Attilio Fontana

Attilio Fontana (born 28 March 1952) is an Italian politician from Varese, Lombardy. A member of Lega Nord, he has served as President of Lombardy since 2018 in a coalition with centre-right parties.

Attilio Fontana
Fontana in 2019
President of Lombardy
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 March 2018
Preceded by	Roberto Maroni
Mayor of Varese
In office 29 May 2006 – 20 June 2016
Preceded by	Aldo Fumagalli
Succeeded by	Davide Galimberti
Personal details
Born	(1952-03-28) 28 March 1952 Varese, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Lega Nord
Alma mater	University of Milan
Profession	Lawyer, Politician

Biography

A long-time member of Lega Lombarda and Lega Nord (LN), he was Mayor of Induno Olona from 1995 to 1999.[1] Fontana, with LN, was elected in the 2000 regional election and 2005 regional election to the Regional Council of Lombardy, of which he functioned as President until July 2006.[2] He stepped down from that office after being elected Mayor of Varese with 57.8% of the vote in the first round of 28 May 2006.[3] He was re-elected in May 2011 with 53.8% of the vote in a run-off.[4] Fontana, ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits,[5] left the office in June 2016. In 2007 Fontana was the lawyer of Andrea Mascetti in the case against the left-wing journalist Michele Santoro from who they won.[6]

Some journalists in July 2016 speculated a nomination of Fontana as LN candidate in 2018 election for President of Lombardy if the incumbent President of Region Roberto Maroni (who was elected in 2013 regional election for a 5-year term with the support of Lega Lombarda and Lega Nord – the parties of Maroni and Fontana – and with the support of the other parties members of the 2013 center right coalition) will not run for a second consecutive (and final) term; in January 2018, when Maroni announced his retirement from politics, Fontana was selected as Centre-right (composed by FI, LN, the neo-fascist FdI, EpL, NcI and his civic personal list named "Fontana List" composed by members of PP, RC, MNS and also by civic, independent and non-partisans members) candidate to the Presidency of Lombardy.

On 15 January 2018,[7] Fontana stated that the Western culture was in danger[7] due to the migration flows from Africa.[7] This created many protests as well as criticisms from the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). Because of the controversy he apologised for his remarks, declaring that it was a slip of the tongue and an expressive error, not due to inherent racism of him or his party.[8] Fontana's principal rivals were Giorgio Gori (PD) and Dario Violi (M5S). On 4 March 2018 Fontana won 50% (Gori 29%, Violi 17%) in the regional election.[9]

In May 2019, the Prosecutor Office of Milan started an investigation on him due to abuse of power in a case of corruption.[10]

In July 2020 another investigation started, following the activities of Fontana, his wife and his brother in law during the Covid-19 pandemic.[11]

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2014-03-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-07-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali". elezionistorico.interno.it.
4. "Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali". elezionistorico.interno.it.
5. After two consecutive terms, a Mayor (and a President of Region) is not re-eligible for a third consecutive term: for more news, see Italian electoral law of 1993 for Comuni (2004 for Region)
6. "MICHELE SANTORO CONDANNATO A VARESE PER DIFFAMAZIONE - Napoli la Repubblica.it". napoli.repubblica.it.
7. "White race at risk - Fontana on migrants (2) - English". 15 January 2018.
8. http://www.ansa.it/lombardia/notizie/2018/01/15/fontana-razza-bianca-a-rischio-per-i-migranti_bcda489a-d3fe-49d7-84f8-e20ac2c338ef.html
10. https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/politica/19_maggio_08/tangenti-lombardia-fontana-indagato-abuso-d-ufficio-53d46370-7116-11e9-90e5-1aa1d5fb0bf8.shtml
11. https://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/07/24/news/fontana_indagato_camici-262818924/

Political offices
Preceded by Aldo Fumagalli (LN)	Mayor of Varese 2006–2016	Succeeded by Davide Galimberti (PD)
Preceded by Roberto Maroni (LN)	President of Lombardy 2018–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Roberto Maroni (LN) 2013	Centre-right coalition nominee for President of Lombardy 2018	Succeeded by Most recent (party) 2023
Preceded by Aldo Fumagalli (LN) 2002	Centre-right coalition nominee for Mayor of Varese 2006 and 2011	Succeeded by Paolo Orrigoni (FI) 2016