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Raffaele Fitto

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Raffaele Fitto
Minister for European Affairs, the South and Cohesion Policies and the NRRP
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 October 2022
Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni
Preceded byVincenzo Amendola
(European Affairs, 2021)
Mara Carfagna
(South and Cohesion)
Co-Chair of the European
Conservatives and Reformists
In office
2 July 2019 – 12 October 2022
Served alongsideRyszard Legutko
Jorge Buxadé
Member of the European Parliament
for Southern Italy
In office
1 July 2014 – 12 October 2022
In office
20 July 1999 – 20 June 2000
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 October 2022
ConstituencyApulia
In office
28 April 2006 – 25 June 2014
ConstituencyApulia
Minister for Regional Affairs and Territorial Cohesion
In office
8 May 2008 – 16 November 2011
Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi
Preceded byLinda Lanzillotta
Succeeded byPiero Gnudi (Regional Affairs)
Fabrizio Barca (Territorial Cohesion)
President of Apulia
In office
19 May 2000 – 27 April 2005
Preceded bySalvatore Distaso
Succeeded byNichi Vendola
Personal details
Born (1969-08-28) 28 August 1969 (age 55)
Maglie, Italy
Political partyFdI (since 2019)
Other political
affiliations		DC (1990–1994)
PPI (1994–1995)
CDU (1995–1998)
CDL (1998–2001)
FI (2001–2009)
PdL (2009–2013)
FI (2013–2015)
CoR (2015–2017)
DI (2017–2019)
SpouseAdriana Panzera
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Bari
Websiteraffaelefitto.it

Raffaele Fitto (born 28 August 1969) is an Italian politician who has served as Minister for European Affairs and Minister for the South and Cohesion Policies in the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni since 2022. A member of Brothers of Italy (FdI), he previously served as President of Apulia from 2000 to 2005 and Minister for Regional Affairs and Territorial Cohesion from 2008 to 2011 in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fourth government.

Career

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Born in Maglie, Apulia, Fitto began his political career during the 1990s in Christian Democracy (DC), the ruling party of post-war Italy. When the DC was dissolved and with the birth of the Second Italian Republic, he joined the DC's successor political parties and Christian democratic parties, such as Italian People's Party (PPI), the United Christian Democrats (CDU), and the Christian Democrats for Freedom (CDL).

In 1999, he was elected to the European Parliament on the electoral list of Forza Italia (FI), of which he was a member from 2001 to 2009, when he joined The People of Freedom (PdL), the new party of Silvio Berlusconi. On 17 May 2015, Fitto left the new Forza Italia, which he had joined when it was re-founded in 2013, and the European People's Party Group to join the European Conservatives and Reformists.[1][2] From 2015 to 2017, Fitto was a member of Conservatives and Reformists (CoR). In 2017, he joined Direction Italy (DI), which he left in 2019 to join the Brothers of Italy party led by Giorgia Meloni. In 2022, he was appointed to Giorgia Meloni's government. He was replaced in the European Parliament by Denis Nesci.[3]

Trials

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Bribery towards the Italian public health care system

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In 2006, Fitto was investigated by the Bari prosecutor in connection with a donation to his regional party La Puglia Prima di Tutto of €500,000 by Tosinvest, a company owned by Antonio Angelucci, ahead of the 2005 Apulian regional election. According to the prosecution, this amount was suspected of being a bribe to secure for the Apulia region the management of eleven nursing homes. A request to arrest Fitto, who in the meantime had become a member of the Italian Parliament, was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies. In December 2009, he was found guilty of abuse of office, corruption, and illegal financing of political parties; Fitto was acquitted of some other charges in June 2012.[4]

In February 2013, Fitto was sentenced by the Court of first instance (Tribunale di Primo Grado) to four years in prison and five years' disqualification from public office;[5] the sentence was commuted to 1 year.[6] In September 2015, Fitto was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance (Corte d'Appello).[7] In June 2017, he was acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court of Cassation (Corte di Cassazione).[8]

Bankruptcy of Cedis

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In February 2009, Fitto was accused of conspiring, during his time as president of Apulia (2000–2005) to short-sell the trading company Cedis at that time (2004–2006) in administration.[9] The charges were filed in April 2009. In March 2017, Fitto was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance.[10]

Electoral history

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Election House Constituency Party Votes Result Notes
1990 Regional Council of Apulia Lecce DC 75,355 checkY Elected [1]
1995 Regional Council of Apulia Lecce CDU 22,606 checkY Elected [2]
1999 European Parliament Southern Italy FI 128,637 checkY Elected [3]
2006 Chamber of Deputies Apulia FI –[a] checkY Elected [4]
2008 Chamber of Deputies Apulia PdL –[a] checkY Elected [5]
2013 Chamber of Deputies Apulia PdL –[a] checkY Elected [6]
2014 European Parliament Southern Italy FI 284,712 checkY Elected [7]
2019 European Parliament Southern Italy FdI 87,786 checkY Elected [8]
2022 Chamber of Deputies Apulia FdI –[a] checkY Elected [9]
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.

References

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  1. ^ "Fitto, addio a Forza Italia: "Lascio anche il Ppe". Berlusconi: "Siamo felici, ci ha tolto un peso"". 17 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Berlusconi taglia la fronda: "Basta politici mestieranti, se vanno via siamo felici"".
  3. ^ "9th parliamentary term | Raffaele FITTO | MEPs | European Parliament". European Parliament. 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2024. Updated through the years.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ^ "Processo 'La Fiorita', assoluzione con formula piena per Raffaele Fitto - Il Fatto Quotidiano". 1 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Tangenti: condannato a 4 anni l'ex ministro Raffaele Fitto (Pdl)". 13 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Bari, ex ministro Raffaele Fitto condannato a 4 anni di carcere, tre condonati - Il Fatto Quotidiano". 13 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Raffaele Fitto assolto in secondo grado dall'accusa di corruzione nell'inchiesta Fiorita: "Non ci fu tangente" - Il Fatto Quotidiano". 29 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Legali: per Cassazione nessuna corruzione addebitabile a Fitto".
  9. ^ "Inchiesta su turbativa d'asta Fitto rinuncia alla prescrizione - Bari - Repubblica.it".
  10. ^ "Vicenda Cedis, Fitto e Montinari assolti a Bari".
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