Venetian National Party
Encyclopedia
The Venetian National Party (Partito Nasionał Veneto, PNV) was a Venetist, libertarian
and separatist
political party active in Veneto
, Lombardy
and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
. In September 2010 the party suspended its activities and its members joined Veneto State
.
At the first party congress, which was held on 18 May 2008 in Castelfranco Veneto
, Busato was elected secretary, whereas Paolo Bernardini was elected president.
and Venice
,
According to party officials, during the campaign, members and supporters experienced several interferences from the local Carabinieri
. Gianluca Busato was interrogated at a Carabinieri's station of Limena
(PD
). On 13 May Stefano Venturato, candidate for President in Padua, started a hunger strike
to protest against the misinformation of the local newspapers about the PNV and the interferences of the Italian police. Finally, on 14 May, the PNV's headquarters in Treviso
were ransacked by Carabinieri.
The week before the election was also marked by tragedy. One of the party's candidates, Angela Cristina Oliveira da Silva, was killed in the explosion of Air France's flight
from Rio de Janeiro
to Paris
. She was returning from her native Brazil
to participate in the last week of campaigning.
Election results were highly disappointing as the PNV gained just 0.3% of the vote in Padua and 0.2% in Venice, but it did better in some municipal contests.
, which was attended by several Venetist leaders, such as Patrik Riondato of Venetians Movement and Ettore Beggiato
of North-East Project
, the PNV chose to run the forthcoming regional election
with an independentist candidate. Gianluca Busato was re-elected secretary, while Lodovico Pizzati
(son of Giulio, leader of Liga Federativa Veneta
in the 1980s) was elected president. Paolo Bernardini was appointed honorary president.
The party decided to choose its candidate for President of Veneto through an on-line open primary
. Five candidates ran: Claudio Ghiotto (representing the libertarian
wing of the party), Sabrina Tessari, Stefano Ventuarato, Alberto Gardin (leader of Venetian Independence and, later, candidate of the Party of the Venetians
) and Michele Milanetto (a former member of the Democrats of the Left
, on behalf of the party's left-wing). Soon Milanetto withdrew in favour of Tessari, while Venturato did the same to endorse Ghiotto, who was thus the front-runner. More than 10,000 people voted in the primary and Ghiotto won the nomination with 54.8% of the vote, ahead of Tessari (45.0%) and Gardin (0.2%). Shortly afterwards Ghiotto chose not to run and opened the way for the bid of his running-mate, Gianluca Panto, in accordance with party rules.
On election day, Panto managed to win a mere 0.4% of the vote, while the party was stuck at 0.3%. It was a big blow for the PNV, but its members saw it as the first step toward success. Busato resigned from secretary, and was replaced by Panto at a party congress in May.
(PdV) to form Veneto State
(VS). Lodovico Pizzati
, president of the PNV, was elected secretary of the new party. Gianluca Busato (PNV) was elected treasurer and Giustino Cherubin (PdV) president.
With the merger of the PNV into the new party, the website of the PNV was transformed into "Press News Veneto" (PNV), an online newspaper edited by Busato, covering Venetian, European, international, economic, cultural, political and, especially, separatist issues. The PNV magazine is quite independent from VS, as exposed also by the brief exit of Busato from the party in January 2011, and the critical views of the new party leadership elected in October 2011. Since then, the website became also the voice of the libertarian wing of the party, represented also by Pizzati, who had been replaced as secretary by Antonio Guadagnini
.
for the so-called Venetia, a country that would be composed of all the territories of the historical Venetian Republic
, covering the current Veneto
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
, some provinces of Lombardy
(Brescia
, Bergamo
, Cremona
and Mantova) and a portion of Trentino (see chart), in contrast with those Venetist parties, such as Liga Veneta
–Lega Nord, currently campaigning for federal reform.
The core principles of the PNV included: individual rights
, including the right to life
, private property
and the pursuit of happiness
(a clear reference to the United States Declaration of Independence
); the refusal of any discrimination based on race, sex, religion, language, etc.; nonviolence
, democratic legitimacy and non aggression; resepect of international law
, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and, mainly, self-determination
. The party proposed an independent Veneto, "tolerant and open to Europe" and takes example from the Scottish National Party
, the Basque National Party, and Catalan nationalists
.
The PNV early leader Bernardini is essentially a libertarian and most of party members, notably including Gianluca Panto, Claudio Ghiotto and Lodovico Pizzati
, reflect his economic and political ideas. The party's core was indeed represented by the Venetian Libertarian Party. However the party was open to people from all backgrounds.
The party proposed a flat tax
at 20%, to be reduced over a few years to 15%, something that would be possible only in case of independence.
