Die Freiheitlichen | |
---|---|
Leader | Pius Leitner |
President | Ulli Mair |
Secretary | vacant |
Founded | 7 December 1992 |
Headquarters | via della Chiesa 62 Terlan (BZ) |
Newspaper | none |
Membership | unknown |
Ideology | German nationalism, Right-wing populism,[1] Separatism[1] |
Political position | Right-wing |
European affiliation | none |
European Parliament group | no MEPs |
International affiliation | none |
Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 630
|
Senate | 0 / 315
|
European Parliament | 0 / 73
|
Provincial Council | 5 / 35
|
Website | |
http://www.die-freiheitlichen.com/ | |
Die Freiheitlichen (roughly translating to "The Liberals" or "The Libertarians") is a German nationalist and right-wing populist political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol. It seeks to represent the German-speaking majority of the province's population and to secede South Tyrol from Italy.
The long-time leader of Die Freiheitlichen is Pius Leitner, who stepped down from party president in February 2012 and was replaced by Ulli Mair. The party's ideology is similar to that of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), especially under the leadership of Jörg Haider, and, more recently, of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ).
History
Foundation and early years
In 1992, a group of young right-wingers led by the so-called "gang of four", including Christian Waldner, former leader of the Junge Generation (the youth section of the South Tyrolean People's Party, SVP), Peter Paul Reiner, Pius Leitner and Stephan Gutweniger, left SVP. They were soon joined by disgruntled former members of the Freedom Party of South Tyrol (FPS), who were marginalized after the merger in the far-right Union for South Tyrol (UfS).
They launched the new party on 7 December 1992. In doing this, they were strongly encouraged by Jörg Haider, at the time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, which is colloquially known as Die Freiheitlichen as well.[2] Gerold Meraner, former leader of FPS who had been a founding member of UfS, considered the new party as the legitimate heir of his FPS.[3]
Under the leadership of Waldner, the party won 6.1% of the vote in the 1993 provincial election and got two provincial deputies elected, Waldner and Leitner. Soon after the election, there were clashes over the party political line between Waldner, who espoused more nationalist attitudes, and Leitner, who was the leader of the internal liberal faction. This finally led Waldner to resign in 1994 and to start his own short-lived party, "The Liberals" (renamed "Alliance 98" in 1996).[2]
Decline and resurgence
In February 1997 Waldner was shot dead by his former political ally Reiner, who instead remained a leading member of Die Freiheitlichen.[4] This dramatic event was a shock for the party and led it into a decline which seemed irreversible. In the 1998 provincial election the party's share of vote was only 2.5% and Leitner alone was elected in the Provincial Council.[5]
After that, the party saw a resurgence in 2003, when it jumped to 5.0% in the provincial election and managed to elect two provincial deputies again: Leitner and Ulli Mair, a young woman who had been party secretary since 2001.[6]
In the 2006 general election Die Freiheitlichen obtained 5.4%,[7] while in the 2008 general election the party won the 9.4% of the vote.[8] In the subsequent provincial election, Die Freiheitlichen became the second-largest party in the Province with the 14.3% of the vote (a net gain of 9.3%) and had five provincial deputies elected (up from the previous two).
Towards the Freistaat?
In February 2012, after 18 years at the head of the party, Leitner chose to step down and promote Mair as his successor.[9][10]
In March 2012, in the midst of the European sovereign-debt crisis and recession in Italy, the party officially turned to independentism, proposing the creation of a South Tyrolean independent and sovereign Freistaat (free state) through a referendum, which would need the approval also of the Italian-speaking minority.[11][12][13]
Popular support
The electoral results of the party in the Province of Bolzano since 1992 are shown in the table below.
1993 provinc. | 1994 general | 1994 European | 1996 general | 1998 provinc. | 1999 European | 2001 general | 2003 provinc. | 2004 European | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2008 provinc. | 2009 European |
6.1 | - | - | - | 2.5 | - | - | 5.0 | - | 5.4 | 9.4 | 14.3 | - |
Leadership
- President: Christian Waldner (1992–1994), Pius Leitner (1994–2012), Ulli Mair (2012–present)
- Secretary: Ulli Mair (2001–2012)
References
- ^ a b Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
- ^ a b Pallaver, Günther (2007), "Südtirols politische Parteien 1945-2005" (PDF), Die Region Trentino-Südtirol im 20. Jahrhundert — 1: Politik und Institutionen (in German), pp. 589–628
or Pallaver, Günther (2007), "I partiti politici in Alto Adige dal 1945 al 2005", La Regione Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol nel XX secolo — I: Politica e Istituzioni (in Italian) - ^ Angerer, Oswald (2000), Die Freiheitlichen Südtirols: Entstehung, Programm, Organisationsstruktur, Akzeptanz; unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit der Freiheitlichen Partei Österreichs und ihres Standpunktes in der Südtirol-Frage (thesis) (in German), University of Innsbruck, p. 39
- ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1997/febbraio/22/omicida_ideologo_degli_Schuetzen_co_0_97022211675.shtml
- ^ http://www.provinz.bz.it/vote/landtag98/landtag_i.htm
- ^ http://www.provinz.bz.it/vote/2003/risultati_provincia.htm
- ^ http://www.provinz.bz.it/vote/parl2006/camerprov_li_vg.htm
- ^ http://www.elezioni.bz.it/camerprov_li_vg.htm
- ^ http://altoadige.gelocal.it/cronaca/2012/02/06/news/leitner-lascia-la-guida-dei-freiheitlichen-dopo-18-anni-5601803
- ^ http://altoadige.gelocal.it/cronaca/2012/02/07/news/ulli-mair-obfrau-dei-freiheitlichen-5604601
- ^ http://altoadige.gelocal.it/cronaca/2012/03/15/news/varare-subito-il-libero-stato-del-s-dtirol-5705406
- ^ http://www.stol.it/Artikel/Politik-im-Ueberblick/Lokal/Verfassungsentwurf-fuer-Suedtiroler-Freistaat-Ministerpraesident-statt-Landeshauptmann
- ^ Südtiroler Blaue mit Verfassung für Freistaat, ORF, 14 March 2012