Giuliano Amato

**Giuliano Salvo Amato** (May 13, 1918 - August 16, 1992) was an Isgardian politician and administrator who served as the twelfth president of Isgardia between July 27, 1980 and July 27, 1986, having previously been prime minister of Isgardia between July 1976 and January 1980, and again briefly in September 1983. Amato was the first president since Luigi Luzzatti to serve out a full six year presidential term, being the first of the second Republic of Isgardia. Amato was the leader of the Democratic party between December 1979 and September 1983, and was a member of the National Assembly between July 1972 and July 1980, and again from July 1986 until August 1992.

Born in Turin into a Sicilian family, Amato grew up in Tuscany. He received a first degree in law from the University of Pisa in 1940, while attending the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the Scuola Normale Superiore, which today is Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. As a Fulbright grantee, he received a master's degree in comparative law from Columbia Law School in 1943. After teaching at the Universities of Modena, Perugia and Florence, he worked as professor of Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Rome La Sapienza from 1955 to 1972. Following the fall of the dictatorial Isgardian Revolutionary Party in the aftermath of democratic reforms led by President Umberto Badoglio, Amato joined the Democratic party and was elected to the National Assembly in July 1972. Whilst as a member of the assembly, Amato rose through the Democratic party ranks and ended up as a senior advisor to party leader Cossiga Francesco by December 1973. Following the election of Francesco as president, Amato was appointed as prime minister on July 27, 1976.

During Giuliano Amato's first premiership, the Democratic party attempted to implement an economic redistribution programme to share wealth across the nation after decades of institutional neglect towards southern Isgardia, and revived many of the Fascist-era state subsidies for small businesses as increasing trade with Dunsteen and Spain threatened to wipe out much of the Isgardian manufacturing sector. Negotiations between Dunsteen and Isgardia conducted by President Francesco and Amato established an early economic agreement under the Treaty of Rome, which created one of Europe's first free trade areas. In 1979, Francesco resigned as the leader of the Democratic party and was replaced by Giuliano Amato; in order to give Amato a neutral political platform to campaign from, President Francesco appointed former president and senior Democratic party member Umberto Badoglio as prime minister for the remainder of his presidential term. Ultimately, Amato would go on to win the presidential election.

Having been inaugurated as president of Isgardia, President Giuliano Amato re-appointed Umberto Badoglio as prime minister and appointed a largely socialist cabinet of ministers. As one of the first major policy initiatives of his presidency, Amato implemented a national minimum wage for all workers and expanded the universal healthcare programme in Isgardia with billions of lira worth of investment. In 1982, President Amato began a "National Infrastructure Programme" designed to increase the rail and road connectivity between regions in Isgardia, particularly between the north, south, and isle of Sicily; as part of the programme, Amato green-lit a high-speed rail line between Milan, Rome, and Naples, and inaugurated construction on the pan-Isgardian highway. These efforts were staunchly opposed by members of the Sicilian Mafia, who favoured the island's isolation from the mainland government, and a low intensity civil conflict between the two erupted in December 1982 after the assassination of interior minister Aldo Moro.

In March 1983, President Giuliano Amato introduced a constitutional amendment before the National Assembly which would extend presidential terms from four to six years and remove the ban on re-election. This move was highly controversial, and the Democratic party senior leadership refused to back the scheme after alleging that it would undermine Isgardian democracy. Despite opposition from President Amato's Democratic party, the constitutional amendment passed into law on September 17, 1983 with the backing of the Republican party; in response, former president Cossiga Francesco led the Democratic party in expelling Amato and electing prime minister Umberto Badoglio as the party's new leader. On September 18, 1983, the Democratic party withdrew it's support for President Giuliano Amato and prime minister Badoglio resigned from office. With no government other than than the president, Amato appointed himself as acting prime minister and entered into negotiations with the Republican party to provide political support for his administration in order to prevent an impeachment proceeding. Subsequently, Republican party leader Mati Atakana was appointed as prime minister on October 29, 1983 at the head of a Republican dominated cabinet; as a result of the political compromise, much of Amato's political power was granted to Atakana, who became the de-facto leader of Isgardia for the duration of Amato's presidency.

In March 1984, President Amato announced the end of government subsidies for fuel, and opened a commission for constitutional reform to be headed by prime minister Atakana. For much of the remainder of Amato's presidency, the Republican party stalled on political changes in order to give the government the perception of being ineffective and save major policy changes for a future Republican government; despite this, the party rapidly increased public spending for the military and police forces, and launched a rapid crackdown against the Sicilian Mafia in 1985. In June 1986, President Amato attempted a re-election bid but was unsuccessful, and was replaced by his prime minister Mati Atakana on July 27, 1986. For the remainder of his life, Giuliano Amato served as an independent member of the National Assembly, before being assassinated in Atakana's purge of political opponents in August 1992.