Source: Venetian National Party – Offices
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
and separatist
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
political party active in Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
. In September 2010 the party suspended its activities and its members joined Veneto State
Veneto State
Veneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
.
Background and foundation
The party was founded in 2007 by Gianluca Busato (who had been a founding member of the Venetians Movement in 2006), Claudio Ghiotto and Alessia Bellon. The PNV was indeed a split of the Venetians Movement, whose leader Patrik Riondato did not want to actively participate to elective politics, but soon drew people from libertarian circles.At the first party congress, which was held on 18 May 2008 in Castelfranco Veneto
Castelfranco Veneto
Castelfranco Veneto is a town and comune of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso, 30 km by rail from the town of Treviso. It is approximately 40 km inland from Venice.-History:...
, Busato was elected secretary, whereas Paolo Bernardini was elected president.
2009 provincial elections
In 2009 the PNV took part for the first time in an election, by presenting candidates and lists for the provincial elections in PaduaProvince of Padua
The Province of Padua is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.-History and territory:...
and Venice
Province of Venice
The Province of Venice is a province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Venice.It has an area of 2,467 km², and a total population of 829,418 . There are 44 comuni in the province . As of 2005, the main comuni by population are:-External links:* * : photos of...
,
According to party officials, during the campaign, members and supporters experienced several interferences from the local Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
. Gianluca Busato was interrogated at a Carabinieri's station of Limena
Limena
Limena is a comune in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about 35 km west of Venice and about 6 km north of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,148 and an area of 15.0 km²....
(PD
Province of Padua
The Province of Padua is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.-History and territory:...
). On 13 May Stefano Venturato, candidate for President in Padua, started a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
to protest against the misinformation of the local newspapers about the PNV and the interferences of the Italian police. Finally, on 14 May, the PNV's headquarters in Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
were ransacked by Carabinieri.
The week before the election was also marked by tragedy. One of the party's candidates, Angela Cristina Oliveira da Silva, was killed in the explosion of Air France's flight
Air France Flight 447
Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled airline flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Paris-Roissy involving an Airbus A330-200 aircraft that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, killing all 216 passengers and 12 aircrew. The investigation is still ongoing, and the cause of the...
from Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. She was returning from her native Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to participate in the last week of campaigning.
Election results were highly disappointing as the PNV gained just 0.3% of the vote in Padua and 0.2% in Venice, but it did better in some municipal contests.
2010 regional election
At a congress in October 2009, in LimenaLimena
Limena is a comune in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about 35 km west of Venice and about 6 km north of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,148 and an area of 15.0 km²....
, which was attended by several Venetist leaders, such as Patrik Riondato of Venetians Movement and Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato is a Venetist historian and politician.As member of several Venetist political parties , he was member of the Regional Council of Veneto from 1985 to 2000...
of North-East Project
North-East Project
North-East Project is a Venetist, fiscal federalist and libertarian Italian political party based in Veneto, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region.-History:...
, the PNV chose to run the forthcoming regional election
Venetian regional election, 2010
The Venetian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010, as part of Italy's big round of regional elections.Luca Zaia, rising star of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, was elected President by a landslide. With the support of 60.2% of Venetians, he was the most voted President of Veneto since...
with an independentist candidate. Gianluca Busato was re-elected secretary, while Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati is a Venetian independentist, economics professor and Venetist politician.Son of Giulio, one of the earliest members of Liga Veneta , Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist all throughout his life...
(son of Giulio, leader of Liga Federativa Veneta
Liga Federativa Veneta
Liga Federativa Veneta was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.LFV was founded in 1983 by splinters from Liga Veneta led by Giulio Pizzati. In 1987 the party was merged into the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement , a brand new party formed by more recent splinters from Liga Veneta...
in the 1980s) was elected president. Paolo Bernardini was appointed honorary president.
The party decided to choose its candidate for President of Veneto through an on-line open primary
Open primary
An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...
. Five candidates ran: Claudio Ghiotto (representing the libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
wing of the party), Sabrina Tessari, Stefano Ventuarato, Alberto Gardin (leader of Venetian Independence and, later, candidate of the Party of the Venetians
Party of the Venetians
The Party of the Venetians was a Venetist-separatist coalition of parties active in Veneto.The alliance, which was formed in January 2010, after the disbandment of Veneto Freedom, was composed of five groups, which continued to be active as factions of Veneto State, since when the PdV was merged...
) and Michele Milanetto (a former member of the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
, on behalf of the party's left-wing). Soon Milanetto withdrew in favour of Tessari, while Venturato did the same to endorse Ghiotto, who was thus the front-runner. More than 10,000 people voted in the primary and Ghiotto won the nomination with 54.8% of the vote, ahead of Tessari (45.0%) and Gardin (0.2%). Shortly afterwards Ghiotto chose not to run and opened the way for the bid of his running-mate, Gianluca Panto, in accordance with party rules.
