Giovanni Bianchi (19 August 1939 – 24 July 2017) was an Italian politician.

Early life and career

Graduated in Political Science from the Catholic University of Milan, he was a teacher of philosophy and history in high schools.

Politics

A democrat of Christian inspiration, he engaged in politics and the trade union. He was municipal councilor for the Christian Democracy in

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

and dealt with school problems. He engaged in the ACLI and became the leader of the movement first at the regional level and then at the national level. He was elected president of the ACLI in 1987 and held the position until 1994. In 1994 he resigned from the presidency of the ACLI and in the 1994 general elections he ran for the Italian People's Party (PPI) list. Elected deputy, he was fielded by the left-wing of the PPI as a candidate for the party secretariat on the occasion of the first congress in July 1994 as an alternative to the candidacy of

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. At the congress he presented a program with a strong reformist connotation, indicating for the PPI the path of an alternative to Silvio Berlusconi with the possibility of center-left alliances. However, during the last day of the congress, having verified that his candidacy did not collect sufficient consensus, he was replaced by

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who, however, failed to be elected secretary. The new PPI secretary Rocco Buttiglione proposed him as party president, a position he accepted and held since the summer of 1994. In the spring of 1995 he was at the forefront, as party president, in the dispute against Buttiglione who deployed the PPI in the centre-right with

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 ...

, without consulting the National Council. Bianchi led the internal protest together with

Gerardo Bianco Gerardo Bianco (12 September 1931 – 1 December 2022) was an Italian politician. Early life Bianco was born in Guardia Lombardi, Campania in Italy. Winner of a scholarship at the Augustinianum College of Catholic University of the Sacred Heart ...

. The dispute led to the division of the party: the majority of Bianchi and Bianco chose the center-left alliance and kept the name of PPI, the minority kept the symbol of the crusader shield, allied itself with the centre-right and acquired the name of

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. In 1995-1996 he led the party with Gerardo Bianco, leading it in the alliance of The Olive Tree. In the 1996 general elections he was re-elected deputy to the Chamber in the Sesto San Giovanni college. He was rapporteur of the law for the cancellation of the foreign debt of Third World countries. In the 2001 general elections he was once again elected to the Chamber, always in the Sesto constituency, resulting one of the very few (4 in all) winners of the center-left in the single-member constituencies in Lombardy. He joined the group of The Daisy. In the 2006 general elections he was no longer re-nominated as he exceeded the limit of 3 terms in Parliament. He was the regent commissioner of the city coordination of Sesto San Giovanni of The Daisy, while from 24 November 2007 he was the first provincial secretary of Milan of the Democratic Party. He died on July 24, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Giovanni 1939 births 2017 deaths People from Sesto San Giovanni Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Italian People's Party (1994) politicians Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Politicians of Lombardy