Leoluca Orlando

Leoluca Orlando (born 1 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He was mayor of Palermo for over twenty years and was president of the Italian Federation of American Football (FIDAF). He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia during his mayoralty in the 1980s, which was publicly referenced in the media as the Palermo Spring (Italian: Primavera di Palermo).

Early life and education

Orlando was born in Palermo. He graduated in jurisprudence and worked as lawyer and professor at the University of Palermo.

Career

Opposition to the Sicilian Mafia and first mayorship

He was a member of Christian Democracy (DC), in the left wing of the party. He entered politics in 1976 as legal adviser to Christian Democratic reformer Piersanti Mattarella, who became president of the Sicilian Region in 1978. The two men set out to break the Mafia's hold on the island, transferring budget authority from the corrupt regional government back to the cities and passing a law enforcing the same building standards used in the rest of Italy, thereby making the Mafia's building schemes illegal. In retaliation, the Mafia killed Mattarella in January 1980.

The brother of Mattarella and other associates urged him to run for the Palermo municipal council, he ran successfully, and was elected mayor by the town council in 1985. From 1985-1990 he was elected mayor of Palermo, and received many threats as a result of his open opposition to the power of the Mafia in the city. He was re-elected as mayor in 1993 with 75.2% of the vote. In 1992 he was also elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Two years later he became a member of the European Parliament.