head of the Casino of Venice one year later. In 2023 Forcolin made his second political comeback. First, in May he was permitted by Liga Veneta to run an alternative list named after himself in the municipal election of San Donà di Piave: "United for San Donà — Forcolin Civic List" obtained 11.6% of the vote, just below the tally reached by the mother party (11.9%), and Forcolin a record number of preference votes, opening the way for his appointment in the municipal government. Second, in July Forcolin switched parties and joined

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, of which Tosi, Forcolin's former rival within Liga Veneta, had been the regional leader since 2022, and became deputy provincial coordinator of the party. In January 2024 he was elected provincial coordinator.https://corrieredelveneto.corriere.it/notizie/politica/24_gennaio_14/forza-italia-l-ex-vice-di-zaia-gianluca-forcolin-fatto-fuori-dalla-lega-eletto-a-venezia-tornerei-volentieri-in-regione-394e6d74-0c60-43bd-a239-bc8046fcfxlk.shtml

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forcolin Gianluca 1968 births Living people People from San Donà di Piave Lega Nord politicians Venetist politicians Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Members of the Regional Council of Veneto