Giancarlo Giorgetti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaŋˈkarlo dʒorˈdʒetti]; born 16 December 1966) is an Italian politician and prominent member of the League, of which he became deputy secretary in 2016. Since October 2022, Giorgetti has served as Minister of Economy and Finance in the government of Giorgia Meloni. Previously, he was Secretary of the Council of Ministers from June 2018 until September 2019, in the government of Giuseppe Conte and later Minister of Economic Development from February 2021 until October 2022, in the government of Mario Draghi.

Giancarlo Giorgetti
Giorgetti in 2023
Minister of Economy and Finance
Assumed office
22 October 2022
Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni
Preceded byDaniele Franco
Minister of Economic Development
In office
13 February 2021 – 22 October 2022
Prime MinisterMario Draghi
Preceded byStefano Patuanelli
Succeeded byAdolfo Urso
Secretary of the Council of Ministers
In office
1 June 2018 – 5 September 2019
Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte
Preceded byMaria Elena Boschi
Succeeded byRiccardo Fraccaro
Deputy Federal Secretary of the League
Assumed office
26 February 2016
SecretaryMatteo Salvini
Preceded byEdoardo Rixi
Riccardo Molinari
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Assumed office
9 May 1996
ConstituencyLombardy
Mayor of Cazzago Brabbia
In office
23 April 1995 – 12 June 2004
Preceded byEnrico Simonetta
Succeeded byMassimo Nicora
Personal details
Born (1966-12-16) 16 December 1966 (age 58)
Cazzago Brabbia, Varese, Italy
Political partyMSI (1984–1990)
League (since 1990)
SpouseLaura Ferrari
Children1
EducationBocconi University
OccupationTax advisor

Early life and career

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Giorgetti was born in 1966 in Cazzago Brabbia, a small town in the Province of Varese. He later graduated in business economics at the Bocconi University, becoming a tax advisor and financial auditor.

During the university he was close to the Youth Front, the youth-wing of the nationalist Italian Social Movement (MSI).[1] However, in the early 1990s, he joined Lega Lombarda and Lega Nord, the separatist movements founded by Umberto Bossi, and on 23 April 1995 he was elected mayor of his hometown, Cazzago Brabbia, a position that he held until 12 June 2004.[2]

Political career

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Elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1996 Italian general election, he was re-elected in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2018. From 2001 to 2006, he was the chairman of the Budget Committee in the Chamber. Within the party, he was national secretary of Lega Lombarda from 2002 to 2012 and has been deputy federal secretary of Lega Nord since 2016.

Giorgetti was described by The New York Times as a powerful aide to Umberto Bossi,[3] founder and federal secretary of Lega Nord from 1991 to 2012; and by The Economist as his "dauphin".[4] In 2010, The Guardian described him as an "influential member of Berlusconi's Lega Nord party",[5] where Berlusconi stood erroneously for Bossi. Under Matteo Salvini, Bossi's opponent and new federal secretary of Lega Nord since 2013, Giorgetti continued to be one of the most influential members of the party.[6]

Political views and controversies

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Giorgetti is a federalist and regionalist politician who supports decentralization. Speaking at the 2018 edition of the Communion and Liberation's Rimini Meeting on 20 August 2018, he addressed the rise of populism, stating that "the Italian Parliament doesn't matter anymore because it's no longer understood by citizens, who see it as a place of political inconclusiveness".[7] In 2006, Giorgetti found himself at the center of a controversy for having refused in 2004 a 50–100,000 euro bribe from Italian banker Gianpiero Fiorani.[8][9]

Giorgetti is a vocal supporter of a first-past-the-post based electoral system and pushes for a return to the Italian electoral law of 1993 (Mattarellum), although it was repealed in favor of the Italian electoral law of 2005 (Porcellum, subsequently declared unconstitutional) with Lega Nord's support.[10] In 2020, Giorgetti argued that Italy needs an electoral system that "makes possible to govern. Of all the electoral systems I've known, the one that worked best is Mattarellum", saying that "local mayors, entrepreneurs, professionals and people representing their own territory were brought into nationwide politics thanks to FPTP's single-member districts mechanism".[citation needed]

