Mani pulite: Encyclopedia II - Mani pulite - Effect on National Politics

Mani pulite - Effect on National Politics

In the local December elections, DC lost half of their votes. The day after that, Bettino Craxi, leader of the Italian Socialist Party, was officially accused of corruption. After many other politicians were accused and jailed, Craxi eventually resigned.

On March 5, 1993, the Italian government of Giuliano Amato and his justice minister Luigi Conso tried to find a solution with a new law for party financing, removing penal charges for many crimes and introducing instead small civil charges; this would have resulted in an amnesty for most corruption charges. Among public outrage and nationwide rallies, the Italian president of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro refused to sign the law, deeming it unconstitutional. The following week, a US$250 million affair involving Eni, the government-controlled national energy society, was revealed. The stream of accusation, jailing and confessions continued.

On March 25, 1993, the Italian parliament changed the electoral law in favor of a majoritarian system, as a consequence of a batch of popular referendums. Still shocked by the recent events, the Parliament was unable to produce a new government. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, former governor of the national bank, was appointed head of the government and produced a technical government without political influences. In the meantime, the investigation of Craxi was blocked by the parliament. Several members of the government, having been in office just three days, resigned in protest; among them was Francesco Rutelli, minister of the Environment. In new local elections on June 6, 1993, DC again lost half of its votes. The socialist party virtually disappeared. The Lega Nord, a protest movement with some ideological elements ranging from xenophobia and racism to independence from the rest of Italy and a general loath of the political system, became the strongest political force in Northern Italy. The left opposition was approaching majority, but still lacked unity and leadership.

Eventually, all four parties in government in 1992 disappeared, at different times in different ways: the Christian Democracy, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, and the Italian Liberal Party. The Italian Communist Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Movimento Sociale Italiano were the only surviving national parties; the Republican party is the only one that has maintained its name since, and the only one that had participated in a national government.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Effect on National Politics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki