Forza Italia is an Italian political party. It is headed by Silvio Berlusconi, who also is Prime Minister of Italy. Logo of Forza Italia. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... Portrait of Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi (born September 29, 1936) is currently (as of 2005) the Prime Minister of Italy. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of Italy. ...

It was formed in 1993 by Berlusconi, a successful businessman and owner of all the main private television stations in Italy. A few months after its creation, Forza Italia came to national power in the 1994 elections as the head of a political coalition called Polo delle Libertà, but fell when the northern separatist Lega Nord left the coalition. It regained power in the 2001 elections, with the League's support in a new coalition called Casa delle libertà. Occasionally, Forza Italia has surpassed 30% of votes (as in the 1994 elections for the European parliament), but presently (as of 2005) its base of support consists of about one-fifth of the electorate. In the regional elections of April 2005, it received 18.5% of the vote. 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003) Events Media:January January 1 - Czechoslovakia divides. ... A television station is a type of radio station that broadcasts both audio and video to television receivers in a particular area. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... A Coalition is an alliance between entities, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest. ... The Northern League (Italian: Lega Nord) is an Italian political party that advocates autonomy for a part of Northern Italy called Padania. It is a personality-driven party led by Umberto Bossi. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Casa delle Libertà, or House of Freedoms in English, is an Italian right-wing party alliance, composed of Forza Italia, National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale), Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC), Socialist Party New PSI (Nuovo PSI); the small PRI and Northern League (Lega Nord), led by national media tycoon... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Ongoing events • Iraqi legislative election • Bill C-38 (Canada gay marriage) • Tsunami relief • Cedar Revolution in Lebanon • Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan • German Visa Affair 2005 • Expo 2005 in Nagoya, Japan • Terri Schiavo controversy • Pope John Paul II...

Football rhetorics

"Forza Italia" used to be shouted at football matches as an encouragement for the national team ("Go on Italy"), but has since been dropped because of the obvious political implications of using the name of a major political party. It should be noted that founder Silvio Berlusconi is also the owner of Serie A team AC Milan, and has used its many successes in football as a propaganda subject. In 1994, talking about his direct rival in his electoral college, economist Luciano Spaventa, Berlusconi said "He should return when he's won a Champion's League". Forza Italia supporters call themselves "Azzurri", another clear reference to the national football team, but this is rarely used by others. Names as "forzista" or sometimes "forzitaliano" are considered neutral, while opponents sometime use the pejorative "forzitaliota". Football is the name given to a number of different team sports. ... Serie A is the top division of the Italian Football League, the highest football league in Italy. ... AC Milan is an Italian football club. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Champions League Logo The UEFA Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition between Europes most successful clubs, regarded as the most prestigious club trophy in the sport. ...

Internal structure

Forza Italia has a president (actually Silvio Berlusconi), a vice-president, a Presidential Committee (Comitato di Presidenza) and a National Council. Moreover it has thematic departments and regional, provincial or metropolitan coordination boards plus a lot of affiliate clubs (Club Azzurro) all over Italy. In at least one occasion, Berlusconi used his own financial means to pay debts accumulated by the party, drawing criticism from other political forces about the party being too closely related to one person only.

Distinctive traits

Since its birth, Forza Italia has been using means unconventional for Italian politics. It is heavily dependent on Berlusconi's image, the party anthem is sung in karaoke fashion at congresses, there is nominally no internal opposition, and TV advertisement is extensive, especially on Berlusconi's own TV networks; Forza Italia and Berlusconi deny this is a relevant conflict of interest. For the novel by Ayn Rand, see Anthem (novel). ... This article is in need of attention. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust, most commonly a lawyer, a politician, or a director of a corporation, has competing professional or personal interests that would either make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties fairly, or would create an...

External links

• Forza Italia web site (http://www.forza-italia.it/)