Electoral history

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Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
1996 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 2 – Sesto Calende LN 29,314  Y Elected
2001 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 2 – Sesto Calende LN 41,184  Y Elected
2006 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 1 LN [a]  Y Elected
2008 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 1 LN [a]  Y Elected
2013 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 2 LN [a]  Y Elected
2018 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 2 Lega [a]  Y Elected
2022 Chamber of Deputies Lombardy 2 – Sondrio Lega 108,138  Y Elected
  1. ^ a b c d Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.

First-past-the-post elections

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1996 general election (C): Lombardy 2 — Sesto Calende
Candidate Coalition Votes %
Giancarlo Giorgetti Lega Nord 29,314 37.8
Renato Montalbetti The Olive Tree 27,783 30.7
Carlo Castiglioni Pole for Freedoms 22,633 29.2
Others 1,844 2.4
Total 77,574 100.0
2001 general election (C): Lombardy 2 — Sesto Calende
Candidate Coalition Votes %
Giancarlo Giorgetti House of Freedoms 41,184 54.5
Renato Montalbetti The Olive Tree 28,363 37.5
Others 6,042 8.0
Total 75,589 100.0
2022 general election (C): Lombardy 2 — Sondrio
Candidate Coalition Votes %
Giancarlo Giorgetti Centre-right 108,138 61.8
Valeria Caterina Duico Centre-left 34,596 19.8
Alessandro Stefano Bertolini Action - Italia Viva 14,949 8.5
Luca Sangalli Five Star Movement 8,535 4.9
Others 8,375 5.0
Total 174,829 100.0

References

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  1. ^ Ignazio e Bobo, eterni rivali, Corriere della Sera
  2. ^ [giorgetti sindaco cazzago Giorgetti, il villaggio del ministro pescatore], la Repubblica
  3. ^ Donadio, Rachel (15 September 2010). "A New Power Broker Rises in Italy". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020. "As a member of the league, I should say that I want to vote tomorrow," said Giancarlo Giorgetti, the chairman of the Lower House budget committee and one of Mr. Bossi's most powerful deputies.
  4. ^ "Bossi's boots: Its leader gravely ill, the Northern League faces an uncertain future". The Economist. 22 April 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2020. Two years ago, Mr Bossi called Giancarlo Giorgetti, the 37-year-old secretary of the Lombard League, the original core of the party, his "dauphin".
  5. ^ Matt Scott (27 January 2010). "Questions remain over Notts County affairs ahead of court date". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2020. It is strongly possible that the contact was made on the recommendation of Giancarlo Giorgetti, an influential member of Berlusconi's Northern League party who just so happens to be a massive Saints fan.
  6. ^ "Tanti consiglieri intorno a Salvini, ma il leader ascolta solo Giorgetti" [Many advisers around Salvini, but the leader only listens to Giorgetti]. Linkiesta (in Italian). 26 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Meeting Rimini, Giorgetti: 'Parlamento non conta più nulla, democrazia un feticcio'" [Rimini Meeting, Giorgetti: 'Parliament doesn't matter anymore, democracy is a fetish']. la Repubblica (in Italian). 20 August 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Travaglio a Servizio pubblico: chi sono i saggi e la mazzetta alla Camera" [Travaglio speaks during Servizio pubblico: who are the wise men and the bribe in the Chamber of Deputies]. leggioggi.it (in Italian). 5 April 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  9. ^ "La mazzetta per Giorgetti non si trova" [Bribe for Giorgetti is nowhere to be found]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 8 March 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Legge elettorale, Giorgetti: "Torniamo al Mattarellum"" [Electoral law, Giorgetti: 'Let's go back to Mattarellum'] (in Italian). 14 January 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
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