Francesco Cossiga

President Francesco Cossiga
8th President of Italy
In office 3 July 1985 – 28 April 1992
Prime Minister	Bettino Craxi Amintore Fanfani Giovanni Goria Ciriaco De Mita Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Sandro Pertini
Succeeded by	Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
42nd Prime Minister of Italy
In office 4 August 1979 – 18 October 1980
President	Alessandro Pertini
Preceded by	Giulio Andreotti
Succeeded by	Arnaldo Forlani
President of the Italian Senate Acting President of the Republic from 29 June 1985 to 3 July 1985
In office 12 July 1983 – 3 July 1985
Preceded by	Vittorino Colombo
Succeeded by	Amintore Fanfani
Italian Minister of the Interior
In office 12 February 1976 – 11 May 1978
Prime Minister	Aldo Moro Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Luigi Gui
Succeeded by	Virginio Rognoni
Lifetime Senator
In office 28 April 1992 – 17 August 2010
Constituency	Former President
Personal details
Born	(1928-07-26)26 July 1928 Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
Died	17 August 2010(2010-08-17) (aged 82) Rome, Latium, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Christian Democracy
Spouse(s)	Giuseppa Sigurani
Children	Anna Maria Cossiga, Giuseppe Cossiga
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Francesco Cossiga (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃesko kosˈsiɡa]; 26 July 1928 – 17 August 2010) was an Italian politician who was the 43rd Prime Minister of Italy from 1979 to 1980 and the eighth President of Italy from 1985 to 1992. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari.

Cossiga was born in Sassari in the north of Sardinia. He started his political career during World War II. His name is now usually pronounced Italian pronunciation: [kosˈsiːɡa], but it was originally pronounced Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔssiɡa], with the stress on the first syllable, meaning "Corsica". He was the cousin of Enrico Berlinguer.

Minister for the Christian-Democracy

He was a minister several times for the Democrazia Cristiana party (DC), notably during his stay at Viminale (Ministry for internal affairs) where he re-structured the Italian police, civil protection and secret services. In 1977, when Cossiga was minister of internal affairs, police squads organized by Cossiga shot against a demonstration in Rome, killing student Giorgiana Masi. Cossiga for many years stated that she was killed by her companions.

He was in charge during the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro by Red Brigades, and he resigned when Moro was found dead in 1978. According to Italian journalist Enrico Deaglio, Cossiga to justify his lack of action "accused the leaders of CGIL and of the Italian Communist Party to know the location where Moro was detained". Cossiga was also minister of internal affairs when Fascist terrorists bombed Bologna station in 1980. He initially declared that it was a Fascist attack, but he later stated it was a Palestinian transport of weapons which went wrong. He also supported the innocence of Giusva Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro, who were later condemned for the bombing and for numerous murders, declaring: "They are good guys and they want me well."

During the early 1980s, Cossiga attacked several times the antimafia judges and spoke in favour of judge Corrado Carnevale, a member of the Corte di Cassazione (Italy's supreme court) who had annulled numerous sentences against mafia leaders and was later tried for these actions.

Cossiga was elected President of the Italian Senate 12 July 1983, a position he held until 24 June 1985, when he became the President of Italy.

Election as President of Italy

Following his resignation as president of the Senate in 1985, Cossiga was elected President of Italy (Head of State). This was the first time a candidate had won following the first ballot (where a majority of over two thirds is necessary).

It was not until his last two years as President that Cossiga began to express some unusual opinions regarding the Italian political system. He opined that the Italian parties, especially the DC (his own party) and Italian Communist Party, had to take into account the deep changes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

Cossiga during his Presidency

These statements, soon dubbed "esternazioni", or "mattock blows" (picconate), were considered by many to be inappropriate for a President and, often, beyond his constitutional powers; also, his mental health was doubted and Cossiga had to declare "I am the fake madman who speaks the truth."

