Legislature VIII of Italy

VIII legislatura della Repubblica Italiana
8th legislature
Type
Type
HousesChamber of Deputies
Senate of the Republic
History
Founded20 June 1979 (1979-06-20)
Disbanded11 July 1983 (1983-07-11) (4 years, 21 days)
Preceded byVII Legislature
Succeeded byIX Legislature
Leadership
List
Structure
Seats630 (C)
315+ (S)
Chamber of Deputies political groups
  •   DC (262)
  •   PCI (201)
  •   PSI (62)
  •   MSI (30)
  •   PSDI (20)
  •   PR (18)
  •   PRI (16)
  •   PLI (9)
  •   PdUP (6)
  •   Others (6)
Senate political groups
Elections
Proportional
Proportional
Last general election
3 June 1979
Meeting place
Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome (C)
Palazzo Madama, Rome (S)
Website
Eighth Legislature – Chamber of Deputies
Eighth Legislature – Senate
Constitution
Constitution of Italy

The Legislature VIII of Italy (Italian: VIII Legislatura della Repubblica Italiana) was the 8th legislature of the Italian Republic, and lasted from 20 June 1979 until 11 July 1983.[1][2] Its composition was the one resulting from the general election of 3 June 1979.

Main chronology

The legislature saw the birth of a new political coalition that would have characterized the Italian politics during the 1980s. The so-called Pentapartito began in 1981 at a meeting of the Congress of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), when the christian democrat Arnaldo Forlani and socialist Bettino Craxi signed an agreement with the "blessing" of Giulio Andreotti. As the agreement was signed in a trailer, it was called the "pact of the camper." The pact was soon defined "CAF" for the initials of the signers: Craxi–Andreotti–Forlani. With this agreement, the DC recognized the equal dignity of the so-called "secular parties" of the majority (i.e., the Socialists, Social Democrats, Liberals and Republicans) and also guaranteed an alternation of government with them. In June 1981 republican Giovanni Spadolini became the first non-christian democrat to sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy.

With the birth of the Pentapartito, the possibility of the growth of the majority toward the Italian Communist Party (PCI) was finally dismissed.

During this legislature, the list of who belonged to the secret lodge P2 was published. The P2 was a Masonic lodge founded in 1945 that, by the time its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976, had transformed into a clandestine, pseudo-Masonic, ultraright[3][4][5] organization operating in contravention of Article 18 of the Constitution of Italy that banned secret associations. In its latter period, during which the lodge was headed by Licio Gelli, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries, including the collapse of the Vatican-affiliated Banco Ambrosiano, the murders of journalist Mino Pecorelli and banker Roberto Calvi, and corruption cases within the nationwide bribe scandal Tangentopoli. P2 came to light through the investigations into the collapse of Michele Sindona's financial empire.[6]

P2 was sometimes referred to as a "state within a state"[7] or a "shadow government".[8] The lodge had among its members prominent journalists, Members of Parliament, industrialists, and military leaders—including Silvio Berlusconi, who later became Prime Minister of Italy; the Savoy pretender to the Italian throne Victor Emmanuel;[9] and the heads of all three Italian intelligence services (at the time SISDE, SISMI and CESIS).

When searching Licio Gelli's villa in 1982, the police found a document called the "Plan for Democratic Rebirth", which called for a consolidation of the media, suppression of trade unions, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution.[10]

The scandal subsequent the discovery of the members of the lodge brought to a deep crisis between the main political parties which were part of the government and ended with the official dissolution of the lodge with the Law 25 January 1982, n. 17.

Government

Prime Minister Party Term of office Government Composition
Took office Left office
Francesco Cossiga
(1928–2010)		 Christian Democracy 4 August 1979 4 April 1980 Cossiga I DC  • PSDI  • PLI
(with PSI and PRI's external support)
4 April 1980 18 October 1980 Cossiga II DC  • PSI  • PRI
Arnaldo Forlani
(b. 1925)		 Christian Democracy 18 October 1980 28 June 1981 Forlani DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI
(Organic Centre-left)
Giovanni Spadolini
(1925–1994)		 Italian Republican Party 28 June 1981 23 August 1982 Spadolini I DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PLI  • PRI
(Pentapartito)
23 August 1982 1 December 1982 Spadolini II
Amintore Fanfani
(1908–1999)		 Christian Democracy 1 December 1982 4 August 1983 Fanfani V DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PLI
(with PRI's external support)

