Achille Leone Occhetto (; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian politician. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and was the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the parliamentary socialist successor of the PCI, from 1991 to 1994.
Early life and career Occhetto was born in Turin. He served as secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation, to which he had belonged starting from 1953, from 1963 to 1966. Subsequently, he was the regional secretary of the PCI in Sicily, where he distinguished himself for his war against any kind of mafia.
In 1986, Occhetto was appointed as national coordinator of the PCI and became its secretary in 1988, succeeding Alessandro Natta. Under his leadership, the party witnessed the collapse of both the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. He responded by declaring the Communist state experience over, and persuaded the PCI to dissolve and refound itself as a democratic socialist party, the PDS. This political shift, known in Italian politics as the Svolta della Bolognina (the name derives from the celebration of a partisan battle in World War II), during which he announced that the PCI would change its name, logo, and orientation, was accepted by approximately 70% of the members at the 20th National Congress held on 8 February 1991.
In 1994, Occhetto challenged and was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the 1994 Italian general election, leading the Alliance of Progressives; because of this loss, he resigned as party secretary. He returned to politics in the 2004 European Parliament election in Italy, being elected to the European Parliament on a joint ticket with anti-corruption campaigner Antonio Di Pietro; he immediately resigned and was replaced by Giulietto Chiesa. After the 2006 Italian general election, he returned to the European Parliament by taking up one of the seats vacated by an elected deputy, and sat as an Independent member of the Party of European Socialists group. In 2009, he joined the new left-wing formation Left Ecology Freedom. He is an atheist.Maria Latella, "Occhetto: pecca chi vota i vecchi DC", Il Corriere della Sera, 28 January 1994, p. 2.
Personal life Occhetto was married to the activist and former actress Elisa Kadigia Bove, with whom he had two sons, Malcolm and Massimiliano (both born in Sicily); he was later married to fellow party member Aureliana Alberici.Biography|Achille Occhetto (in Italian)
Electoral history ElectionHouseConstituencyPartyVotesResult1976Chamber of DeputiesPalermo–Trapani–Agrigento–CaltanissettaPCI67,134 Elected1979Chamber of DeputiesPalermo–Trapani–Agrigento–CaltanissettaPCI45,563 Elected1983Chamber of DeputiesPalermo–Trapani–Agrigento–CaltanissettaPCI51,144 Elected1987Chamber of DeputiesPalermo–Trapani–Agrigento–CaltanissettaPCI76,368 Elected1989European ParliamentNorth-West ItalyPCI533,077 Elected1992Chamber of DeputiesRome–Viterbo–Latina–FrosinonePDS143,905 Elected1994Chamber of DeputiesBologna – Borgo PanigalePDS52,997 Elected1994European ParliamentNorth-West ItalyPDS378,088 Elected1996Chamber of DeputiesBologna – Borgo PanigalePDS58,632 Elected2001Senate of the RepublicCalabria – CosenzaDS49,596 Elected2004European ParliamentNorth-West ItalyIdV13,857 Not elected
First-past-the-post elections 1994 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo PanigaleCandidateCoalition or PartyVotes%Achille OcchettoProgressives (PDS)52,99759.8Pier Ferdinando CasiniPole of Freedoms (CCD)17,92520.2Anselmo RuoccoNational Alliance7,3888.3Maria GualandiPact for Italy (PPI)7,1338.0Oliviero ToscaniPannella List3,2253.6Total88,668100.0Turnout91,57195.0
1996 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo PanigaleCandidateCoalition or PartyVotes%Achille OcchettoThe Olive Tree (PDS)58,63269.9Gian Luca GallettiPole for Freedoms (CCD)25,29330.1Total83,925100.0Turnout88,38093.2
References
External links A declaration about "Il Cantiere", a new political project