Raffaele Lombardo

Raffaele Lombardo
Raffaele Lombardo
President of Sicily
	In office; 28 April 2008 – 10 November 2012
Preceded by	Salvatore Cuffaro
Succeeded by	Rosario Crocetta
President of Province of Catania
	In office; 25 May 2003 – 12 February 2008
Preceded by	Nello Musumeci
Succeeded by	Giuseppe Castiglione
Member of the European Parliament for Italian Islands
	In office; 20 July 1999 – 28 April 2008
Personal details
Born	29 October 1950 (age 74); Catania, Italy
Political party	MPA (since 2005)
Other political; affiliations	DC (1972–1994); CDC (1994–2002); UDC (2002–2005)
Residence(s)	Catania, Sicily
Profession	Doctor

Raffaele Lombardo Italian pronunciation: [raffaˈɛːle lomˈbardo]; (born 29 October 1950) is an Italian politician. Born in Catania, he was Sicily's president and former member of the European Parliament for the Italian Islands with the Movement for the Autonomies, and has sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

In 2005, Lombardo split off from the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) to form the autonomist Sicilian-based Movement for Autonomy (MpA), after he had accused the UDC leadership of being too centralist. In 2008, he was elected as president of Sicily, obtaining over 65% of the regional votes and defeating Anna Finocchiaro of the Democratic Party (PD). On 31 July 2012, he resigned from the presidency because he was under investigation for external contribution with mafia and pork-barrelling, as it appears that he had relationships with some figure of Cosa Nostra. Nevertheless, in the following elections he managed to have his 23 years old son Toti elected in the Sicilian Regional Assembly. On 19 February 2014, he was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for mafia association.^[1] In 2022, he was acquitted in the second appeal trial;^[2] the acquittal was confirmed by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation in 2023.^[3]

Education

1968: Secondary school-leaving certificate in classical subjects
Graduate in medicine and surgery
Specialisation in forensic psychiatry
Private practice
1977: Provincial secretary of the Catania Youth DC
Regional secretary of the Christian Democratic Centre (CCD) for Sicily
Member of Catania Municipal Council for eight years
Several terms as Catania Municipal Councillor with responsibility for budget, planning, health, cultural heritage, youth issues, and taxation

Career

1986−1994: Member of the Sicilian Regional Assembly with Christian Democracy (DC)
1991−1992: Assessor for Local Authorities of the Sicilian Regional Executive (resigned for enquiries)
1999−2008: Member of the European Parliament with CCD
2003−2008: President of the Province of Catania with UDC
2008−2012: President of Sicily with MPA

References

^ "Ex-governor of Sicily convicted of Mafia ties, gets jail term; another ex-gov already in jail". Fox News. 20 March 2015.
^ "Sicilia, l'ex governatore Lombardo assolto dall'accusa di concorso esterno e corruzione elettorale nel secondo processo d'Appello". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 7 January 2022.
^ "Cassazione: manca la prova del patto fra Lombardo e la mafia, respinto appello della procura generale". la Repubblica (in Italian). 28 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.

External links

Raffaele Lombardo's official website
European Parliament biography of Raffaele Lombardo
Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (in Italian)

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[1] "Ex-governor of Sicily convicted of Mafia ties, gets jail term; another ex-gov already in jail". Fox News. 20 March 2015.

[2] "Sicilia, l'ex governatore Lombardo assolto dall'accusa di concorso esterno e corruzione elettorale nel secondo processo d'Appello". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 7 January 2022.

[3] "Cassazione: manca la prova del patto fra Lombardo e la mafia, respinto appello della procura generale". la Repubblica (in Italian). 28 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.

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