Roberto Maroni

Roberto Maroni
Minister of the Interior
In office 8 May 2008 – 16 November 2011
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Giuliano Amato
Succeeded by	Anna Maria Cancellieri
In office 5 May 1994 – 17 January 1995
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (Acting)
Succeeded by	Antonio Brancaccio
Minister of Labour and Welfare
In office 11 June 2001 – 17 May 2006
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Cesare Salvi
Succeeded by	Cesare Damiano
Federal Secretary of Lega Nord
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2012
Preceded by	Umberto Bossi
Personal details
Born	successor4 (1955-03-15) 15 March 1955 Varese, Italy
Died	successor4
Resting place	successor4
Political party	Lega Nord
Parent	successor4
Alma mater	University of Milan

Roberto Maroni (born 15 March 1955) is an Italian politician from Varese. He is a leader of the Northern League (Italian: Lega Nord), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. Since 1992 he is a Member of the Chamber of Duputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombardy's districts and constituencies. He was Interior Minister of the Italian Republic from 1994 to 1995 and from 2008 to 2011.

Career

In 1979, Maroni received a law degree with a dissertation in Civil Law, from the University of Milan. He became a lawyer after spending two years working as a Legal Affairs Manager for various companies.

In 1990, he was elected Province Secretary of the Northern League in Varese. He also became a town councilor in Varese that year. Two years later, he was elected Chairman of the Northern League Parliamentary Group. He also entered the party's Federal Council and campaigned heavily for the Northern League prior to Berlusconi's first Cabinet.

He also served as Minister of the Interior during the first Silvio Berlusconi cabinet, from 1994 to 1995. He also served as Minister of Labour and Welfare from 2001 to May 2006 in Berlusconi's second and third cabinets.

In April 2006, after Berlusconi narrowly lost his re-election bid to Romano Prodi, Maroni alleged problems with the election comparable to those in Florida during the 2000 Presidential election. "The level pegging is very similar to what happened in Florida. With one vote more or one vote less, you lose or you win," he said.

After the 2008 electoral victory of the centre-right coalition in Italy, Maroni assumed the office of Minister of the Interior in the cabinet led by Silvio Berlusconi.

Following the forced retire of Umberto Bossi due to his allegedly involvement in a scandal, Maroni was elected Political Secretary of the Northern League at its Congress in Assago (on 30 June and 1 July 2012). He currently leads a fierce opposition to Mario Monti's government with his party, the Northern League.

Passion for music

In September 2006, Maroni told Vanity Fair that he downloads music illegally and thinks music should be "free and accessible to all". He added that authors should still be able to stop their work from being widely distributed on the Internet. Maroni said his confession was intended to spark a discussion in Parliament about changing Italy's copyright laws, which are among the strictest in Europe.

Maroni himself is also a musician, playing keyboards in the "Distretto 51" soul band from the 1980s.

Conviction

Maroni was convicted of resistance against a public official during a police raid of his party's building in via Bellerio in Milan in 1996, and sentenced to 8 months (later changed into a fine), when police inspected his office.