CASINI, PIER FERDINANDO

(1955– )

   The Bologna-born Casini is the most likely heir to Silvio Berlusconi on the center-right of Italian politics. Casini was the personal assistant of Arnaldo Forlani and quickly emerged in the 1980s as one of the few new faces that the Democrazia Cristiana/Christian Democracy (DC) could offer. He was elected to Parliament in 1983; by 1987, aged little more than 30, was already a member of the national steering committee of the DC. When the DC sank during the corruption investigations of the early 1990s, Casini, who had been untouched by scandal, emerged as a potential leader on the right. He was the moving spirit behind the formation of a new party, the Centro Cristiano Democratico/Christian Democratic Center (CCD), which allied itself with Berlusconi in the elections of 1994 and 1996. The CCD kept the DC’s memory alive and acted as a magnet for other Christian Democrats. In 2002 three Christian Democrat parties merged to form the Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e di Centro/Union of Christian Democrats and the Center (UDC), of which Casini became the leader. In 2001, Casini was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies following the electoral victory of the Casa delle Liberta/House of Freedoms (CDL). Casini greatly added to his reputation for statesmanship between 2001 and 2006 by subtly distancing himself from the controversial figure of Berlusconi, while remaining firmly in the camp of the center-right. The UDC performed very well in the 2006 general elections, doubling its vote relative to 2001 and gaining many votes at the expense of Forza Italia. Casini is currently a parliamentary deputy.