The party, which was officially launched in 1978, emerged from an opinion movement which arose in Trieste after the
Treaty of Osimo was negotiated by
Italy and
Yugoslavia in 1975. A local committee collected more than 65,000 signatures in order to stop the ratification of it by the
Italian Parliament, which however eventually approved it in 1977. LpT was formed in order to ask some special rights for the area of Trieste. In the
1978 regional election the party, which considers itself "the first civic list in Italy", won 6.5% of the vote and four regional deputies, while
Manlio Cecovini was appointed mayor of
Trieste, after a strong showing of the party in the municipal election (27.5%). In the
1979 general election LpT won 28.7% of the vote in the
Province of Trieste and was able to elect
Aurelia Benco Gruber to the
Italian Chamber of Deputies. Some days later Manlio Cecovini (mayor of Trieste, 1978–1983) was elected to the
European Parliament for the
Italian Liberal Party. For the
1983 general election LpT formed an alliance with
Lega Lombarda and
Piedmontese Union, so that
Umberto Bossi was a candidate in
Lombardy under the banner of LpT. The alliance won 0.3% of the vote nationally, but won only 19.7% in Trieste, thus failing to re-enter Parliament. Instead of taking part to the process of federation of regionalist parties in
Northern Italy around Lega Lombarda and
Liga Veneta, since 1987 the party formed an alliance with the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI), which led to the election of
Giulio Camber to the Chamber of Deputies in 1987 and 1992. After the disbandment of PSI, most LpT members, including Giulio Camber,
Pietro Camber and
Roberto Antonione, joined
Forza Italia in the 1990s. Antonione was even national coordinator of that party in 2001–2003. Despite this, LpT continues to exist as a minor ally of Forza Italia in Trieste. ==References==