page_title: Lega Nord
section_title: 2008–2011 developments
hierarchical_section_title: Lega Nord / Factions / 2008–2011 developments
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Foto dal raduno della Lega Nord a Pontida ad aprile 2013.
context_page_description: Lega Nord, whose complete name is Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania, is a political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as Lega, without changing its official name in the party's statute. The party was nonetheless frequently referred to only as "Lega" even before the rebranding as well as Carroccio.
  The LN was established in 1991 as a federation of six regional parties of northern and north-central Italy, including Liga Veneta, Lega Lombarda, Piemont Autonomista, Uniun Ligure, Lega Emiliano-Romagnola and Alleanza Toscana which became the founding national sections. The party's founder was Umberto Bossi, federal secretary from 1991 to 2012. After an internal crisis and struggle, the LN was briefly led by Roberto Maroni, who was elected President of Lombardy in 2013. Consequently, Matteo Salvini defeated Bossi in a leadership election and became secretary.
  Currently, Giancarlo Giorgetti and Lorenzo Fontana serve as deputy secretaries, while Roberto Calderoli coordinates the national sections. Leading members include Attilio Fontana, Luca Zaia, Massimiliano Fedriga, Maurizio Fugatti and Donatella Tesei.
context_section_description: Since 2008, besides the traditional regional divides, the party was increasingly divided among three groups. The first was the so-called "magic circle", that was to say Bossi's inner circle, notably including Marco Reguzzoni, Rosi Mauro and Federico Bricolo. The second was formed around Roberto Calderoli, who was the powerful coordinator of Lega Nord's national secretariats and had among his closest supporters Giacomo Stucchi and Davide Boni. The third one was led by Roberto Maroni, who tended to be more independent from Bossi and was somewhat critical of the centre-right affiliation of the party; and it included Giancarlo Giorgetti, Attilio Fontana, Matteo Salvini and Flavio Tosi. Gian Paolo Gobbo and Luca Zaia, leaders of the party in Veneto, although very loyal to Bossi, tended to be independent from "federal" factions and were engaged in a long power struggle with Flavio Tosi (see Liga Veneta#Factions). Indeed, Corriere della Sera identified four main groups: the magic circle, maroniani, calderoliani and "Venetians" (or, better, Venetists), leaving aside the core independentists (see Lega Nord#Issue-oriented groups). Roberto Cota, leader of Lega Nord Piemont, the third largest national section of Lega Nord, was very close to Bossi and was part of the magic circle, but since his election as President of Piedmont became more independent. Equidistant from the main factions were also Roberto Castelli and Francesco Speroni.
  By 2011, maroniani clearly became the strongest faction within the party and Maroni, who was acclaimed at the traditional rally in Pontida in June, became Bossi's obvious successor. Maroniani commanded wide support among rank-and-file members and were well represented in all regions, notably including Veneto, where Tosi was loyal to Maroni despite being a conservative-liberal. Maroni and Calderoli, who had been on opposite sides for years, joined forces against the magic circle and its influence on Bossi. After Pontida 2011, Mauro and Reguzzoni tried to convince Bossi to remove Giorgetti from the leadership of Lega Lombarda, but this move was strongly opposed by Maroni and Calderoli, who were supported in this also by Cota and most Venetians. The attempted "coup d'etat" produced an umparalleled backclash against the magic circle: 49 deputies out of 59 wanted to replace Reguzzoni as floor leader in the Chamber of Deputies with Stucchi, but Bossi imposed the status quo.
  After earning resounding victories in the provincial congresses of Verona, Belluno and eastern Veneto during the first half of 2011, maroniani (with the support of calderoliani) prevailed also in Brescia and Val Camonica, defeating the candidates of the magic circle by landslides. In October, fearing a remake in Varese, his homeprovince, Bossi imposed his candidate, who was declared elected without a vote. In the event, Bossi was openly contested by many delegates at the congress and there had been an open vote, maroniani would have won. These party infightings ended with Bossi's demise in February 2012 (see Lega Nord#From Bossi to Maroni).
caption: Traditional rally of Lega Nord in Pontida, 2013
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