Luca Zaia | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| President of Veneto | |
| Assumed office 13 April 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Giancarlo Galan |
| Succeeded by | Alberto Stefani(Elect) |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 8 May 2008 – 16 April 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Preceded by | Paolo De Castro |
| Succeeded by | Giancarlo Galan |
| Vice President of Veneto | |
| In office 19 May 2005 – 6 June 2008 | |
| President | Giancarlo Galan |
| Preceded by | Fabio Gava |
| Succeeded by | Franco Manzato |
| President of theProvince of Treviso | |
| In office 10 June 1998 – 9 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Giovanni Mazzonetto |
| Succeeded by | Leonardo Muraro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-03-27)27 March 1968 (age 57) Conegliano, Italy |
| Political party | Liga Veneta |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | University of Udine |
| Website | Official website |
Luca Zaia (born 27 March 1968) is an Italian politician, who has beenPresident of Veneto since 2010, and a historical member ofLega Nord, other than being the mostprogressive member of his own party.[1][2][3] Supporter of initiatives to tackleclimate change,[4][5][6]gender-affirming surgery,[7][8] the recognition oftransgender people to identify with their preferred sex,[9] and main protagonist of the fight againsthomophobia[10] andantisemitism,[11][12] he often rose to prominence for his positions contrasting the lines of his ownparty, in particular for the ones concerning thewelcoming of immigrants[13] and his model of "integrazione diffusa" (a redistributive framework where immigrants' quota are spread across municipalities) of migrants coming toEurope.
Prior to that, Zaia was President of theProvince of Treviso from 1998 to 2005, Vice President of Veneto from 2005 to 2008 andMinister of Agriculture inSilvio Berlusconi'sfourth cabinet from 2008 to 2010.
Son of Giuseppe and Carmela Lisetto, after graduating from the Oenological School of Conegliano, he graduated inAnimal Production Sciences at the Faculty of Agriculture of theUniversity of Udine. After starting with the graduation party organized by him, for twelve years he worked as aPR for variousdiscos in his area such as the "Manhattan" ofGodega di Sant'Urbano, the "Diamantik" ofGaiarine, the "Kolossal" ofSpresiano or the "Desiree" inCaorle, in addition to various other jobs, including "the waiter, the cleaner, the bricklayer, the private chemistry teacher, the horse riding instructor, the worker in a leather company.[14]
He has been married since 1999 to Raffaella Monti, a company secretary; the couple has no children.
Luca Zaia joinedLiga Veneta–Lega Nord in the early 1990s, after having metGian Paolo Gobbo, and was first elected to public office in 1993, when he became municipal councillor ofGodega di Sant'Urbano. Two years later, in 1995, he successfully ran for provincial councillor and, after the election, was appointed provincial minister of Agriculture.[15][16]
In the1998 provincial election, Zaia was elected President of theProvince of Treviso with 60.0% of the vote in the second round, after arriving ahead in the first round with 41.4% and refusing to accept the support of any other party other than his own.[17] At the time, he was the youngest provincial president of Italy.[15][16] In2002 he was re-elected with a landslide 68.9% of the vote in the second round and continued to govern the province with the sole support of his party.[18]
In May 2005, Zaia was appointed Vice President of Veneto and regional minister of Agriculture and Tourism inGiancarlo Galan'sthird government, but left in May 2008 in order to take office as federal minister of agriculture inBerlusconi IV Cabinet.[15][16]
In December 2009,The People of Freedom (PdL) determined that the coalition candidate in the2010 regional election would be a member ofLega Nord.[19] Subsequently, the national council of Liga Veneta (LV) nominated Zaia for president of the region.[20]
In the2010 regional election Zaia was electedPresident of Veneto by winning 60.2% of the vote.[21]
In the2015 regional election Zaia was re-elected President of Veneto with 50.1%, despite the split occurred in his party whenFlavio Tosi, who later won 11.9% of the vote, left in order to form theTosi List for Veneto.
In the2020 regional election Zaia was re-elected for a third consecutive term with 76.8% of the vote, becoming the most voted regional president ever in Italy. Additionally, Zaia's personal list won 44.6% of the vote, while the party's official list won 16.9%.
In early times of his administration, Zaia tried to limit theRU-486 abortive pill.[22] However, theItalian Medicines Agency declared that his position was unconstitutional in view of how the question is regulated by the Law 194 of 1978.
In 2013 Zaia spoke against theLGBT adoption, saying: "I have nothing against gays, but the possibility of adoption seems to me to be an extreme measure with unpredictable effects."[23]However he has since reneged on his views and even stated that "Freedom must be guaranteed to all and there is no room for homophobia and racism." in 2021[24] and that "Homosexuality is not an illness, but homophobia is." later in 2022.[25] That same year following the suicide oftransgender teacher Cloe Bianco inMarcon, Zaia stated that "for me Cloe was a woman for all intents and purposes." showing support for transgender people[26]
Zaia liberalisedartificial insemination for women up to 50 years.[27][28]
.jpg)
In August 2010, ananti-globalization group demonstrated inVivaro against the planting ofgenetically modified organisms. The demonstration was supported by Zaia, who demanded a "return to legality", even though his predecessorGiancarlo Galan, a member of his coalition, was in favour of GMOs.
After a flood in 2010, Zaia and his coalition changed a regional law to permit the reconstruction of rural ruins up to 800 cubic metres. The Democratic Party claimed that this was an attempt at "cementification". The National Association of Building Constructors (ANCE) also called the law a "bad choice".[29]
Zaia was criticized when, after the flood, he asked for more funds for the reconstruction, saying, "It's a shame spending €250,000,000 for four stones inPompei."[30]
Zaia announced that he too had voted (yes) in the unofficial, non-binding,online and privately organised2014 Venetian independence referendum and explained that he would seek "total independence" for Veneto.[31][32] Zaia has compared the status of the Veneto within Italy to that ofCrimea withinUkraine.[33]
Zaia was a strong proponent of and oversaw the2017 Venetian autonomy referendum, in which turnout was 57.2% and 98.1% of participants voted "yes".
In February 2020 Zaia apologized after criticizing China over theCOVID-19 pandemic and claiming that Chinese people "eat live mice".[34] Zaia has anyway emerged strengthened from the crisis, widely praised for keeping hospital admissions down.[35]
In the occasion of the2011 referendums on four questions concerning the repeal of recent laws regarding theprivatisation of water services (two questions), a return to thenuclear energy which had been phased out after the1987 referendum, andcriminal procedure, specifically a provision exempting the Prime Minister and the Ministers from appearing in court, he voted "4 Yes". He called for moretransparency and demanded more citizens' supervision of public administration.[36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
|
Berlusconi IV Cabinet (2008–2011) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
