Roberto Ernesto Maroni (; 15 March 1955 – 22 November 2022) was an Italian politician from

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

and a past President of Lombardy. He was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

for Northern Italy or Padania. From 1992 to 2013 he was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombard constituencies. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Italian Republic in the Berlusconi I executive, from 1994 to 1995. He was

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

of the Italian Republic from 1994 to 1995, and from 2008 to 2011. He was Labour Minister of the Italian Republic from 2001 to 2006.

Career

Early political career

In 1979, Maroni received a law degree with a dissertation in Civil Law, from the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

. He became a lawyer after spending two years working as a Legal Affairs Manager for various companies.

Secretary of Varese and Minister of Interior

In 1990, he was elected Province Secretary of the Northern League in

. He also became a town councilor in Varese that year. Two years later, he was elected Chairman of the Northern League Parliamentary Group. He also entered the party's Federal Council and campaigned heavily for the Northern League prior to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's first Cabinet. He also served as Minister of the Interior during the first Berlusconi cabinet, from 1994 to 1995. He also served as Minister of Labour and Welfare from 2001 to May 2006 in Berlusconi's second and third cabinets. In April 2006, after Berlusconi narrowly lost his re-election bid to Romano Prodi, Maroni alleged problems with the election comparable to those in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

during the 2000 Presidential election. "The level pegging is very similar to what happened in Florida. With one vote more or one vote less, you lose or you win," he said. After the 2008 electoral victory of the centre-right coalition in Italy, Maroni assumed the office of Minister of the Interior in the

Berlusconi IV Cabinet The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th Cabinet (government), government of Politics of Italy, Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving ...

Secretary of Lega Nord and President of Lombardy (2013–2018)

Following the forced retirement of Umberto Bossi due to his alleged involvement in a scandal, Maroni was elected Political Secretary of the Northern League at its Congress in Assago (on 30 June and 1 July 2012). After the election on 24 February 2013, he became the ninth President of Lombardy.

Passion for music

In September 2006, Maroni told '' Vanity Fair'' that he downloads music illegally and thinks music should be "free and accessible to all". He added that authors should still be able to stop their work from being widely distributed on the Internet. Maroni said his confession was intended to spark a discussion in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

about changing Italy's

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...

s, which are among the strictest in Europe.

Basic income

On 12 May 2015, Maroni announced that his intention to introduce a basic income, as a pilot project, "to ensure all families in the region have enough money to be able to pay for basic necessities". He also said that the plan was to use 220 million

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

from the European Social Fund (ESF) for the initiative.Lombardy to experiment basic income, says Maroni
ansa.it; accessed 29 June 2015.

Terrorism

Shortly after the 2016 Normandy church attack, Maroni called on the Pope to "immediately proclaim" Jacques Hamel "St Jacques."

Electoral history

First-past-the-post elections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroni, Roberto 1955 births 2022 deaths Presidents of Lombardy Italian politicians convicted of crimes Ministers of the interior of Italy Politicians from Varese Lega Nord politicians University of Milan alumni 20th-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers Italian Roman Catholics Ministers of labour of Italy Deputy prime ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy