Giuseppe Sala

Giuseppe Sala
25th Mayor of Milan
Assumed office
21 June 2016
Preceded by Giuliano Pisapia
CEO of Expo 2015
In office
2010–2015
Personal details
Born (1958-05-28) 28 May 1958
Milan, Lombardy
Political party Democratic Party
Alma mater Bocconi University
Profession Manager, politician

Giuseppe "Beppe" Sala (born on 28 May 1958) is an Italian manager and politician. He has been CEO of the 2015 Universal Exposition in Milan from June 2010 to December 2015.[1] Sala has been also the candidate for the Democratic Party to become Mayor of Milan in the 2016 municipal election, which won, becoming mayor on 21 June.[2] Sala is often nicknamed "Mr. Expo", for his position as CEO of the Universal Exposition.[3]

Business career

Expo 2015

Main article: Expo 2015

In 2015 Milan hosted the Universal Exposition; the themes were technology, innovation, culture and traditions concerning food.[4] Participants to the Expo include 145 countries, three international organisations, several civil society organisations, several corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).[5] The participants are hosted inside individual or grouped pavilions. Sala was appointed in June 2010 CEO of Expo.

The opening of the Expo on 1 May 2015 was met with protest from anti-austerity activists, black bloc, and anarchists caused criminal damage, resulting in the police using tear gas.[6]

Expo also created some tensions with the Holy See and the Italian government; in fact Pope Francis condemned the concept of Expo, saying that it "obeys the culture of waste and does not contribute to a model of equitable and sustainable development".[6] As Vatican City invested €3 million to obtain its own pavilion at the event before his appointment to the papacy, Francis said that, although it is a good thing that the Church is involved in causes that battle hunger and promote cleaner energy, he stated that too much money was wasted on the Expo itself by Vatican City.[7]

Political career

Mayor of Milan

On 22 March 2015, the incumbent mayor of Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, announced that he had chosen not to run for re-election in 2016 for a second term in office. Following Pisapia's decision, the ruling center-left coalition decided to call an open primary election to choose a new single mayoral candidate.[8]

Sala and three other people registered to be candidates in this election.[9] The other candidates were Francesca Balzani, current deputy mayor, responsible for Budget in the Milan's municipal government and former MEP;[10] Pierfrancesco Majorino, current responsible for Social Equalities in the municipal government of the city;[11] Antonio Iannetta, former president of UISP.

The election took place on 6–7 February 2016 and Sala won with 25,600 and 42.3%.[12]

On 5 June, in the first round of the municipal election Sala gained 41.7% of votes arriving first; on 19 June, in the second round, he defeated the centre-right candidate Stefano Parisi with 51.7% against 48.3% of votes.[13]

References


Preceded by
Giuliano Pisapia
Mayor of Milan
2016-
Incumbent
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