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'Walter Veltroni' (born 3 July, 1955) is an Italian politician and member of the Democrats of the Left (DS) party, serving as Mayor of Rome since 2001.

Contents

Biography

Criticisms

Works

Trivia

References

External links: candidacy for the Democratic Party's leadership

External links

Biography

Walter Veltroni was born in Rome in 1955, the son of Vittorio Veltroni, a notable RAI manager in the 1950s, who died only one year later.^[1] Veltroni joined the ''Federazione Giovanile Comunista Italiana'' (Italian Youth Communist Federation) at the age of 15, and was first elected as Rome city councillor in 1976 as member of the Italian Communist Party, serving until 1981. He was then first elected as Member of Parliament in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1987. Chosen as a member of the Italian Communist Party's national secretariat in 1988, he played a leading role in the party's transformation to the social-democratic party it is today.
Veltroni, a professional journalist, was chosen from 1992 to 1996 as editor-in-chief of the newspaper of the Democratic Party of the Left (later the DS), ''L'Unità''. He then successfully ran as vice-premier candidate, together with Romano Prodi, for the 1996 national election in Italy. He left his job in office in 1998, subsequent to his election as National Secretary of the Democrats of the Left. Despite his journalist background, he had controversial incidents on freedom of expression; in 2001, after the late night show ''Satyricon'' aired an interview that discussed indictments on links between the right-wing leader and the mafia, Veltroni despatched a messenger menacing the closure of the show.^[2]
As a candidate in 2001 for the office of Mayor of Rome, he eventually won the election against Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia, Veltroni resigned as leader of the party. In 2003 he received a honoris causa degree in Public Services by the John Cabot University of Rome. On January 1, 2006 Veltroni received the Cavaliere di Gran Croce (Knight of the Great Cross), Italy's highest award, from President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Many critic his social hyperactivity suggesting he might do better in focusing on more practical problems. ^[3].
On May 29, 2006, Veltroni was confirmed Mayor of Rome, easily defeating former Minister of Agriculture Gianni Alemanno, of National Alliance, obtaining an unprecedented 61.4% of the valid votes against only the 37.1% achieved by his main opponent. The large success obtained by Veltroni in the 2006 Rome's vote might indicate that the critiques on "social hyperactivity" are factious, as the percentage of votes that supported Veltroni's second term in office is a record in local elections.
Veltroni is widely considered among the most popular centre-left politicians in Italy, being often suggested for the leadership of the Democratic Party. On June 19, 2007 DS leader Piero Fassino publicly asked Veltroni to run for the party leadership, offering support from all of his party. Several other Democratic Party leading members publicly stated their support for a possible candidacy of Veltroni, suggesting he might easily be elected as first party leader in the October 2007 founding convention in case he would decide to run. However, the strongest of his possible contenders, Pier Luigi Bersani, which polls showed as having a 50% support in center-north regions, ^[4] withdrawn to avoid a 'confusing candidacy'.^[5] Veltroni unveiled his leadership candidacy at a rally in Turin on June 27, 2007.^[6]

Criticisms

Veltroni makes often use of metaphors, literary and cinematographic quotes in his speeches; he is considered one of the most skilled speakers in Italian politics. However, Veltroni's attitude towards good-feelings and his ability to avoid conflicts has attached him the label of ''buonista'' (derogatory for being good) and some political commentaries even coined the neologism ''veltronismo'' to indicate his particular way of making politics.
He has close ties to many famous writers and artists. As serving as a mayor for Italy's capital he has been able to put Rome again in the spot-light, by investing money in cultural activities such an international film festival that is challenging the glory of Venice's festival.
Apart from the Luttazzi's interview, there are no proofs in Veltroni's involvement in this issue, but Veltroni never denied nor sued. The mayor of Rome has no power over the national broadcast, but political parties are highly influential on public TV. Eventually the show Satiricon was stopped by the center-right Berlusconi's government with a censorship act.

Works

Veltroni has written a number of books on various topics, such as music, social issues, fiction, biographies and, of course, politics.

★ 1977 - ''Il PCI e la questione giovanile'' (''The PCI and the Youth Question'')

★ 1978 - ''A dieci anni dal ’68. Intervista con Achille Occhetto'' (''Ten Years since '68: Interview with Achille Occhetto'')

★ 1981 - ''Il sogno degli anni sessanta'' (''The dream of the Sixties'')

★ 1982 - ''Il calcio è una scienza da amare'' (''Football is a science to be loved'')

★ 1990 - ''Io e Berlusconi (e la Rai)'' (''Berlusconi and me (and RAI)'')

★ 1992 - ''I programmi che hanno cambiato l’Italia'' (''Programs that changed Italy'')

★ 1992 - ''Il sogno spezzato. Le idee di Robert Kennedy'' (''The broken dream. The ideas of Robert Kennedy'')

★ 1992 - ''La sfida interrotta. Le idee di Enrico Berlinguer'' (''The interrupted challenge. The ideas of Enrico Berlinguer'')

★ 1994 - ''Certi piccoli amori'' (''Certain small Loves'')

★ 1995 - ''La bella politica'' (interview book) (''Politics, the beautiful'')

★ 1997 - ''Certi piccoli amori 2'' (''Certain Small Loves II'')

★ 1997 - ''Governare da sinistra'' (''To Govern from the Left'')

★ 2000 - ''I care''

★ 2000 - ''Forse Dio è malato. Diario di un viaggio africano'' (''Perhaps God is sick: Diary of an African journey'')

★ 2003 - ''Il disco del mondo. Vita breve di Luca Flores, musicista'' (''The disk of the world: A brief life of Luca Flores, musician'')

★ 2004 - ''Senza Patricio'' (''Without Patricio'')

★ 2006 - ''La scoperta dell'alba'' (''Discovering of the dawn'')

Trivia

★ Veltroni is the Italian dubber of character Mayor Turkey Lurkey for the animated movie Chicken Little, released by Walt Disney Pictures in late 2005. His remuneration for the part was donated to charity.^[7]

★ Even though a native of Rome, Veltroni is a well-known supporter of Juventus, a football team from Turin.

★ He is a friend of singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori and film director Nanni Moretti. In the 1990s, both of them appeared alongside Veltroni in some celebrations after political elections in Italy.

References

1. Chi è Walter Veltroni. Non solo politico AteneOnline
2. Intervista a Daniele Luttazzi su La Repubblica Marco Travaglio
3. La dolce vita revisited: Rome's new emperor
4. Pd: Letta-Bersani volano nel Nord in sondaggi riservati - Il Sole 24 ORE
5. ANSA.it - PD: BERSANI, NON MI CANDIDO , RaiNews24 - Bersani rinuncia alla segreteria del Pd. "La mia candidatura avrebbe disorientato"
6. Italy's Left Looks Beyond Prodi
7. Veltroni doppia il sindaco Tacchino nel nuovo cartone Disney sui polli

External links: candidacy for the Democratic Party's leadership

The complete speech of Walter Veltroni during the rally at Lingotto in Turin unveiling his leadership candidacy for the new Democratic Party (PD)

★ transcript

★ video

External links

★ The Independent, article critics about Veltroni ''La dolce vita revisited: Rome's new emperor''

★ Repubblica.it: A brief portrait of Veltroni

★ World Mayors: Walter Veltroni

★ Article about Walter Veltroni from ''Time'' magazine