The former Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.
The Italian Unification in the XIX century was driven by Piedmont, the core part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the only Italian State which was independent and modern enough to take advantage of the nascent Italian nationalism, challenging Powers like the Austrian Empire and the Holy See.
It was the Parliament of Turin which officially proclaimed the birth of the Kingdom of Italy. From Turin came the former Italian Royal House. Turin is also the seat of FIAT, the symbol of Italian industry.
Today Piedmont, like other similar Italian territories, has a Regional Government whose key responsibility is run the local branches of the National Health Service.
But the Government, run by Mr Berlusconi’s coalition, is deep in debt, and is planning to make cuts to the health services: a very sensitive issue in Italy, which is proud of its National Health Service.
Unsurprisingly, the Government is facing a rebellion by its own Ministers and regional MPs. The technocratic Regional Minister of Health, Mr Paolo Monferino, a former FIAT manager, resigned already, while some Regional MPs are threatening to vote with the opposition.
Governor Roberto Cota, a leading national political figure (he also has a parliamentary seat in Rome) said that he will resign if his health reform is not passed. By Italian law, the resignation of the Governor automatically means that the Region must hold new elections. This would be a huge problem for Mr Cota’s party, the Northern League, which fared badly in the last general election, and could have side effects on Mr Berlusconi’s coalition, too.
Italian Insight 