On election day, Panto managed to win a mere 0.4% of the vote, while the party was stuck at 0.3%. It was a big blow for the PNV, but its members saw it as the first step toward success. Busato resigned from secretary, and was replaced by Panto at a party congress in May.
Veneto State
On 12 September 2010 the PNV was merged with the Party of the VenetiansParty of the Venetians
The Party of the Venetians was a Venetist-separatist coalition of parties active in Veneto.The alliance, which was formed in January 2010, after the disbandment of Veneto Freedom, was composed of five groups, which continued to be active as factions of Veneto State, since when the PdV was merged...
(PdV) to form Veneto State
Veneto State
Veneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
(VS). Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati is a Venetian independentist, economics professor and Venetist politician.Son of Giulio, one of the earliest members of Liga Veneta , Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist all throughout his life...
, president of the PNV, was elected secretary of the new party. Gianluca Busato (PNV) was elected treasurer and Giustino Cherubin (PdV) president.
With the merger of the PNV into the new party, the website of the PNV was transformed into "Press News Veneto" (PNV), an online newspaper edited by Busato, covering Venetian, European, international, economic, cultural, political and, especially, separatist issues. The PNV magazine is quite independent from VS, as exposed also by the brief exit of Busato from the party in January 2011, and the critical views of the new party leadership elected in October 2011. Since then, the website became also the voice of the libertarian wing of the party, represented also by Pizzati, who had been replaced as secretary by Antonio Guadagnini
Antonio Guadagnini
Antonio Guadagnini is a Venetian independentist and Venetist politician.Guadagnini joined Christian Democracy in the 1980s and, after the party's dissolution, he joined centre-right Christian-democratic parties and, finally, the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats in 2002...
.
Ideology and factions
The party campaigned for independenceIndependence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
for the so-called Venetia, a country that would be composed of all the territories of the historical Venetian Republic
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, covering the current Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
, some provinces of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
(Brescia
Province of Brescia
The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...
, Bergamo
Province of Bergamo
The Province of Bergamo is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,098,740 , an area of 2,722.86 square km, and contains 244 comuni...
, Cremona
Province of Cremona
The Province of Cremona is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Cremona.The province has an area of 1,771 km² and in 2008 census, had a population of 358,628. There are 115 comuni...
and Mantova) and a portion of Trentino (see chart), in contrast with those Venetist parties, such as Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
–Lega Nord, currently campaigning for federal reform.
The core principles of the PNV included: individual rights
Individual rights
Group rights are rights held by a group rather than by its members separately, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people regardless of their group membership or lack thereof...
, including the right to life
Right to life
Right to life is a phrase that describes the belief that a human being has an essential right to live, particularly that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being...
, private property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
and the pursuit of happiness
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language...
(a clear reference to the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
); the refusal of any discrimination based on race, sex, religion, language, etc.; nonviolence
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
, democratic legitimacy and non aggression; resepect of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
and, mainly, self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
. The party proposed an independent Veneto, "tolerant and open to Europe" and takes example from the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
, the Basque National Party, and Catalan nationalists
Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism or Catalanism , is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence of Catalonia....
.
The PNV early leader Bernardini is essentially a libertarian and most of party members, notably including Gianluca Panto, Claudio Ghiotto and Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati is a Venetian independentist, economics professor and Venetist politician.Son of Giulio, one of the earliest members of Liga Veneta , Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist all throughout his life...
, reflect his economic and political ideas. The party's core was indeed represented by the Venetian Libertarian Party. However the party was open to people from all backgrounds.
The party proposed a flat tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
at 20%, to be reduced over a few years to 15%, something that would be possible only in case of independence.
Leadership
- Secretary: Gianluca Busato (2008–2010), Gianluca Panto (2010, office suspended)
- Deputy Secretary: Stefano Venturato (2008–2010, office suspended)
- President: Paolo Bernardini (2008–2009), Lodovico PizzatiLodovico PizzatiLodovico Pizzati is a Venetian independentist, economics professor and Venetist politician.Son of Giulio, one of the earliest members of Liga Veneta , Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist all throughout his life...
(2009–2010, office suspended)- Vice President: Claudio Ghiotto (2009–2010, office suspended)
- Honorary President: Paolo Bernardini (2009–2010, office suspended)
- Treasurer: Ivano Durante (2008–2009), Stefano Venturato (2009–2010), Gianluca Busato (2010, office suspended)
Source: Venetian National Party – Offices