Roberto Formigoni
8th President of Lombardy
In office
27 June 1995 – 18 March 2013
Preceded byPaolo Arrigoni
Succeeded byRoberto Maroni
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office
15 March 2013 – 22 March 2018
ConstituencyLombardy
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
2 July 1987 – 27 June 1995
ConstituencyMilan
Member of the European Parliament for North-West Italy
In office
24 July 1984 – 25 July 1994
Personal details
Born (1947-03-30) 30 March 1947
Lecco, Italy
Political partyNcl (since 2017)
Other political
affiliations		DC (1973–1994)
PPI (1994–1995)
CDU (1995–1998)
CDL (1998–2001)
FI (2001–2009)
PdL (2009–2013)
NCD (2013–2017)
AP (2017)
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
ResidenceMilan
Alma materUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
ProfessionPolitician, Communion and Liberation movement's former unofficial political spokesman[2][3]

Roberto Formigoni (born 30 March 1947) is an Italian politician.[4][5] He was the president of Lombardy from 1995 to 2013. He is the former unofficial political spokesperson of the Communion and Liberation movement. On 21 February 2019, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest court in Italy, found him guilty of corruption and sentenced him to a definitive jail term of 5 years and 10 months. As a result, he has been detained in the prison of Bollate, near Milan, Italy, since February 2019.[6][7]

Career

Born in Lecco in the Lombardy region, Formigoni began his political career early in Christian Democracy through youth movements, such as Gioventù Studentesca and Communion and Liberation, of which he became the unofficial political spokesman. In 1976, he founded the Popular Movement and was elected a deputy in both the European Parliament (with over 450,000 votes) and Italian Parliament. He was also the vice-president of the European Parliament for five years and served as undersecretary of state for the Ministry of the Environment in the Italian government.

In 1990, Formigoni garnered attention when he was involved in a mission to Iraq that successfully concluded with the freeing of some Italian technicians who were hostages of the local government. He later took part in the oil-for-food programme for Iraq, buying 1,000,000 oil barrels (160,000 cubic metres). The move sparked controversy and linked him to alleged bribe scandals. In 1995, he and Rocco Buttiglione founded the United Christian Democrats party. In 1998, he moved to Forza Italia, when Buttiglione briefly decided to support the government of Massimo D'Alema.

In 1995, Formigoni was elected president of Lombardy. Leftist groups opposed his centre-right platform. Formigoni was re-elected in 2000 carrying over 62% of the approximately 3.5 million votes, and in 2005 with almost 54% of the approximately 2.8 million votes. He was elected to a fourth term in March 2010 with 56% of the approximately 2.7 million votes. His candidature had been contested by academics and left-wing politicians, as in disregard of Law no. 165/2004, which put a limit of two consecutive mandates to directly elected regional presidents. Formigoni was indirectly elected in 1995 but then directly elected in 2000 and 2005. He defended himself, stating that the law was not in vigour when he was first directly elected in 2000, so he should be allowed a fourth mandate. According to some scholars, his mandate could have been overturned by judges later on.[8][9]

Controversies

Formigoni candidated the Italian showgirl Nicole Minetti and dental hygienist of the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who asked for a political seat for her, and this was contested by Italian newspapers. On 16 October 2012, Formigoni announced the dissolution of the regional legislature after one of his commissioners, Domenico Zambetti of the People of Freedom, was arrested on accusations he bought votes from the 'Ndrangheta in 2010 and extorted favours and public building contracts, including construction tenders for the World Expo 2015 in Milan.[10][11]

Italian court sentences against Formigoni

2000s: Bribery and environmental pollution

In 2002, Formigoni was judged for bribery due the landfill in Cerro Maggiore.[12] In December 2009, Formigoni was tried illegal environmental pollution.[13][14][15]

2010s: Freemasonry, criminal association, and defamatory behavior against Italian judges

