Renato Schifani

Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani (; born 11 May 1950) is an Italian politician who has served as the president of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Schifani was Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip and was a prominent member of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2022. From 29 April 2008 to 14 March 2013, he was the president of the Senate of the Republic.

Initially a member of Christian Democracy, the ruling party of post-war Italy, Schifani joined Berlusconi's Forza Italia in 1995. He joined The People of Freedom when it succeeded FI as Berlusconi's party in 2009. He then joined the New Centre-Right party but left it in 2016 for the reformed Forza Italia. He won the 2022 Sicilian regional election and was elected president of the region.

During his career, Schifani has been the subject of Sicilian Mafia allegations. On at least two occasions, he had been associated with people who were convicted of Mafia offences, though Schifani has never been directly investigated or indicted for any Mafia-related matters.

Early life and education Schifani was born in Palermo on 11 May 1950. He graduated at the University of Palermo, becoming a lawyer. Since he became a lawyer in 1976, Schifani specialized in trials at Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation , the major court of last resort. He also specialized in real estate regulations and became active in the debt collecting business. Filippo Mancuso, the former Italian Minister of Justice also born in Palermo, termed Schifani "the prince of debt collectors" (il principe del recupero crediti).

Political career Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip Prior to joining Forza Italia in 1995,

In 2006, Schifani was re-elected, this time in the Sicily-at large constituency, and confirmed the group leader of Forza Italia. He was member of the Territory and Environment Commission. In 2018, he was re-elected senator and assigned as an effective member of the Constitutional Affairs Commission. He was also a member of the RAI Supervision Commission, the Bicameral Commission on the Banking System, and the Senate Rules Committee. In 2022, he did not seek re-election and instead ran for the presidency of Sicily.

Similar provisions were included in the lodo Alfano (2008), granting immunity to the top four representatives of the state, including Berlusconi and the same Schifani as speaker of the Senate. After being granted immunity, Schifani sued his critics including journalists and writers, such as Marco Travaglio and Antonio Tabucchi, for slander, claiming €1.3 million from Tabucchi during the AnnoZero television programme on 5 February 2009. The lodo Alfano was declared anti-constitutional in October 2009. In the 2019, the Supreme Court of Cassation rejected Schifani's slander damages against Travaglio and Tabucchi, describing their criticism as within the right of critique.

President of the Senate

After a snap election brought back Berlusconi to power, Schifani was elected as president of the Senate on 29 April 2008. He received 178 out of 319 votes. Schifani held the position until March 2013. Enrico La Loggia (who would later become Minister for Regional Affairs), Benny D'Agostino, Giuseppe Lombardo, and Antonino Mandalà were among its shareholders. D'Agostino is an entrepreneur convicted for Sicilian Mafia association, while Mandalà was convicted for Mafia association and was indicated by the Court of Palermo as the Mafia boss of Villabate. Lombardo was chairman and member of the board of Satris, a credit recovery agency whose shareholders were Ignazio and Nino Salvo, well known businessmen and Mafiosi of the Salemi family who had been arrested by prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1984. Schifani, La Loggia, and the civil engineer Guzzaro (the consultant who advised the town) would share the consulting fees for drawing up the master plan. The master plan of the town of Villabate was designed under specific instruction of Mandalà and his son, who was responsible for the logistics to keep the fugitive Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano at large. They conspired with the local Mafia families and politicians to skim from the public contracts. The statement of Travaglio resulted in fierce and almost universally negative reactions including from the centre-left coalition, except for Mani pulite judge and Italy of Values deputy Antonio Di Pietro, who said that Travaglio was "merely doing his job". Some called for chief executives at RAI to be dismissed. The popular political commentator Beppe Grillo supported Travaglio, while Schifani announced he would take Travaglio to court for slander. Schifani said that Travaglio's accusation was based on "inconsistent or manipulated facts, not even worthy of generating suspicions", adding that "someone wants to undermine the dialogue between the government and the opposition."

President of Sicily On 25 September 2022, Schifani was elected Sicily's regional president. He then took office after being proclaimed president of Sicily on 13 October 2022. After the death of Berlusconi in June 2023, Antonio Tajani was named the party's secretary. In February 2024, Schifani was appointed as the leader of Forza Italia's national council. He said: "In these two days we are witnessing a second Italian miracle: Forza Italia is still there after Berlusconi left us. ... If there is a party that has truly fought organized crime, fought it openly, it is Forza Italia. We did it through the laws on hard prison and kidnappings, thanks to Silvio Berlusconi who wanted them. Others filled their mouths, held parades and marches, but we put our face to it, not to mention sometimes even our safety."

Electoral history ElectionHouseConstituencyPartyVotesResult 1996 Senate of the Republic Monreale FI 50,226 Elected 2001 Senate of the Republic Monreale FI 59,731 Elected 2006 Senate of the Republic Sicily at-large FI – Elected 2008 Senate of the Republic Sicily at-large PdL – Elected 2013 Senate of the Republic Sicily at-large PdL – Elected 2018 Senate of the Republic Sicily at-large FI – Elected

First-past-the-post elections

Personal life Schifani is married to Franca. Together, they have two sons, Roberto and Andrea, both of them being lawyers. On 13 November 2020, Schifani was appointed by Berlusconi as his political advisor. As a tifoso and president of the Senate, he was present at Madrid when Inter Milan won the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. He also presented the Coppa Italia trophy to the winner in 2010 and 2011.