Wikipedia

Die Freiheitlichen

Not to be confused with Freedom Party of South Tyrol.

Die Freiheitlichen (German: [diː ˈfʁaɪhaɪtlɪçn̩]), abbreviated dF) is a regionalist,[2] separatist,[citation needed] and right-wing populist[3] political party in South Tyrol. The party, which is part of the South Tyrolean independence movement, seeks to represent the German-speaking majority and Ladin-speaking minority in the province and to separate it from Italy.[4]

Die Freiheitlichen
PresidentRoland Stauder and Otto Mahlknecht (acting)
SecretaryDietmar Zwerger
Honorary PresidentPius Leitner
Founded7 December 1992
Split fromUnion for South Tyrol
South Tyrolean People's Party
HeadquartersVia della Chiesa 62
Terlan (BZ)
IdeologyRegionalism
German-speaking minority interests
Right-wing populism
Separatism
Political positionRight-wing[1]
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 630
Senate
0 / 315
European Parliament
0 / 73
Provincial Council
1 / 35
Website
die-freiheitlichen.com

Broadly speaking, the party's ideology is similar to that of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ),[2] and the two parties maintain close contacts.[5] The party was long led by Pius Leitner, who led it to become the second-largest party after the dominant South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) in the 2013 provincial elections, the party's best result so far. The party's name is variously translated into English as "The Freedomites",[6] a term frequently used for FPÖ's members by English media,[7][8][9][10] and by the FPÖ itself,[11] "The Libertarians",[12][13][14] and "The Liberals".[4][15]

History

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Foundation and early years

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In 1992, a group of young right-wingers left the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP). They were led by the "Gang of Four": Christian Waldner (former leader of the Junge Generation, SVP's youth section), Peter Paul Reiner, Pius Leitner and Stephan Gutweniger.

The new party was launched on 7 December 1992. It was soon joined by disgruntled former members of the Freedom Party of South Tyrol (FPS) who had been marginalized after FPS' merger into the Union for South Tyrol (UfS). The move was strongly encouraged by Jörg Haider, at the time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, colloquially known as die Freiheitlichen too.[16] Gerold Meraner, former member of the Party of Independents and former leader of the FPS and founding member of the UfS, considered the new party as the legitimate heir of his FPS.[17]

Under Waldner's leadership, the party won 6.1% of the vote in the 1993 provincial election and got two provincial councillors elected, Waldner and Leitner. Soon after the election, a divide emerged between Waldner, who espoused more nationalist attitudes, and Leitner, who was the leader of the party's liberal faction. In 1994, Waldner left and started a short-lived party, "The Liberals" (renamed "Alliance 98" in 1996).[16]

Decline and resurgence

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In February 1997, Waldner was shot dead by his former political ally Reiner.[18] This dramatic event was a shock for the party and led it into a decline which seemed irreversible. In the 1998 provincial election, the party's share of vote was only 2.5% and Leitner alone was elected in the Provincial Council.[19]

However, the party held on and experienced a quick resurgence in the 2003 provincial election, in which it jumped to 5.0% of the vote, resulting in two provincial councillors again: Leitner and Ulli Mair, a young woman who had been party secretary since 2001[20] and would become a significant figure within the party.

In the 2006 general election, dF obtained 5.4%.[21] In the 2008 general election, they almost doubled their share of vote to 9.4%.[22]

In the 2008 provincial election, dF became the second-largest party in the Province with the 14.3% of the vote (a net gain of 9.3%) and had five provincial councillors elected (up from the previous two). For the first time in history, the two largest political forces of South Tyrol were German-speaking parties.[23]

More electoral successes

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In February 2012, after 18 years at the head of the party, Leitner chose to step down and promote Mair as his successor.[24][25]

In March 2012, in the midst of the European debt crisis and consequent recession in Italy, the party officially turned to separatism, proposing the creation of a South Tyrolean independent and sovereign Freistaat (free state) through a referendum, which would need the approval also of the Italian-speaking minority.[26][27][28]

In the 2013 general election, the party won 15.9% of the vote, its best result ever in a general election.[29]

In the 2013 provincial election, dF won 17.9% (another record high and +3.6pp since 2008), resulting in six provincial councillors.[30]

In the 2014 European Parliament election, the party ran in alliance with Lega Nord (LN),[31] with Leitner obtaining virtually 7,000 preference votes.[32]

Scandal and new leadership

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In June 2014, following a scandal on advance retirement payments which invested all the regional councillors,[33] the party entirely renewed its leadership by electing Walter Blaas president and appointing Simon Auer secretary.[34][35] The alliance with the LN was cemented by the endorsement of South Tyrolean self-determination by LN leader Matteo Salvini,[36][37] and the candidacy of Rosa Lamprecht, Blaas' wife, in the slate of Lega Alto Adige Südtirol (LAAST) in the 2016 Bolzano municipal election.[38]

In March 2017, Leitner resigned from the Provincial Council after being convicted in a minor expenses scandal.[39]

In May 2017, Andreas Leiter Reber, a hardliner, was elected party president, by beating the more moderate Arno Mall,[40] and re-launched the concept of Freistaat.[41]

The dF did not participate in the 2018 general election, while losing two thirds of its support in the 2018 provincial election, when it stopped at 6.2%.

