Mario Segni


Mariotto Segni is an 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 the Republic of Italy.

Biography

Segni was born May 16, 1939 in Sassari. He was born to Antonio Segni, himself a prominent politician, and Laura Carta Caprino, who would have a total of four children. Prior to his political career Segni studied law at the University of Sassari, following in the footsteps of his father, Antonio Segni.

Academic career

Following his graduation he would move to Padau where he would work under :it:Luigi Carraro |Luigi Carraro, a four-time Christian Democrat Senator, and teach at university. In 1975 he would become a professor of civil law at the University of Sassari. He would go on to become the chair of the Faculty of Law there, while being an active politician, until his retirement in 2011.

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, Segni would run for the national parliament in 1976. He would come in second place behind Francesco Cossiga with 85,736 votes but still win a seat. He would continue to hold this office until 1996. He served as undersecretary for Agriculture in the second Craxi government and in the sixth Fanfani :it:Governo Fanfani VI|government. He was also chairman of the Control Committee for Information and Security Services and for State Secrecy from 1987 to 1991.

Election Reform and Starting a Party

Riding the momentum from the 1991 Italian electoral law referendum, which he supported, Segni would contribute to the establishment of the Democratic Alliance in 1992. He would also found the Populars for Reform that same year, with the goal of electoral reform; transitioning from proportional representation to a first-past-the-post system. These reforms would ultimately culminate in 1993 under the Mattarellum law which he claimed would bring stability to Italy by making it more similar to Anglo-Saxon democracies.
In 1993 Segni would finally break from the Christian Democrats who were suffering from tangentopoli while he served in the XI legislature. During this time he would found the Segni Pact in March 1994 from the remains of the previous Democratic Alliance and Populars for Reform. Segni had hoped to capitalize on the political vacuum left by the now tainted Christian Democrats.
He was a candidate for Prime Minister for the centrist alliance Pact for Italy in 1994, and as an MEP from 1994 to 1995 which he won. The party as a whole, however, did not have much initial success and joined the Anti-Berlusconi coalition during the first Berlusconi government. During his first tenure in the European Parliament he would join the European People's Party along with several other members of the Segni Pact Danilo Poggiolini, Vincenzo Viola, and Livio Filippi. He would also be part of the European Parliament's delegation to the Arab Maghreb Union. His party would go on to join with the Italian Renewal List while he began refocusing on teaching.
In 1999 Mario Segni returned to the domestic political scene, attempting to abolish proportional quotas via referendum. Despite 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 He would also go on to win a second term as a MEP where he would vote alongside the Union for Europe of the Nations. During this tenure, he would serve on the Committee of Constitutional Affairs, the delegation to MERCOSUR, and act as Vice-Chair for the delegation to Central America and Mexico.
In 2003 he rebranded the Segni Pact, combining forces with Carlo Scognamiglio and former Segni Pact member's the Sardinian Reformers, naming it the Pact of Liberal Democrats; it would continue to criticize the Berlusconi camp. This would culminate in his siding 'no' on the 2006 Constitutional Referendum.
During the 2006 election for the Presidency of the Italian Senate, Segni would support 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.
In early 2007 he became Coordinator of the Promoting Committee of the Electoral Referendum, led by :it:Giovanni Guzzetta|Giovanni Guzzetta. This would place Segni alongside politicians such as Gianni Alemanno, Angelino Alfano, Mercedes Bresso, Riccardo Illy, Renato Brunetta, Antonio Martino, Giovanna Melandri, Arturo Parisi, Daniele Capezzone, Stefania Prestigiacomo, Gaetano Quagliariello, and Giorgio Tonini in the fight for a majority based electoral system. On July 24 of 2007 Segni handed over 800,000 signatures to the Court of Cassation for the presentation of the Electoral Referendum. The 2009 Italian electoral law referendum, took place in June 2009, but did not reach the required quorum.

Post-Politics

He has since left politics but continuous to provide commentary on it as a well known figure. In 2018, he was interviewed on the developments of Italian politics as shown where he lists his opinions on the developments regarding the Northern League and the 5 Star Movement. He also gave his views on the push to return to a proportional representation system in Italy, claiming that "the memory of Italy is short."
Mario Segni is also the current president of the Antonio Segni Foundation, which seeks to put all his father's work online.

Legacy

While Segni's party was not electorally successful he is still known for his work through referendums. 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. While he was not entirely electorally successful, he is considered to have had success via the referendum process and characterized as having been one of the most powerful politicians of Italy at his peak.
He has criticized prominent politicians in Italy like Berlusconi and movements within the country.

Culture

Filmography

Written on him