Segni Pact
The Patto Segni (Segni Pact, PATTO) was a Christian-democratic and liberal political party in Italy.
It was founded in 1993 as a split from Democratic Alliance and as a continuation of Populars for the Reform, a split from Christian Democracy in 1992, whose principal aim was electoral reform from proportional representation to a first-past-the-post system. Its leader was Mario Segni.
The party contested the 1994 general election in alliance with the Italian People's Party, named Pact for Italy (Mario Segni was candidate for Prime Minister for this centrist coalition), and welcomed in its lists Republicans (Giorgio La Malfa, Danilo Poggiolini and Carla Mazzuca), Liberals (Valerio Zanone, Pietro Milio and Luigi Compagna), Socialists (Giuliano Amato and Giulio Tremonti), Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Enrico Ferri) and, of course, many former Christian Democrats (Gianni Rivera, Alberto Michelini, Elisabetta Gardini, Michele Cossa, Livio Filippi, Vincenzo Viola, Mario Segni himself, etc.).
Patto Segni scored 4.7%, electing 13 deputies, but soon after the elections it split in many factions: Alberto Michelini and Giulio Tremonti, for instance, joined straight away to Forza Italia.
In 1995 regional election Patto Segni formed a list named Pact of Democrats, along with the Italian Socialists and Democratic Alliance, scoring everywhere between 3 and 6%, with the exception of Abruzzo (6.7%) and tiny Molise (9.2%).
In the 1996 general election the party was part of the list of Italian Renewal and elected only five deputies (Giuseppe Biccocchi, Diego Masi, Elisa Pozza Tasca, Gianni Rivera and Ernesto Stajano) and one senator (Carla Mazzuca).
In 1999, after having partecipated to the foundation of the Democratic Union for the Republic of Francesco Cossiga and Clemente Mastella, attracted some former Radicals from Forza Italia (Marco Taradash and Giuseppe Calderisi) and lost many leftish members to The Democrats (Elisa Pozza Tasca, Danilo Poggiolini, Carla Mazzuca, Livio Filippi and Vincenzo Viola), Mario Segni forged a joint list with National Alliance for the 1999 European Parliament election: only Segni was elected MEP.
In 2001 Patto Segni decided not to present lists for the general election, but Michele Cossa, member of the Sardinian Reformers (section of the party in Sardinia), was elected deputy in a first-past-the-post district of Cagliari for the House of Freedoms.
In 2003 the party finally transformed itself in the Pact of Liberal Democrats.
