The Union of the Venetian People (''Union del Popoło Vèneto'', UPV) was a Venetist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

active in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

History

The party was founded in 1987 by splinters from

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta (; ; abbr. LV), whose complete name is (), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and support for fiscal federalism, was established in 1979 under the slogan "farthe ...

led by Ettore Beggiato and Gianni Butturini. In the 1990 regional election UPV won 1.9% of the vote (compared to the 5.9% of Liga Veneta) and Beggiato was re-elected to the

Regional Council of Veneto The Regional Council of Veneto () is the parliament, legislative assembly of Veneto, Italy. The council, which has its seat at Palazzo Ferro Fini, located along the Grand Canal (Venice), Grand Canal in Venice. was first elected in 1970, when Re ...

. Occasionally the party surpassed Liga Veneta: in 1991 local elections UPV gained 3.5% of the vote against 2.6% of Liga Veneta. The party was merged into Liga Veneta in 1995, after that

Franco Rocchetta Franco Rocchetta (born Venice, 12 April 1947) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, philologist and history populariser, who is usually described as the "father" of present-day Venetian nationalism and independentism. Early life and politi ...

and

Marilena Marin Marilena Marin (born 24 July 1947) is an Italian Venetian nationalism, Venetist politician. A native of Conegliano, she was a founding member of Liga Veneta in 1978–1980 and, after a party purge in 1984, she was elected national secretary of th ...

, who expelled Beggiato from that party in 1987, had been expelled too.Francesco Jori, ''Dalla Łiga alla Lega. Storia, movimenti, protagonisti'', Marsilio,

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 ...

2009, pp. 90-91

References

Sources

* *Ezio Toffano,
Short History of the Venetian Autonomism
', Raixe Venete *Furio Gallina, "Die venezianischen Lega – Bewegungen von den Anfängen bis zur Entstehung der Lega Nord", in Verschiedene Autoren, «Jeder für sich oder alle gemeinsam in Europa? Die Debatte über Identität, Wohlstand und die institutionellen Grundlagen der Union», Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2013. Political parties in Veneto Venetian nationalism Political parties established in 1987 Political parties disestablished in 1995 Italian leagues {{Italy-party-stub