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Flavio Delbono (born 17 September 1959) is an Italian politician and economist. He served as the mayor of Bologna from 25 June 2009 until 28 January 2010, when he was forced to resign as he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and aggravated abuse of office following allegations made by his former lover.
Delbono joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center as an adjunct professor of international economics in 1987. In 1992, at the age of 33, Delbono was appointed as professor of Political Economy at the University of Bologna. His predecessors in this position include Romano Prodi and Stefano Zamagni.
On 19 June 2008, Delbono was unanimously elected in Brussels as the President of the Lisbon Regions Network—a 15-member pan-European group concerned with implementing the Lisbon Strategy.
The primary elections took place on 13 and 14 December 2008. Delbono received 49.73% of the 24,920 votes cast in the primary; Maurizio Cevenini received 23.29%, Virginio Merola received 21.44% and Andrea Forlani received 5.1%.
However, Bologna did not receive a mayor until 2011, and was ruled by a commissioner, Anna Maria Cancellieri.
Political and administrative career
From 1995 to 1999, Delbono served as an assessor for the city of Bologna with specific responsibility for the budget. In 2000, the newly elected President of the Emilia-Romagna region, Vasco Errani, named Delbono as the regional assessor for finance and organisation. In 2003 he was also named as vice-president of Emilia-Romagna. Following Errani's re-election in May 2005, Delbono was reconfirmed as vice-president and given additional responsibility for the region's relationship with Europe.
Primary campaign
On 13 October 2008, Delbono announced his intention to stand in the Democratic Party Partisan primary for mayor of Bologna. Delbono's candidacy was backed by several prominent figures in Bolognese politics, including: Sergio Cofferati, Romano Prodi, Pier Luigi Bersani, Renato Zangheri and Salvatore Caronna.
Campaign for mayor of Bologna
On 9 January 2009, Delbono announced that he would be resigning as vice-president of Emilia-Romagna and regional assessor in order to focus on his election campaign. Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli was announced as his successor as vice-president on 3 February. The mayoral election was held on 21 and 22 June; Delbono's opponents included Alfredo Cazzola, the candidate of The People of Freedom and Lega Nord, and the UDC's Giorgio Guazzaloca, a former mayor of Bologna. Delbono received 49.4% of the vote in the first round, forcing a Two-round system against Cazzola, who had received 29.1%. Delbono received 60.67% of the votes in the second round. Delbono was officially proclaimed as mayor of the city of Bologna on 25 June 2009.
Scandal and resignation
Delbono was forced to announce his resignation as mayor on 25 January 2010 following the revelation that he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and aggravated abuse of office. The investigation followed Delbono's former assistant's claim that he had spent public money on her— the pair had been having an affair. Investigators subsequently questioned Delbono about the purchase of a property near St. Julian's, Malta. Delbono denied all the allegations made against him and said that resigning as mayor was the right thing to do. He has announced that he will return to lecturing and is working to clear his name. His resignation was confirmed on 28 January following the approval of an emergency budget, the election to appoint Delbono's successor must take place by 28 March 2010.
Categories: 1959 Births, Living People, Politicians From The Province Of Mantua, Democratic Party Politicians, Italian Economists, Mayors Of Bologna, University Of Parma Alumni, University Of Siena Alumni, Alumni Of Linacre College, Oxford, Johns Hopkins University Faculty, Academic Staff Of The University Of Bologna, Democrats Of The Left Politicians, People From Sabbioneta
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