Political Opinion of the Northern League Concerning Islam Immigration
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HAO, Núm. 29 (Otoño, 2012), 107-116 ISSN 1696-2060 POLITICAL OPINION OF THE NORTHERN LEAGUE CONCERNING ISLAM IMMIGRATION. Anna Molnár1. 1Pannon University, Hungary E-mail: [email protected] Recibido: 27 Agosto 2011 / Revisado: 3 Octubre 2011 / Aceptado: 14 Febrero 2011 / Publicación Online: 15 Octubre 2012 Resumen: Nowadays, of all social competence, while the member States are short phenomena in the West European countries of the necessary financial or human recourses to it is the problem of rapidly increasing be able to handle this cross-border problem. immigration that causes the severest tensions. The majority society senses the Today we can recognise the parallel processes of the increase in the number of immigrants and fact that the immigrants in constantly the slowing down of their assimilation. The increasing numbers are less and less able to majority society senses the fact that the integrate into the country of destination, immigrants in constantly increasing numbers are which phenomenon has been causing less and less able to integrate into the country of increasing tensions leading to the destination, which phenomenon has been strengthening of the extremist and causing increasing tensions leading to the nationalistic or micro-nationalistic parties all strengthening of the extremist and nationalistic over Europe. The regionalist and populist or micro-nationalistic parties all over Europe. party, the Northern League traces back the otherwise excessively complex problems The Northern League traces back the otherwise mostly rooted in society itself to the over- excessively complex problems mostly rooted in society itself to the over-simplified conflict simplified conflict between localism and 1 between localism and globalisation. globalisation. Continuing the chain of thoughts on simplification, all this for many means that Palabras clave: Northern League, Italy, Islam, immigration is accounted for all the social migration, Umberto Bossi, populismo, tension.2 euroscepticism The issue of immigration is in the centre of the ______________________ right-wing, populist party, the Northern League. Roberto Castelli a politician of the Northern INTRODUCTION. League emphasised that immigrants arriving form outside the EU primarily extract recourses owadays, of all social phenomena in the instead of creating sources for the country. 3 West European countries it is the Nproblem of rapidly increasing As a political poster of the Northern League for immigration that causes the severest tensions. regional elections of 2005 in Piedmont This is in fact the only question for which no communicates, the people of Piedmontese origin adequate answer has been found either on the are the last in social service lines. We can national or on the community level, in spite of observe that even though the leadership of the the programs facilitating social integration with League dismisses accuses of racism and access to significant European resources. For the pronounces that the party is not violent there time being the European Union lacks the © Historia Actual Online 2012 107 Political opinion of the Northern League... Anna Molnár have been interviews, political speeches, which League which was officially founded in 1991 as might easily signal xenophobia. a federation of leagues from different northern regions, replacing the originally linguistic, cultural community by an economic, social unity "Guess who is last?" of interests. The reference base of the new party, instead of a single respective region, became the North, Padania,8 thus the road to policy-making at the national level opened as well. Their first success was reached in 1992 when at the political elections the NL was supported by 8.6% of the voters turning it into the forth party in Italy. This electoral success was significantly facilitated by the ongoing process of the collapse of the Italian party system of the First Republic as a consequence of the activity of the movement of “mani pulite” as well as the collapse of the Eastern block.9 Due to the change in the international environment and the corruption scandals concerning Christian Democrats (DC) and Socialists (PSI), the coalition (pentapartito) led by the Italian Christian Democrats lost power and was no longer needed. Simultaneously, as a result of the We can mention as an example the case of corruption scandals (movement of the mani Erminio Boso, a local leader from Trentino, who pulite), the majority of traditional parties had to suggested that different train compartments be face a similar crisis situation. The League could arranged for native Italians and immigrants in easily step in to take their place. order to separate them from each other.4 At he same time, however, the NL does not intend to In 1993, leaving a political vacuum behind, the defend the local culture through violence, but Italian Christian democracy finally dissolved, rather through democratic legislation.5 This goal and the voter support of its successor parties is also supported by Silvio Berlusconi, leader of also