United Christian Democrats Cristiani Democratici Uniti | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Rocco Buttiglione |
| Founded | 23 July 1995 |
| Dissolved | 6 December 2002 |
| Split from | Italian People's Party |
| Merged into | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats |
| Ideology | Christian democracy Social conservatism |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-right[1] |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party |
| Colors | Light blue |
TheUnited Christian Democrats (Italian:Cristiani Democratici Uniti,CDU) was a minorChristian democratic[2]political party in Italy. The CDU was a member of theEuropean People's Party from 1995 until 2002.[3]
The party was started in 1995 by splinters of theItalian People's Party (PPI) who wanted to join forces withSilvio Berlusconi'sForza Italia (FI).[4][5] The split was led byRocco Buttiglione (outgoing secretary of the PPI),Roberto Formigoni andGianfranco Rotondi. The CDU's symbol used the crusader shield (scudo crociato) ofChristian Democracy.[6] In the1995 regional elections the CDU formed joint lists with FI andRoberto Formigoni was electedPresident of Lombardy, while in 1996 it formed an alliance with theChristian Democratic Centre (CCD) for the1996 general election, in which the CCD-CDU list scored 5.6%.
In June 1998 Buttiglione led the party into theDemocratic Union for the Republic (UDR), a new Christian-democratic outfit launched byFrancesco Cossiga andClemente Mastella, who had left CCD to form theChristian Democrats for the Republic (CDR). In October, when Buttiglione briefly decided to support thecentre-left government ofMassimo D'Alema, along with the UDR,Roberto Formigoni,Raffaele Fitto,Maurizio Lupi and several regional councillors inVeneto,Lombardy andPiedmont left the party to form theChristian Democrats for Freedom, which was later merged into Forza Italia.
In February 1999 the UDR split between supporters of Cossiga, who formed theUnion for the Republic (UpR), and the supporters of Mastella, who formed theUnion of Democrats for Europe (UDEur). In the event, Buttiglione re-established the CDU as an independent party and started a rapprochement with Berlusconi.
In the1999 European Parliament election the CDU obtained 2.2% and two MEPs, Buttiglione andVitaliano Gemelli.
In the2001 general election it formed an electoral alliance with CCD, known as theWhite Flower, gaining 3.2% of the vote.[7] Following the election, Buttiglione was appointed Minister of European Affairs inBerlusconi II Cabinet. In December 2002 the CDU, the CCD andEuropean Democracy (2.3% in 2001) were merged into theUnion of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC),[8] of which Buttiglione was elected president, an office he would hold for twelve years.
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 2,189,563 (7th) | 5.8[a] | 11 / 630 | – | |
| 2001 | 1,194,040 (8th) | 3.2[a] | 17 / 630 |  6 | |
| Senate of the Republic | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | withPole for Freedoms | 10 / 315 | – | ||
| 2001 | withHouse of Freedoms | 8 / 315 |  2 | ||
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 669,919 (11th) | 2.2 | 2 / 72 | – | |
