Separatism the Italian way: the Northern League

Contemporary Review, Feb, 1997 by Paolo Tripodi

The 15th of September 1996 marked one of the strangest days of Italy's recent history. Umberto Bossi proclaimed the independence of the so-called Padania, the Latin name for the region around the river Po, to be established in under a year. At the end of a three day demonstration that began on 13 September from the mouth of the river Po, Bossi declared in the final gathering of Northern League supporters in Venice: 'From today in the North there are two legitimacies: one is that of the temporary government of Padania, the other is that of the Italian government'. Consequently Padania's flag, a green sun on a white field, replaced the Italian tricolour. This course of events ensured that the Italian and international media gave full coverage to this delicate situation, with journalistic inquiry directed at determining the level of support Bossi had for his separatist proposals. Participation in the demonstration was below Bossi's forecasts on the eve of the rally, but it was still a significant turnout. Most of the opinion leaders saw the League's initiative as a failure. In the Il Corriere della Sera Giulio Anselmi spoke of a 'Virtual Padania', an illusory project. Even the Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, said that the events along the river Po were nothing more than a small rally, yet he emphasised the urgency of beginning political talks to discuss institutional reforms. However, beyond these three days that concentrated the attention of many observers of Italian politics, the question over the future of the League and its ability to push for institutional reforms to facilitate a federalist model or separatism still remain unanswered.

The second obvious problem is the attitude of the Italian government and of the opposition towards the League. Defining Bossi as a barbarian or a clown did not reduce his electoral support. Election after election in northern Italy enlarged the voter share of the separatist movement. The centre left, currently in power, and the centre-right opposition are facing a substantial loss in their electoral pull. What is surprising is that according to a poll carried out in northern Italy on 3 and 4 September by SWG and the magazine Famiglia Cristiana only 6 per cent of those interviewed would follow the League in a declaration of secession of the North from Italy. Generally a small amount of people from northern Italy would have as hostile an attitude towards Italy as Bossi has, while among the older generations the concept of separatism is a difficult one to take on board, even if they vote for the Bossi's movement.

Following the April 1996 general elections the League confirmed its strong position in northern Italy. Nationally it obtained 10 per cent of votes, one and a half points percentage more than in the 1994 elections, but it has to be considered that the League has its strongholds in the Northern regions. For example in Lombardia and Piedmont the League obtained more than 20 per cent of preferences, positioning itself as the second party after Berlusconi's Forza Italia and in Veneto it achieved an unexpected result of 30 per cent, installing itself as the first party in the region. Consequently the League elected 59 deputies and 27 senators, a political result even more significant than the one obtained by the Communist Refoundation and by several other smaller parties belonging to the two main coalitions.

The journey that brought the League to this electoral success began in the early 1980s and has its origins in the many regional formations that cropped up in that period. The roots of the Northern League grow in fact from the commitment of small movements to protect their regional cultural background, emphasising the necessity of preserving dialects and demanding greater autonomy from the centralised state in Rome. The first of these movements was the Liga Veneta (Venetian League), established in 1983 and able to elect in the same year's general elections one deputy with 125,311 preferences. At the 1987 general elections the Liga Veneta suffered a minor setback but as compensation the Lega Lombarda (Lombard League), entered into electoral competition achieving a 2.7 per cent share in the region. The appearance of these two regional movements in the North did not provoke apprehension in Italy. The political establishment, the media and the analysts of political developments considered the showing of the Liga Veneta and Lega Lombarda as a part of a more widespread phenomenon.

From the end of the 1980s, in fact, Italy experienced the proliferation of several minor political movements such as the Pensioner's Party and another supporting 'Hunting and Fishing'. The fragmentation of the political scene was due to the lack of governmental stability and the loss of public confidence for the traditional parties. Since the Christian Democrats found their power limited in imposing their leadership in the government coalition, the administration of the country became more and more difficult. Moreover people from the north voiced strong criticism against the inefficiency of the state apparatus and against the taxation system that, in their view, was not balanced between the north and south of the country.