| Summary: | The North League (Lega Nord) is now and for the third time in its short history part of a coalition government led by Silvio Berlusconi. Its political program advocates the transformation of Italy into a federal state with fiscal federalism for more autonomous macro-regions. Nevertheless, initially, this party was born in 1991, claiming for the independence of a new Nation, called Padania, which would gather the northern regions of the country. In this paper we intend to focus on two salient features of the North League. First, we will see that the North League is responsible for the return of the notion of territorial identity on the Italian political scene after periods (Unity, fascism, post-war times) of repression of any discussion on the subject. Second, we will also show that this return is ambiguous because Umberto Bossi resorts to two different definitions of the territory of Padania, thereby playing with two kinds of claims and voters.
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