Tension developed between Cossiga and the President of the Council of Ministers Giulio Andreotti. This tension emerged when Andreotti revealed the existence of Gladio, a stay-behind organization with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Cossiga announced his involvement in the establishment of the organization. The Democratic Party of the Left (successor to the Communist Party) started the procedure of impeachment (Presidents of Italy can be impeached only for high treason against the State or for an attempt to overthrow the Constitution). Although he threatened to prevent the impeachment procedure by dissolving Parliament, the impeachment request was ultimately dismissed.

Cossiga resigned two months before the end of his term, on 25 April 1992.

Life senator

According to the Italian Constitution, after his resignation from the office of President, Cossiga became lifetime senator, joining his predecessors in the upper house of parliament, with whom he also shared the title of President Emeritus of the Italian Republic.

In February 1998, Cossiga created the Unione Democratica per la Repubblica (a political party), declaring it to be politically central. The UDR was a crucial component of the majority that supported the D'Alema government in October 1998, after the fall of the Prodi government which lost a vote of confidence.

Cossiga declared that his support for D'Alema was intended to end the conventional exclusion of the former Communist Party (PCI) leaders from the premiership in Italy.

In 1999 UDR was dissolved and Cossiga returned to his activities as a senator, with competences in the Military Affairs' Commission.

In May 2006 he brought in a bill that would allow the region of South Tyrol to hold a referendum, where the local electorate could decide whether to remain within the Republic of Italy, take independence, or become part of Austria again.

On 27 November 2006, he resigned from his position as a lifetime senator. His resignation was, however, rejected on 31 January 2007 by a vote of the Senate.

Cossiga died on 17 August 2010 because of respiratory problems.

Controversial statements

In 2007, in a statement published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Cossiga commented on the 11 September attacks and on a video attributed to Osama Bin Laden 2001. He wrote that "all of the democratic circles of America and of Europe, especially those of the Italian centre-left, now know well that the disastrous attack was planned and realized by the American CIA and Mossad with the help of the Zionist world to place the blame on Arabic countries and to persuade the Western powers to intervene in Iraq and Afghanistan". However, the previous year Cossiga had stated that he rejects theoretical conspiracies and that it "seems unlikely that the rather impossible September 11 was the result of an American plot."

In the same statement, Cossiga claimed that a video tape circulated by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and containing threats against Silvio Berlusconi was "produced in the studios of Mediaset in Milan" and forwarded to the "Islamist Al-Jazeera television network." The purpose of that video tape (which was actually an audio tape) was to raise "a wave of solidarity to Berlusconi" who was, at the time, facing political difficulties.

In 2008, Francesco Cossiga told about Mario Draghi: "He is a craven moneyman".

Honours and awards

As President of the Republic, Cossiga was Head (and also Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (from 3 July 1985 to 28 April 1992), Military Order of Italy, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, Order of Merit for Labour and Order of Vittorio Veneto and Grand Cross of Merit of the Italian Red Cross. He has also been bestowed honours and awards by other countries.

References

• "Le confessioni di Cossiga: 'Io, Gelli e la massoneria'". La Repubblica. 11 October 2003.  (on links between Cossiga, Licio Gelli and Propaganda Due masonic lodge; Massera, part of Videla's junta in Argentina, is also named)
• Obituary – Fox news

External links

• Works by or about Francesco Cossiga in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Political offices
Preceded by Title jointly held	Italian Minister without portfolio 1974–1976	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Preceded by Luigi Gui	Italian Minister of the Interior 1976–1978	Succeeded by Virginio Rognoni
Preceded by Giulio Andreotti	Prime Minister of Italy 1979–1980	Succeeded by Arnaldo Forlani
Preceded by Vittorino Colombo	President of the Italian Senate 1983–1985	Succeeded by Amintore Fanfani
Preceded by Sandro Pertini	President of the Italian Republic 1985–1992	Succeeded by Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Italian Senate
Preceded by Title jointly held	Senator Legislatures IX 1983–1985	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Preceded by Title jointly held	Lifetime Senator Legislatures XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI 1992–2010	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of Parliament for Sardinia Legislatures: III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII 1958–1983	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Honorary titles
Preceded by Masayoshi Ohira	Chair of the G7 1980	Succeeded by Pierre Trudeau