Union of the Centre (1993)
{{short description|Italian political party}}
{{For|the current party with the same name|Union of the Centre (2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Union of the Centre
| native_name = Unione di Centro
| colorcode = {{party color|Union of the Centre (1993)}}
| logo = Logo of UdC (1993).svg
| logo_size = 150px
| leader1_title = President
| leader1_name = Raffaele Costa
| foundation = {{start date|df=y|1993|5|27}}
| dissolution = {{end date|df=y|1998|11|30}}
| split = Italian Liberal Party
| merged = Forza Italia
| headquarters = Rome
| ideology = Liberalism
Conservative liberalism
Liberism
| position = Centre-right
| national = Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government {{small|(1994–96)}}
Pole for Freedoms {{small|(1996–98)}}
| european =
| europarl = Forza Europa (1994–95)
| country = Italy
}}
The Union of the Centre ({{langx|it|Unione di Centro}}, UdC) was a minor liberal political party in Italy. The party was a successor of the Italian Liberal Party.{{cite book|author1=Luciano Bardi| author2=Piero Ignazi|chapter=The Italian Party System: The Effective Magnitude of an Earthquake|editor1=Piero Ignazi|editor2=Colette Ysmal|title=The Organization of Political Parties in Southern Europe|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJujgAT1s8AC&pg=PA102|year= 1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-95612-7|page=102}}
History
The party was founded on 27 May 1993 as a "Giscardian rassemblement" by Raffaele Costa, leader of the Italian Liberal Party (PLI). The UdC included Liberals (Alfredo Biondi, Stefano De Luca, Giacomo Paire, Valentino Martelli, etc.), members of the Italian Republican Party (Guglielmo Castagnetti, Vincenzo Garaffa, Gaetano Gorgoni, etc.), members of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (as Maurizio Pagani) and even Christian Democrats (as Eugenio Tarabini).{{cite web |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/maggio/28/nata_Unione_Centro_co_0_93052811908.shtml |title=Nata l' Unione di Centro |website=archiviostorico.corriere.it |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502122156/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/maggio/28/nata_Unione_Centro_co_0_93052811908.shtml |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=COSTA PROMUOVE L' UNIONE DI CENTRO - la Repubblica.it |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/05/28/costa-promuove-unione-di-centro.html |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Archivio - la Repubblica.it |language=it}}{{cite news |title=LETTERE - la Repubblica.it |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/02/10/lettere.html |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Archivio - la Repubblica.it |language=it}}
In February 1994 the PLI was dissolved into the Federation of Liberals (FdL),{{cite news |title=ANCHE IL PLI SI SCIOGLIE - la Repubblica.it |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/02/07/anche-il-pli-si-scioglie.html |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Archivio - la Repubblica.it |language=it}} which elected Raffaello Morelli secretary and Biondi president.{{cite news |title=IL NUOVO PARTITO LIBERALE MORELLI ELETTO SEGRETARIO - la Repubblica.it |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/07/25/il-nuovo-partito-liberale-morelli-eletto-segretario.html |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Archivio - la Repubblica.it |language=it}} Costa refused to join the new party and led the UdC into the coalitions formed around Forza Italia (FI), the Pole of Freedoms in the North and the Pole of Good Government in the South.
At the 1994 general election the UdC elected some candidates with FI: Biondi (who was still president of the FdL, which sided with the Segni Pact), Costa, Biondi, Enrico Nan and Enzo Savarese to the Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Garatti and Carlo Scognamiglio to the Senate.[https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/02/22/la-rivolta-dei-lumbard-contro-gli-alleati.html it.]{{cite web |last1=de Boissieu |first1=Laurent |title=Unione di Centro (UDC) 1994 — L'Europe politique |url=http://www.europe-politique.eu/wiki/Unione_di_Centro_%28UDC%29_1994 |access-date=6 September 2019 |language=fr}} The latter was elected President of the Senate, while Biondi was justice minister and Costa health minister in Silvio Berlusconi's first government (1994–1995).{{cite web|url=http://governo.it/Governo/Governi/berlusconi1.html |title=Governo Italiano - I governi italiani |access-date=24 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324141732/http://governo.it/Governo/Governi/berlusconi1.html |archive-date=24 March 2014 }} In the 1994 European Parliament election two members of the UdC, de Luca and Luigi Florio, were elected to the European Parliament.{{cite news |title=Congresso dell'Unione di Centro |url=http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/66506/66576-congresso-dellunione-di-centro |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Radio Radicale |date=4 June 1994 |language=it}}{{cite news |title=EUROPEE: DE LUCA AL PARLAMENTO |url=http://www.adnkronos.com/Archivio/AdnAgenzia/1994/06/13/Politica/EUROPEE-DE-LUCA-AL-PARLAMENTO_180500.php |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=Adnkronos |date=13 June 1994}} In the 1996 general election the UdC had three deputies (Biondi, Costa, Nan and Savarese) and two senators (Scognamiglio and Jas Gawronski) elected.
In 1998 the UdC was merged into FI.{{cite web |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1998/aprile/19/Forza_Italia_alla_fine_coro_co_0_980419924.shtml |title=Forza Italia, alla fine un coro di si' |website=archiviostorico.corriere.it |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206155049/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1998/aprile/19/Forza_Italia_alla_fine_coro_co_0_980419924.shtml |archive-date=6 February 2010 |url-status=dead}} The activity of the UdC continued through the Liberal Union of the Centre, a political association, and Popular Liberalism, a faction within FI.{{cite web |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/luglio/21/liberali_Forza_Italia_diventano_una_co_0_030721030.shtml |title=I liberali di Forza Italia diventano una «corrente» e su Sofri: Reo recuperato, no a crudeltà gratuite |website=archiviostorico.corriere.it |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502130650/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/luglio/21/liberali_Forza_Italia_diventano_una_co_0_030721030.shtml |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead}} Both Biondi{{cite news |title=Biondi si dimette dal Pdl "Il partito ha visione feudale" - Genova - Repubblica.it |url=http://genova.repubblica.it/cronaca/2010/10/26/news/biondi-8446278/ |access-date=6 September 2019 |work=La Repubblica |date=26 October 2010}} and Costa later left FI/PdL.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Historical Italian political parties}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union of the Centre (Historical)}}
Category:Political parties established in 1994
Category:Defunct political parties in Italy
Category:1994 establishments in Italy
Category:Liberal parties in Italy
Category:Conservative liberal parties