Piero Franco Rodolfo Fassino (born 7 October 1949) is an Italian politician. He was Mayor of Turin from 2011 until 2016.[1]
Piero Fassino | |
|---|---|
 Fassino in 2022 | |
| Mayor of Turin | |
| In office 16 May 2011 – 20 June 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Sergio Chiamparino |
| Succeeded by | Chiara Appendino |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 26 April 2000 – 11 June 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Giuliano Amato |
| Preceded by | Oliviero Diliberto |
| Succeeded by | Roberto Castelli |
| Minister of Foreign Trade | |
| In office 21 October 1998 – 26 April 2000 | |
| Prime Minister | Massimo D'Alema |
| Preceded by | Augusto Fantozzi |
| Succeeded by | Enrico Letta |
| Secretary of the Democrats of the Left | |
| In office 18 November 2001 – 14 October 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Veltroni |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| Assumed office 23 March 2018 | |
| Constituency | Emilia-Romagna (2018–2022) Veneto (since 2022) |
| In office 15 April 1994 – 19 July 2011 | |
| Constituency | Liguria (1994–1996) Venaria Reale (1996–2006) Piedmont (2006–2011) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 October 1949 Avigliana, Italy |
| Political party | PCI (1968–1991) PDS (1991–1998) DS (1998–2007) PD (since 2007) |
| Spouse | Anna Maria Serafini |
| Alma mater | University of Turin |
Early life and education
editFassino was born in Avigliana, Piedmont (province of Turin), in a traditional socialist family. His father Eugenio was a partisan, commander of the 41st Garibaldi Brigade, and his paternal grandfather Piero was beaten to death by the Italian Fascists in 1944 because he did not want to reveal his son's hideout, while his maternal grandfather Cesare Grisa was one of the founders of the Italian Socialist Party. He graduated in Political Sciences.
Political career
editEarly career
editFassino registered with the Italian Communist Youth Federation of Turin in 1968. In 1975, he was elected as a Member of the City Council of the Piedmont regional capital, a position he remained in for ten years. From 1985 to 1990 he was Provincial Councillor, also in Turin. He was also secretary of the provincial Italian Communist Party (PCI) federation of Turin from 1983 to 1987, when he was elected as a member of the National Secretary's Office of the party, first as the Secretary's Office Coordinator, then as Responsible of Organization, during the period where the party was transformed from the PCI into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).
From 1991 to 1996, Fassino was International Secretary of the new party; in 1994 he was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Re-elected in 1996, he was appointed in 1998 as Minister for Foreign Commerce in the government headed by Massimo D'Alema. Between 2000 and 2001 he was Minister of Justice in the Giuliano Amato government.[1] Candidate as vice-premier of The Olive Tree coalition in a ticket with former Rome Mayor Francesco Rutelli for the 2001 general elections in Italy won by the House of Freedoms rival coalition, he was still re-elected as a Member of Parliament.
In addition to his role in Parliament, Fassino was a member of Italian delegation to the Assembly of the Western European Union from 2006 until 2011, where he served as chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and as rapporteur for the Western Balkans.[2]
From 2007 until 2010, Fassino served as the European Union's special envoy for Myanmar, appointed by the Union’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana.[3]
Secretary of Democrats of the Left
editIn 2001, during the National Party Congress of the Democrats of the Left, Fassino was elected as secretary (a position of leader in Italian political parties). He was then re-elected in February 2005, during the party congress.
In 2003, Fassino and other high-ranking party members – including Romano Prodi, Lamberto Dini and Walter Veltroni – were accused of taking millions of pounds in backhanders when state-run Telecom Italia bought a 29% stake in Telekom Serbia in 1997.[4] During his time in office, Fassino asserted that Il Giornale, a right-wing newspaper, published confidential wiretap transcripts shortly before the 2006 election to create the impression that he had exercised improper pressure in the attempted takeover of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro by insurer Unipol in 2005. In 2013, a court awarded 80,000 euros in damages to Fassino for the incident.[5]
Mayor of Turin
editFassino served as Mayor of Turin from 2011 until 2016. In the 2016 elections, he was defeated by Chiara Appendino, who overturned an 11-point gap after the first round to win 55 per cent of the vote.[6]
Back to the Parliament
editFassino has been serving as a member of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2018.[7] As member of the Democratic Party, he is part of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group. In the Assembly, he serves on the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (since 2018); the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (since 2018); and the Sub-Committee on the Middle East and the Arab World (since 2019). He also serves as the Assembly's co-rapporteur on Serbia (alongside Ian Liddell-Grainger)[8] and Libya.[9]
Recognition
editFassino received the America Award from the Italy-USA Foundation in 2010.
Other activities
edit- European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member of the Council[10]
- Italy-USA Foundation, Member (since 2018)
Personal life
editFassino is married to Anna Maria Serafini, who was elected to the Italian Senate in 2006. He considers himself Roman Catholic.[11]
Electoral history
edit| Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Chamber of Deputies | Liguria | PDS | –[a] |  Elected
| |
| 1996 | Chamber of Deputies | Venaria Reale | PDS | 35,887 | Elected
| |
| 2001 | Chamber of Deputies | Venaria Reale | DS | 42,871 | Elected
| |
| 2006 | Chamber of Deputies | Piedmont 1 | DS | –[a] | Elected
| |
| 2008 | Chamber of Deputies | Piedmont 1 | PD | –[a] | Elected
| |
| 2018 | Chamber of Deputies | Emilia-Romagna 2 | PD | –[a] | Elected
| |
| 2022 | Chamber of Deputies | Veneto 1 | PD | –[a] | Elected
| |
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Prodi Clears Final Hurdle as Deficit Pressures Mount 11 May 2006, Bloomberg L.P.. Accessed 15 April 2009. Archived 15 April 2009.
- ^ House of the living dead European Voice, April 14, 2010.
- ^ Toby Vogel (November 14, 2007), EU wants Asean to turn screw on Myanmar European Voice.
- ^ Sophie Arie (September 1, 2003), Kickback claims hit Italian left The Guardian.
- ^ Manuela D'Alessandro (March 7, 2013), Berlusconi sentenced in wiretap trial Reuters.
- ^ Crispian Balmer and Gavin Jones (19 June 2016), Blow for Italy's PM as 5-Star makes breakthrough in mayoral vote Reuters.
- ^ Piero Fassino Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
- ^ Monitoring co-rapporteurs for Serbia deeply concerned by financial investigations against prominent NGOs and media Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 30 July 2020.
- ^ Rapporteur welcomes inter-Libyan dialogue in Bouznika Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 6 October 2020.
- ^ Members of the Council European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
- ^ Ceccarelli, Filippo (27 September 2005). "E Fassino rivela Sono credente" [And Fassino reveals: I'm a believer]. la Repubblica - Archivio.