The Lega Autonomia Veneta (Venetian Autonomy League, LAV) was a

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

History

The party's long-standing leaders were

Mario Rigo Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

, a former Mayor of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(1975–1985) and MEP (1984–1989) for 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 incumbent

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

, and

Oscar De Bona Oscar De Bona (born 27 December 1948 in Trichiana) is an Italian politician. A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party, he was elected President of the Province of Belluno in 1990. After the disbandment of that party, he joined Lega Autono ...

, Socialist President of the

Province of Belluno The province of Belluno (; ; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno. It has an area of and a population of about 198,000 people. Geography Situated in the Alps, the province of ...

since 1990. In the 1990 regional election the party, at time called ''Iniziativa Civica'' ("Civic Initiative") won 0.9% of the vote, but, as Liga Veneta–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

boomed in the early 1990s, the party changed its name into Lega Autonomia Veneta, with a very small word "Autonomia", and its symbol into former Liga's symbol the

lion of Saint Mark The Lion of Saint Mark, representing Mark the Evangelist, pictured in the form of a winged lion, is an aspect of the Tetramorph. On the pinnacle of St Mark's Cathedral he is depicted as holding a Bible, and surmounting a golden lion which i ...

. The LAV increased its share of votes, gaining 5-6% of the vote in Senate elections. Rigo was elected for the party 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 Bourb ...

(along with Pierluigi Ronzani 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 ...

) in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and to the Senate in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

(in coalition with The Olive Tree). De Bona was re-elected President of the Province of Belluno for LAV and

Dolomitic Agreement Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite (see Dolomite (rock)). An alternative name sometimes ...

in 1995 and 1999, prior to joining the

New Italian Socialist Party The New Italian Socialist Party or New PSI ( or ''Nuovo PSI'', NPSI), more recently styled as Liberal Socialists – NPSI, is a List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy which professes a Social democracy, social-democratic ideol ...

and the centre-right

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 ...

. In 1997 LAV was merged, at the regional level, with the

Northeast Movement The North-East Movement () was a federalist political party active in Veneto, Italy. History The party was founded in 1997 and officially launched in January 1998 by the mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, and the former president of the indust ...

Massimo Cacciari Massimo Cacciari (; born 5 June 1944) is an Italian philosopher and politician who served as Mayor of Venice from 1993 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2010. Biography Born in Venice, Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua (1967), ...

, while, at the national level, it became the

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. The Movement of Cacciari was merged into The Democrats in 1999 and the League of Rigo disappeared by 2001.

Popular support

The electoral results of the party in Veneto are shown in the table below. For general elections the results refer to the Senate election.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

*Francesco Jori, ''Dalla Łiga alla Lega. Storia, movimenti, protagonisti'', Marsilio,

2009 *Ezio Toffano,
Short History of the Venetian Autonomism
',

Raixe Venete Raixe Venete (translation: Venetian Roots) is a Venetist cultural association. Founded in 2002, Raixe Venete is aimed at "keeping the Venetian identity alive through the promotion, the protection and the circulation of the millennial Venetian cul ...

Political parties in Veneto Venetian nationalism Italian leagues