significantly decreased. Consequently, the the centre-right coalition, who announced vacuum in the internal politics was filled already the day after the 2008 election victory suddenly by a new type of political parties. In that they would counteract illegal immigration the 90s, at the right of the political palette there in a more effective way, also through were three new parties that attracted most voters reinforcing the police. In May 2008, following with a right-wing orientation: Forza Italia (FI), the set-up of the new government, Roberto National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale – AN) Maroni, minister of internal affairs, also and the Northern League. This process naturally promised more rigorous measures.6 did not occur without any precedents as the routes of the Northern League can be traced 1. THE PAST 20 YEARS. back already to the 80s. At the same time, the National Alliance grew out of the Italian Social The history of the NL started in the Veneto Movement (MSI, Movimento Sociale Italiano). region.7 The predecessor of the NL together In 1993, a new party emerged to oppose the with practically all other leagues used to centre–left coalition: Forza Italia. This party constitute the League of Veneto, a federation indeed constituted a totally new, unprecedented with an ethno-regional character. The party political construct. The huge gap in the right- achieved its first important success in the 1983 wing was finally bridged by the media magnate elections, when in the region they received 4.3% Silvio Berlusconi. of the total votes. In the second half of the ’80- ies, however, the centre of the different regional As a consequence of the deepening political leagues was re-located to Lombardy, and their crisis in 1994 early elections were held, won by leader Umberto Bossi won a seat in the Senate the centre-right coalition under the leadership of in 1987. Bossi, who recognised the limitations Silvio Berlusconi also known in politics as of ethno-regionalism, created the Northern homo novus. Because of the conflict between 108 © Historia Actual Online 2012 HAO, Núm. 29 (Otoño, 2012), 107-116 ISSN 1696-2060 the coalition parties, the fist Berlusconi economy, and the broadening of regional tasks government could only reign for a short period. and competencies. Although the League did not Bossi signed the no-confidence motion handed reach the 4% threshold (only 3.97%), and was in by the centre-left parties in December 1994, severely reduced in its parliamentary thus contributing to the government’s failure. representation, in the coalition House of Freedoms they could still participate in the II. Following the government’s collapse, the League became isolated in the political sense; Berlusconi government, with Umberto Bossi they were not content any more with the federal getting the post of minister without portfolio reform of the country, but additionally set as a responsible for the reforms. However he could goal the secession of Padania. Both the party’s not fulfil his basic goal, that is achieving political aims and style turned more radical. In devolution based on the English model, so the the campaign for the 1994 elections the NL primary message of his 2008 election campaign went into opposition against both party was again the question of fiscal federalism and coalitions (“Roma Polo”, “Roma Ulivo”). immigration, and this time putting emphasis on the security issue the NL doubled its voters base. Umberto Bossi attacked Berlusconi even more In the beginning, the Northern League was a radically calling him “Mafioso of Arcore”, multi-ideological catch-all party whose ideology comparing him to Goebbels and claiming that he was a combination of political federalism, fiscal was a person fully incompatible with federalism and regionalism. Its political democracy. With these attacks and its anti- ideology shifted from libertarianism to a socially Berlusconism, Bossi intended to regain his conservative approach, from pro-Europeanism previous voters.10 Eventually in the early to Euro-scepticism. The transformation of this parliamentary elections the NL reached an anti-elitist party from a catch-all party to a unexpected success with gaining 10.1% of the populist one was recognised by Ilvo Diamanti.12 votes. A possible reason of this rise may have been that the NL, unlike all other parties, placed 2. REASONS FOR THE SUCCESS. the emphasises on the regional federal problems, and the so called Northern question. The rise and success of the NL was underpinned by several factors. Among them, first of all we Nevertheless the ambition for policy-making on can mention the growing regionalism and strive the nation level and the regulation of the new for autonomy, as a consequences of the 1993 election Bill made it necessary for the NL dissatisfaction with the operation of the to join one of the election coalitions. The centralised State (“thieving Rome”). In addition radicalisation of the League’s political the conflict between the North and the South communication was shown in raising their voice also sharpened due to the growth of anti-South against immigration, the Brussels technocracy feelings, and intolerance.