Parliamentary composition

Chamber of Deputies

Nilde Iotti, President of the Chamber of Deputies
Parliamentary groups in the Chamber of Deputies
Initial composition[11]
(20 June 1979)		 Final composition[11]
(11 July 1983)
Parliamentary group Seats Parliamentary group Seats Change
Christian Democracy 262 Christian Democracy 263 Increase 1
Italian Communist Party 201 Italian Communist Party 193 Decrease 8
Italian Socialist Party 62 Italian Socialist Party 61 Decrease 1
Italian Social Movement 30 Italian Social Movement 29 Decrease 1
Italian Democratic Socialist Party 20 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 19 Decrease 1
Radical Party 18 Radical Party 11 Decrease 7
Italian Republican Party 16 Italian Republican Party 15 Decrease 1
Italian Liberal Party 9 Italian Liberal Party 9 Steady
Proletarian Unity Party 6 Proletarian Unity Party 6 Steady
Mixed 6 Mixed 24 Increase 18
Südtiroler Volkspartei 4 Südtiroler Volkspartei 4 Steady
List for Trieste 1 List for Trieste 1 Steady
Union valdôtaine 1 Union valdôtaine 1 Steady
Independent Left 11 Increase 11
Independent–Non inscrits 7 Increase 7
Total seats 630 Total seats 630 Steady

    Senate of the Republic

    Presidents of the Senate: Amintore Fanfani (1979–1982), Tommaso Morlino (1982–1983), Vittorino Colombo (1983)
    • Presidents:
    • Vice Presidents: Luigi Carraro (DC, till 8 November 1980), Adriano Ossicini (SI), Dario Valori (PCI), Giuseppe Ferralasco (PSI, till 6 December 1982), Tommaso Morlino (DC, from 21 January 1981 until 9 December 1982), Alberto Cipellini (PSI, from 16 December 1982), Vittorino Colombo (DC, from 20 January 1983 until 9 May 1983)
    Parliamentary groups in the Senate of the Republic
    Initial composition[12]
    (20 June 1979)    		 Final composition[12]
    (11 July 1983)
    Parliamentary group Seats Parliamentary group Seats Change
    Christian Democracy 138 Christian Democracy 138 Steady
    Italian Communist Party 109 Italian Communist Party 94 Decrease 15
    Italian Socialist Party 32 Italian Socialist Party 32 Steady
    Italian Social Movement 13 Italian Social Movement 13 Steady
    Italian Democratic Socialist Party 9 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 9 Steady
    Italian Republican Party 6 Italian Republican Party 6 Steady
    Mixed 8 Mixed 23 Increase 15
    Italian Liberal Party 2 Italian Liberal Party 2 Steady
    Radical Party 2 Radical Party 2 Steady
    Südtiroler Volkspartei 3 Südtiroler Volkspartei 3 Steady
    Union valdôtaine 1 Union valdôtaine 1 Steady
    Independent Left 15 Increase 15
    Total seats 315 Total seats 315 Steady

    Senators for Life

    Senator Motivation Appointed by From Till
    Cesare Merzagora Merits in the social field President Antonio Segni Previous legislature Next legislature
    Ferruccio Parri Merits in the social field President Antonio Segni Previous legislature 8 December 1981 (deceased)
    Eugenio Montale Merits in the literary field President Giuseppe Saragat Previous legislature 12 September 1981 (deceased)
    Pietro Nenni Merits in the social field President Giuseppe Saragat Previous legislature 1 January 1980 (deceased)
    Giuseppe Saragat Former President of Italy ex officio Previous legislature Next legislature
    Amintore Fanfani Merits in the social field President Giovanni Leone Previous legislature Next legislature
    Giovanni Leone Former President of Italy ex officio Previous legislature Next legislature
    Leo Valiani Merits in the social field President Sandro Pertini 12 January 1980 Next legislature
    Eduardo De Filippo Merits in the literary and artistic field President Sandro Pertini 26 September 1981 Next legislature
    Camilla Ravera Merits in the social field President Sandro Pertini 8 January 1982 Next legislature

    References

    1. ↑ "Camera dei Deputati – 8ª Legislatura". www.storia.camera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
    2. ↑ "Senato della Repubblica – 8ª Legislatura". www.senato.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
    3. ↑ Herman, Edward (2002). Manufacturing consent the political economy of the mass media. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 152. ISBN 0307801624. ...the extreme right-wing organization Propaganda Due (P-2), ...
    4. ↑ Naylor, R. T. (2004). Hot money and the politics of debt. Montreal Que: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0773572074. ...[Licio Gelli] organized a special, ultrasecret, ultrarightist lodge, Propaganda-Due
    5. ↑ Bar, FirstName (2007). Where have all the fascists gone. Aldershot, England Burlington, VT: Ashgate. p. 39. ISBN 978-0754671541. ... a similar strategy of infiltration within the military milieu by Italian radical right-wing terrorist groups and clandestine elite pressure groups such as Propaganda-Due (P-2) ...
    6. ↑ "Masonic lodge affair leaves Italy shocked". The Times. 23 May 1981.
    7. ↑ BBC On This Day: 26 May 1981
    8. ↑ Jones, The Dark Heart of Italy, p. 187
    9. ↑ Hooper, John (23 June 2006). "The fall of the house of Savoy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
    10. ↑ Jones, The Dark Heart of Italy, p. 186
    11. 1 2 "VIII Legislatura della Repubblica italiana / Legislature / Camera dei deputati – Portale storico". storia.camera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
    12. 1 2 "senato.it – Composizione dei gruppi parlamentari nella VIII Legislatura". www.senato.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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