In January 2023, Leiter Reber stepped down in favour of Sabine Zoderer, who was elected president during a congress in February.[42]

Provincial government

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In the 2023 provincial election, the party was reduced to 4.9%, but confirmed its two provincial councillors, Mair and Leiter Reber. Immediately after the election, Zoderer, who had obtained fewer preference votes than expected for a leader, stepped down from president and left the party altogether.[43] However, due to the high fragmentation in the Provincial Council, the party had the chance to join for the first time the provincial government, led for the third consecutive time by Arno Kompatscher, along with the SVP, the Brothers of Italy (FdI), the LAAST and The Civic List (LC), and Mair was appointed minister in charge of housing, security and violence prevention.[44][45][46][47] Leiter Reber chose not to give the vote of confidence to the government;[48][49] in February 2024, Leiter Reber left the party and formed the Free Group in the Provincial Council,[50][51][52][53] while still giving occasional support to the government.[54]

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The electoral results of the party in the Province of Bolzano since 1993 are shown in the tables below.

1993 provinc. 1994 general 1994 European 1996 general 1998 provinc. 1999 European 2001 general 2003 provinc. 2004 European 2006 general
6.1 - - - 2.5 - - 5.0 - 5.4
2008 general 2008 provinc. 2009 European 2013 general 2013 provinc. 2014 European 2018 general 2018 provinc. 2019 European 2022 general 2023 provincial
9.4 14.3 - 15.9 17.9 6.0[a] - 6.2 - - 4.9
  1. ^ In list with the Lega Nord.

Election results

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Provincial Council

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Landtag of South Tyrol
Election year Votes % Seats +/−
1993 18,669 6.1
2 / 35
–
1998 7,543 2.5
1 / 35
  1
2003 15,121 5.0
2 / 35
  1
2008 43,614 14.3
5 / 35
  3
2013 51,504 17.9
6 / 35
  1
2018 17,620 6.2
2 / 35
  4
2023 13,836 4.9
2 / 35
–

