Pier Ferdinando Casini

Pier Ferdinando Casini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛr ferdiˈnando kaˈziːni]; born 3 December 1955) is an Italian politician.[1] He was President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006.[2] Casini is currently Honorific President of the Centrist Democrat International and Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and formerly was majority faction leader of the Union of the Centre (UdC).

Pier Ferdinando Casini
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 31 May 2001 – 29 April 2006
President	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Preceded by	Luciano Violante
Succeeded by	Fausto Bertinotti
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 12 July 1983 – 15 March 2013
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 March 2013
President of the Centrist Democrat International
In office 29 January 2006 – 11 July 2015
Preceded by	José María Aznar
Succeeded by	Andrés Pastrana Arango
Personal details
Born	(1955-12-03) 3 December 1955 Bologna, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	CpE (since 2016) UDC (2002–2016) CCD (1994–2002) DC (1980–1994)
Alma mater	University of Bologna

Biography

Casini was born in Bologna and graduated with a degree in law. He was first elected in 1983 for the Christian Democracy party. In 1993, he was amongst the founders of the Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), which merged into Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) in 2002. In 2001, after Silvio Berlusconi's victory in the general election, Casini was chosen by the newly formed parliament as President of the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian lower house of parliament). Up to 2006, with his UDC, he was widely regarded as one of the primary members of the House of Freedoms, and sometimes spoken of as a possible successor to Berlusconi himself as leader of the coalition. However, as the campaign for the 2008 general election began, Casini officially detached himself from Berlusconi's coalition, refusing to enter his new People of Freedom (PdL) party, preferring to contest the election alone. In a speech to his UDC party, Casini said that "not everyone is for sale", in a not so veiled statement about Berlusconi's political tactics. Casini ran on a purely 'centrist' platform, expanding the UDC into the Union of the Centre (UdC) along with Savino Pezzotta's White Rose. After 2008, he remained in opposition. At the 2009 Administrative elections, alliances were decided on a local bases, sometimes with PdL, and sometimes with the Democratic Party.

In 2018 Casini was re-elected Senator in the single-member college of Bologna with the support of the centre-left coalition.

Honours and awards

•  Malaysia : Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (2003)[3]

Notes

After his divorce from Roberta Lubich (mother of his two daughters, Maria Carolina and Benedetta), he started dating and eventually moved in with Azzurra Caltagirone, daughter of the famous Roman entrepreneur and publisher Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone. Later they would have a daughter and married on 27 October 2007.

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1983	Chamber of Deputies	Bologna–Ferrara–Ravenna–Forlì		DC	34,409	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Bologna–Ferrara–Ravenna–Forlì		DC	52,667	Y Elected
1992	Chamber of Deputies	Bologna–Ferrara–Ravenna–Forlì		DC	50,323	Y Elected
1994	Chamber of Deputies	Emilia-Romagna		CCD	–[lower-alpha 1]	Y Elected
1996	Chamber of Deputies	Apulia – Maglie		CCD	39,863	Y Elected
2001	Chamber of Deputies	Lazio 1 – Pomezia		UDC	56,109	Y Elected
2006	Chamber of Deputies	Lombardy 1		UDC	–[lower-alpha 1]	Y Elected
2008	Chamber of Deputies	Liguria		UDC	–[lower-alpha 1]	Y Elected
2013	Senate of the Republic	Campania		UDC	–[lower-alpha 1]	Y Elected
2018	Senate of the Republic	Emilia-Romagna – Bologna		CP	121,898	Y Elected

1. Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.

First-past-the-post elections

1996 general election (C): Apulia — Maglie
Candidate		Coalition	Votes	%
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	Pole for Freedoms	39,863	53.7
	Aurelio Gianfreda	The Olive Tree	34,381	46.3
Total			72,244	100.0

2001 general election (C): Lazio 1 — Pomezia
Candidate		Coalition	Votes	%
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	House of Freedoms	56,109	54.5
	Angelo Capriotti	The Olive Tree	37,365	36.3
	Others		9,478	9.2
Total			102,952	100.0

2018 general election (S): Bologna
Candidate		Coalition	Votes	%
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	Centre-left coalition	121,898	34.2
	Elisabetta Brunelli	Centre-right coalition	99,824	28.0
	Michela Montevecchi	Five Star Movement	87,052	24.4
	Vasco Errani	Free and Equal	30,937	8.7
	Others		17,260	4.7
Total			356,871	100.0

References

1. Mark Donovan; Paolo Onofri (2009). Italian politics: frustrated aspirations for change. Berghahn Books. p. 100ff. ISBN 978-1-84545-638-2. Retrieved 24 November 2010..
2. Pope John Paul II (26 November 2003). "MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II TO HON. MR PIER FERDINANDO CASINI, PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES". Vatican. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
3. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan".

External links

• Palazzo Montecitorio

Political offices
Preceded by Luciano Violante	President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies 2001 – 2006	Succeeded by Fausto Bertinotti
Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Legislatures: IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI 1983 – 2013	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Senate
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of the Italian Senate of the Republic Legislatures: XVII 2013 – present	Member of the European Parliament Legislatures: V 2 July 1999 – 5 May 2001	Incumbent
Party political offices
New title	Secretary of the Christian Democratic Centre 1994 – 2001	Succeeded by Marco Follini
	Leader of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats 2002 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by José María Aznar	Co-President of the Centrist Democrat International Serving alongside Vicente Fox 2006 – present
Preceded by Luca Volontè	UDC Group Leader at the Chamber of Deputies 2008 – 2012	Succeeded by Gian Luca Galletti