Chronology of Italian Political Events, 2006
CHRONOLOGY OF ITALIAN POLITICAL EVENTS, 2006 January 1 With the exception in particular of Rifondazione Comunista (RC, Communist Refoundation) and the Lega Nord (LN, Northern League) and, to a lesser extent, the Partito dei Comunisti Italiani (PdCI, Party of Italian Communists) and the Partito Radicale (Radical Party), the political parties express their admiration for the end-of-year address by the president of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The “gas war” breaks out between Russia and Ukraine. 2 The spokesperson for Piero Fassino, secretary of the Democratici di Sinistra (DS, Left Democrats), criticizes the newspaper Il Gior- nale for publishing wiretap transcripts of conversations between Fassino and the president of Unipol, Giovanni Consorte, and calls on the president of the Chamber of Deputies to take action. The Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI, National Hydrocarbon Corporation) announces a 25 percent reduction in natural gas imports from Russia. 3 The president of the Senate, Marcello Pera, calls for urgent reform of the laws regulating wiretapping. Justice Minister Roberto Cas- telli sends inspectors to the Milan district attorney’s office to investigate the role of magistrates in leaking information from the Unipol case. 4 In a letter to the newspaper La Stampa, Romano Prodi speaks out on the Unipol case, saying, “For some time, there has been a level of closeness between politics and economic institutions that, in certain instances, has been excessive.” Consorte is accused of criminal association. Compiled by Rinaldo Vignati 2 Chronology of Italian Political Events, 2006 5 Silvio Berlusconi launches an attack on the cooperatives, saying that “they do not pay their taxes” and accusing them of using their profits to finance the parties of the left.
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