Mariotto Segni (born 16 May 1939) is a retired Italian politician and professor of civil law. He founded several parties,which focused on fighting for electoral reform through referendums. He is the son of the politician Antonio Segni,one-time president of Italy.
Segni was born May 16,1939,in Sassari,Sardinia.[1] He was born to Antonio Segni,himself a prominent politician,and Laura Carta Caprino,who would have a total of four children.[2][3] Prior to his political career Segni studied law at the University of Sassari,following in the footsteps of his father.[4][5]
Academic career
Following his graduation,Segni moved to Padau where he worked under Luigi Carraro,a four-time Christian Democrat Senator,and taught at university.[6][7] In 1975 he became a professor of civil law at the University of Sassari.[8] He was the chair of the Faculty of Law at the University of Sassari until his retirement in 2011.[citation needed]
Christian Democrats
A long-time member of Christian Democracy,like his father,he was first elected Regional Councillor in 1967. Shortly after gaining his position at the University of Sassari,Segni ran for the national parliament in 1976.[9] He came second behind Francesco Cossiga with 85,736 votes but still won a seat.[9][10] He continued to hold this office until 1996.[11][12][13][14][15] He served as State Secretary of the Ministry Agricultural,Food and Forestry Policies in the second Craxigovernment and in the sixth Fanfanigovernment.[1][16] He was also chairman of the Control Committee for Information and Security Services and for State Secrecy from 1987 to 1991.[13]
In 1993,Segni broke from the Christian Democrats,who were suffering from tangentopoli,while he served in the XI legislature.[5][14] In March 1994,he founded the Segni Pact from the remains of the previous Democratic Alliance and Populars for Reform.[6][8] Segni had hoped to capitalize on the political vacuum left by the now tainted Christian Democrats.[20]
In 1999,Mario Segni returned to the domestic political scene,with the aim of attempting to abolish proportional quotas via referendums. Despite his failure to do so,in the 1999 European election,the Sengi Pact co-federated with the National Alliance,creating the Segni Pact –National Alliance list,a coalition also known as the 'elephant' headed by Gianfranco Fini[22][23] He won a second term as an MEP and voted alongside the Union for Europe of the Nations.[24] During this tenure,he served on the Committee of Constitutional Affairs,the delegation to MERCOSUR,and acted as vice-chair for the delegation to Central America and Mexico.[25]
During the 2006 election for the Presidency of the Italian Senate,Segni supported Franco Marini over former Christian Democrat head Giulio Andreotti,citing a respect for the old regime but a desire to see more progress in Italian politics and a fear of a return to the corruption prior to the Mani Pulite investigation.[26]
After Segni left politics he continued to provide political commentary as a well known figure.[4][28][29][30] In 2018,he was interviewed on the developments in Italian politics and provided his opinion on the developments regarding the Northern League and the 5 Star Movement.[31][32] He also gave his view on the push to return to a proportional representation system in Italy,stating that "the memory of Italy is short."[19]
Mario Segni is also the current president of the Antonio Segni Foundation,which seeks to put his father's work online.[33]
Legacy
While Segni's party was not electorally successful,he is still known for his work through referendums.[34][35][36] His work targeting the electoral system through referendums have been described as "contributing to the collapse of the established political system" of the first republic.[37] While he was not entirely electorally successful,he is considered to have had success via the referendum process and is characterized as having been one of the most powerful politicians of Italy at his peak.[36]
He has criticized prominent politicians in Italy such as Berlusconi and movements within the country.[29][30]
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