Nello Musumeci

Nello Musumeci
Musumeci in 2017
Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 October 2022
Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni
Preceded byMara Carfagna
President of Sicily
In office
18 November 2017 – 13 October 2022
Preceded byRosario Crocetta
Succeeded byRenato Schifani
Member of the Senate of the Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 October 2022
ConstituencyCatania
Member of the European Parliament
for Italian Islands
In office
19 July 1994 – 14 July 2009
President of Province of Catania
In office
19 February 1994 – 25 May 2003
Preceded byAntonio Pennisi
Succeeded byRaffaele Lombardo
Personal details
Born
Sebastiano Musemeci

(1955-01-21) 21 January 1955 (age 69)
Militello in Val di Catania, Italy
Political partyDB (since 2014)
FdI (since 2022)
Other political
affiliations		MSI (1970–1995)
AN (1995–2005)
AS (2005–2007)
LD (2007–2014)
Alma materKore University of Enna
Profession

Sebastiano "Nello" Musumeci (born 21 January 1955) is a right-wing Italian politician. Musumeci is serving as Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies since 22 October 2022 in the government of Giorgia Meloni. He previously served as president of Sicily from 18 November 2017 until 13 October 2022.

Musumeci was a Member of the European Parliament for the Italian seat Islands, where he was a member of the Union for a Europe of Nations parliamentary group. He sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries and its Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.

Biography

Musumeci was born in Militello in Val di Catania, Sicily. At the age of fifteen, Musumeci became a member of Giovane Italia, the youth organization of "Italian Social Movement", a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. After completing his studies in communication sciences, Musumeci began working as a banker at the UniCredit group a global banking and financial services company.[1]

Following his stint as a banker, he began his career as a journalist. In the 1980s, Musumeci also taught at the Istituto Supreriore di Giornalismo in Catania. Later, Musumeci became one of the founders of the Istituto Siciliano di Studi Politici ed Economici (ISSPE).

At the age of twenty, he served as a municipal councilor in his hometown of Militello in Val di Catania. Soon, he became Deputy Mayor of Gravina di Catania and Castel de Judica.[1]

In 1990, he was elected Provincial Councilor of Catania and in 1994, as a member of the MSI and not yet forty, he became President of the province of Catania. In 1995, Musumeci joined the National Alliance Party and represented the region as a Member of the European Parliament in Brussels.[1]

Committed to fighting crime, Musumeci became president of the regional anti-mafia commission. Between the years 1995-2001, and again between 2005 and 2006, Musumeci received several threats from the mafia and was forced to live under guard.[1]

He is the founder and current leader of DiventeràBellissima,[2] a regionalist party of Sicily[clarification needed], after having left National Alliance in 2005 and founded the Sicilian Alliance. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the Sicilian Region in 2006 obtaining 5.3% of the votes, and again in 2012 when he came second with 25.7%.[3]

He was a substitute for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as for the delegation to the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary committee.

President of Sicily

In November 2017, Musumeci won the Sicilian Regional Election with 39.9% of the vote. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) candidate Giacarlo Canceller received 36.6% and the center-left candidate Fabrizio Micari representing the Democratic Party received 18.6%. Musumeci also secured a majority in the regional assembly when his center-right coalition received 36 of 70 seats.[4]

Musumeci won the election with the support of Silvio Berlusconi, founder of the centre-right party Forza Italia (FI), who campaigned heavily for him in the runup to the election. Former PM Berlusconi promised the citizens of Sicily everything from a bridge over the Strait of Messina to a casino in Taormina. Following Musumeci's victory, he claimed to "fight for Italy and show what we can do".[5]

Besides battling crime, Musumeci is grappling with pressing regional issues, including the effects of climate change, as Sicily has been experiencing major weather events that have impacted the coast in Palermo recently. Musumeci will need to decide what to do with the inadequate infrastructure and those left homeless.[6] Also, the Zafferana area in the vicinity of Mount Etna experienced a moderate earthquake on 26 December 2018 that left a number of people injured.[7] The new president is also addressing the promised bridge across the Messina Strait.[8]

Minister

Musumeci became a member of the Italian Senate in September 2022, and he serves as Minister for Civil Protection and Sea Policies since 22 October 2022 in the Meloni Cabinet.

Education

  • 1973: secondary school-leaving certificate in technical subjects
  • Studies in law
  • Bank teller and journalist publicist
  • 1983: teacher at the Higher Institute of Journalism of Acireale

Career

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Chi è Nello Musumeci? Biografia e risultati del nuovo governatore della Sicilia". Money.it (in Italian). 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. ^ "www.ars.sicilia.it". Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Regional Elections of 28 October 2012, Sicily". Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Musumeci elected Sicily governor with 39.9% of vote - English". 7 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Musumeci beats M5S in Sicily (2) - English". 6 November 2017.
  6. ^ "12 storm deaths in Sicily, illegal building blamed - English". 5 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Earthquake in Sicily injures 28, displaces 600". 27 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Nello Musumeci: "La Regione siciliana è per il Ponte senza se e senza ma"".
  9. ^ See also: 2004 European Parliament election in Italy)
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