Leadership

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bruno Schoch (2019). "South Tyrol: From "Ethnic Re-parcelling" to an Archetype for Settling Ethno-territorial Conflicts". In Azer Babayev; Bruno Schoch; Hans-Joachim Spanger (eds.). The Nagorno-Karabakh Deadlock: Insights from Successful Conflict Settlements. Springer. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-658-25199-4.
  2. ^ a b Davide Vampa (2016). The Regional Politics of Welfare in Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Springer. p. 63. ISBN 978-3-319-39007-9.
  3. ^ Christina Schori Liang (2016). "Appendix A: Populist Radical Right Parties". In Christina Schori Liang (ed.). Europe for the Europeans: The Foreign and Security Policy of the Populist Radical Right. Routledge. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-317-13986-7.
  4. ^ a b Andrea Carla (2016). "Tensions and Challenges between New and Old minorities: Political Party Discourses on Migration in South Tyrol". In Roberta Medda-Windischer; Patricia Popelier (eds.). Pro-independence Movements and Immigration: Discourse, Policy and Practice. BRILL. p. 70. ISBN 978-90-04-29439-4.
  5. ^ "Pressemitteilungen". Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  6. ^ Tom Lansford, ed. (2017). Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017. SAGE Publications. p. 755. ISBN 978-1-5063-2715-0.
  7. ^ "Search". The Economist. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  8. ^ Murphy, Clare (8 March 2004). "Europe | Haider's enduring appeal". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  9. ^ Jones, Nigel (11 October 2008). "From beer hall orator to controversial far Right leader: how Jorg Haider singlehandedly changed Austria's politics". Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  10. ^ "The New York Times - Search". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ Rosie Scammell (23 February 2013). "German-speaking Italians reassess Rome ties - Al Jazeera English". M.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  13. ^ Hersevoort, Tim (2012). "South Tyrol defies the crisis" (PDF). Euroviews. Danish School of Media & Journalism. p. 102. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  14. ^ Massetti, Emanuele (October 2009), Political Strategy and Ideological Adaptation in Regionalist Parties in Western Europe: A Comparative Study of the Northern League, Plaid Cymru, the South Tyrolese People's Party and the Scottish National Party (PDF) (DPhil dissertation), University of Sussex, pp. 154, 168–169
  15. ^ "Crisis Profiteers". German-Foreign-Policy.com. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  16. ^ a b Pallaver, Günther (2007), "Südtirols politische Parteien 1945-2005" (PDF), Die Region Trentino-Südtirol im 20. Jahrhundert — 1: Politik und Institutionen (in German), pp. 589–628, archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016, retrieved 28 February 2013
    or Pallaver, Günther (2007), "I partiti politici in Alto Adige dal 1945 al 2005" (PDF), La Regione Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol nel XX secolo — I: Politica e Istituzioni (in Italian), pp. 559–598, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016, retrieved 17 October 2014
  17. ^ Angerer, Oswald (2000), Die Freiheitlichen Südtirols: Entstehung, Programm, Organisationsstruktur, Akzeptanz; unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit der Freiheitlichen Partei Österreichs und ihres Standpunktes in der Südtirol-Frage (Diplom thesis) (in German), University of Innsbruck, p. 39
  18. ^ "L' omicida e' l' ideologo degli Schuetzen" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 22 February 1997.
  19. ^ Voti di lista e ripartizione dei seggi - Elezioni regionali e provinciali 1998, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  20. ^ Risultati provinciali - Elezioni provinciali 2003, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  21. ^ Elezioni politiche 2006 - Dati in sintesi, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  22. ^ Elezioni politiche 2008, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  23. ^ Elezioni Amministrative 2008, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  24. ^ "Leitner lascia la guida dei Freiheitlichen dopo 18 anni" (in Italian). Alto Adige. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  25. ^ "Ulli Mair "Obfrau" dei Freiheitlichen" (in Italian). Alto Adige. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  26. ^ "Varare subito il libero Stato del Südtirol" (in Italian). Alto Adige. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  27. ^ "Verfassungsentwurf für Südtiroler Freistaat: Ministerpräsident statt Landeshauptmann". Südtirol Online (in German). 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  28. ^ "Südtiroler Blaue mit Verfassung für Freistaat" (in German). ORF. 14 March 2012.
  29. ^ Elezioni politiche e regionali del 24 e 25 febbraio 2013 - Provincia di Bolzano Archived February 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of Interior (in Italian).
  30. ^ Elezioni Provinciali 2013 - Rinnovo del consiglio provinciale, Autonomous Province of Bolzano (in Italian).
  31. ^ "Costi della politica: sex toys a spese del consiglio provinciale dell'Alto Adige". Repubblica.it. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  32. ^ https://elezionistorico.interno.gov.it/index.php?tpel=E&dtel=25/05/2014&tpa=I&tpe=I&lev0=0&levsut0=0&levsut1=1&es0=S&es1=S&ms=S&ne1=2&lev1=2
  33. ^ "Trentino Alto Adige, pensioni e vitalizi ai consiglieri regionali da 90 milioni". Blitz quotidiano. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  34. ^ "Walter Blaas eletto al vertice dei Freiheitlichen - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  35. ^ "Coming Soon 1". Video33.it. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  36. ^ "Salvini: Sì al referendum sul Tirolo - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  37. ^ "Voglia di secessione, in migliaia a Brunico - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  38. ^ "Comunali di Bolzano, la Lega presenta i suoi 33 candidati - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  39. ^ "Leitner saluta il Consiglio tra le lacrime - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  40. ^ "Freiheitlichen, un "falco" come Obmann - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  41. ^ "La secessione "dolce" del Freiheitlichen - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  42. ^ "Sabine Zoderer nuova presidente dei Freiheitlichen". 28 January 2023.
  43. ^ "La segretaria politica dei Freiheitlichen Sabine Zoderer lascia l'incarico". 27 October 2023.
  44. ^ "Kompatscher, 'autonomia è la base di una giunta di successo' - Notizie - Ansa.it". 31 January 2024.
  45. ^ "Kompatscher, 'guardare la giunta senza occhiali ideologici' - Notizie - Ansa.it". 30 January 2024.
  46. ^ "La nuova Giunta provinciale si presenta - Notizie - Ansa.it". February 2024.
  47. ^ "Kompatscher presenta la nuova giunta: «Autonomia, siamo un modello in Europa» - Cronaca". February 2024.
  48. ^ "Bolzano, maggioranza subito in tilt: Sotto al primo voto, i Freiheitlichen si spaccano". 2 February 2024.
  49. ^ "Leiter Reber hält Koalition mit Fratelli d'Italia für bedenklich". 27 January 2024.
  50. ^ https://www.consiglio-bz.org/it/gruppi-consiliari/freie-fraktion
  51. ^ "Kompatscher perde un pezzo, Leiter Reber lascia Freiheitlichen - Notizie - Ansa.it". 19 February 2024.
  52. ^ "Andreas Leiter Reber esce dalla coalizione altoatesina provocando uno scossone politico". 19 February 2024.
  53. ^ "Strappo di Leiter Reber, Ulli Mair sotto shock". 20 February 2024.
  54. ^ "Bolzano, la maggioranza "x-small" rischia in Consiglio. La "salva" il fuoriuscito Leiter Reber - Cronaca". 21 February 2024.
  55. ^ "I Freiheitlichen puntano al sesto consigliere - Cronaca - Alto Adige". Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
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