Formigoni was interrogated by Italian Court in Rome due the Propaganda Due (P2) Freemasonry group.[16][17][18] In July 2012, he was sentenced to 1 year of imprisonment due defamation.[19] In January 2014, he was convicted of defaming the Italian judge, Alfredo Robledo.[20]

On 25 July 2012, Formigoni was convicted of bribery by Italian courts.[21][22] On 12 February 2013, he was investigated due criminal group activities.[23] On 3 March 2014, Formigoni was convicted for criminal association activities and bribery.[24] On 15 April 2016, the prosecution asked to sentence Formigoni to 9 years of prison and described him as a "boss of criminal group" due his tactical bribery attitudes that lasted more than 10 years while he managed more than 70 million euro public money.[25][26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Formigoni: un anno a stecchetto Così ho perso 17 chili" (in Italian). 2014..
  2. ↑ "Senza Formigoni e Lupi la rete di Cl è più forte di prima – l'Espresso". espresso.repubblica.it. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Formigoni e Cl: il declino di una lobby?". Indygesto. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Il ritorno di Formigoni: condannato a 6 anni, Fdi lo vorrebbe candidare alle prossime Europee". L'Espresso (in Italian). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  5. ↑ "Formigoni possibile candidato, l'endorsement del governatore Fontana: 'Ottimo politico, sarebbe un arricchimento per tutti'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 9 May 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Formigoni convicted in Maugeri case, goes to jail. Gets 5 yrs 10 mts, defence wants house arrest". ANSA. ANSA. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Formigoni è entrato in carcere a Bollate. I legali chiedono i domiciliari". ANSA. ANSA. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Vittorio Angiolini, professore ordinario di Diritto costituzionale dell'Università di Milano; Margherita Raveraira, Università di Perugia Il limite del doppio mandato alla immediata rielezione del Presidente della giunta regionale: una questione complessa Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Federalismi.it
  9. ↑ Michele Ainis, La terza via di Errani e Formigoni, La Stampa, 25 gennaio 2010
  10. ↑ Italy corruption probes claim Lombardy legislature, Miami Herald, 16 October 2012
  11. ↑ Mafia probe claims political victim, Financial Times, 14 October 2012
  12. ↑ "Formigoni rinviato a giudizio per la discarica di Cerro". La Repubblica. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  13. ↑ Ansa – Inquinamento in Lombardia
  14. ↑ Inquinamento, Formigoni indagato dai pm di Milano, Corriere della Sera, 1º dicembre 2009
  15. ↑ Smog, indagato anche Penati, Corriere della Sera, 26 gennaio 2010
  16. ↑ La P3 agì su mandato di Formigoni Archived 17 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ ""Il gruppo agì per conto di Formigoni "Cesare" pseudonimo del premier" – Corriere della Sera". corriere.it. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Per il gruppo Berlusconi era "Cesare" Informativa tira in ballo Formigoni e Caliendo". Repubblica.it. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Formigoni condannato ha diffamato i Radicali – Milano". Repubblica.it. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "Oil for food, "Formigoni diffamò pm Robledo, versi 40mila euro" – Il Fatto Quotidiano". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 20 January 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Formigoni indagato per corruzione "Non temo nulla, resto al mio posto"". 16 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Luigi Ferrarella e Giuseppe Guastella (26 July 2012). "Le accuse "Yacht, viaggi e una villa Tangenti per 7 milioni in cambio di 15 delibere"". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  23. ↑ "Maugeri, chiusa inchiesta, Formigoni fra indagati associazione delinquere". Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
  24. ↑ Sandro de Riccardis (3 March 2014). "Caso Maugeri, Formigoni sarà processato per associazione a delinquere e corruzione". La Repubblica. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "Roberto Formigoni, chiesti nove anni per ex governatore nel processo Maugeri. Pm: "Corruzione sistemica"". 15 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "Caso Maugeri, via libera al sequestro di pensione e vitalizi di Formigoni: 5 milioni di euro". 16 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
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