Walter VeltroniOMRI (Italian pronunciation:[ˈvaltervelˈtroːni]; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician. He served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the Italian centre-left opposition until his resignation on 17 February 2009.[1] He also served as mayor of Rome from June 2001 to February 2008.
Early life and family
Veltroni was born in Rome. His father, Vittorio Veltroni, an eminent RAI manager in the 1950s, died one year after his birth.[2] His mother, Ivanka Kotnik, was the daughter of Ciril Kotnik, a Slovenian diplomat at the Holy See who helped numerous Jews and anti-fascists to escape Nazi persecution after 1943.[3]
Veltroni, a professional journalist, was editor-in-chief of L'Unità, the newspaper of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) from 1992 to 1996. He then ran as one of the leading members of The Olive Tree coalition in the 1996 Italian general election. After The Olive Tree's victory, he served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities from 1996 to 1998, joining 25 other PDS members in the cabinet, which was the first former PCI members to take part in government since 1947. Also in 1996, he joined the Bilderberg Meeting. In 1998, he resigned, subsequent to his election as National Secretary of the Democrats of the Left (DS). Despite his background as a journalist, he has been involved in controversial episodes related to freedom of expression. For example, in 2001, after the late-night show Satyricon aired an interview that discussed indictments on links between the right-wing leader and the mafia, Marco Travaglio reported that Veltroni dispatched a messenger menacing the closure of the show.[4]
Mayor of Rome
In 2001, Veltroni resigned as leader of the party after being elected mayor of Rome. In May 2006, Veltroni was confirmed mayor of Rome, easily defeating Gianni Alemanno, a former Minister of Agriculture and then a member of National Alliance, obtaining an unprecedented 61.4% of the valid votes against the 37.1% achieved by Alemanno. The percentage of votes that supported Veltroni's second term in office was a record in local elections in Rome. Shortly before this confirmation, Veltroni had declared that he was going to leave politics at the end of his second term as mayor.[citation needed] In 2005, as mayor of Rome, he met in Washington during a visit to the United States the then United States senator Barack Obama,[5] being one of his earliest supporters overseas.[6] He wrote the preface to the Italian edition of The Audacity of Hope in 2007,[7] and has been referred to as "Obama's European counterpart".[8]
By 2007, Veltroni was widely considered one of the most popular centre-left politicians in Italy, and often singled out for the leadership of the Democratic Party (PD), despite his statements that he would not accept such position after his tenure as mayor would end. In June 2007, DS leader Piero Fassino publicly asked Veltroni to run for the party leadership, offering support from all of his party. Several other PD leading members publicly stated their support for a possible candidacy of Veltroni. Furthermore, the strongest of his possible contenders, Pier Luigi Bersani, which polls showed as having a 50% support in regions of Central and Northern Italy,[9] withdrew to avoid a "confusing candidacy".[10] Veltroni officially presented his candidacy for the leadership of the PD at a rally in Turin on 27 June 2007. At this occasion, he introduced the four key issues his programme would address: environment, generational pact, education, and public security.[11]
Leader of the Democratic Party
Veltroni during the electoral campaign in April 2008
Veltroni was elected as the first leader of the newly founded PD on 14 October 2007, winning an open primary with around 2.6 million votes, or 75.8%.[12] In 2007, Veltroni had some remarks against the Romanian immigrants, claiming that Italy has become "unlivable" since Romania joined the European Union,[13] while before its entry Rome was "the safest city in the world", bringing accusations of xenophobia from the Romanian press.[14]
Following the 2008 Italian political crisis that led to the defeat of Romano Prodi's government in a January vote in the Senate of the Republic,[15] Veltroni led the PD into the 2008 Italian general election on 13–14 April 2008. Veltroni resigned as mayor of Rome on 13 February 2008 to concentrate on the campaign.[16] He was criticized for his over-frequentation of Rome socialites and was advised to focus on more practical problems.[17]
On 17 February 2009, following clashes within the party and only a day after a heavy defeat of the PD in the 2009 Sardinian regional election,[18] Veltroni announced his immediate resignation from his leadership post.[1] The Constituent Assembly of the party subsequently convened on 21 February 2009 and elected Veltroni's former deputy Dario Franceschini as the new secretary.[19]
^Testimony of the rabbi S. Sorani in the book: Robert G. Weisbord & Wallace P. Sillanpoa, The Chief Rabbi, the Pope, and the Holocaust: An Era in Vatican-Jewish Relations 1992, p. 64
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