ORDER NO. 172, AUGUST 17TH, 1949 OF THE A.M.G. F.T.T. (ALLIED MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF THE FREE TERRITORY OF TRIESTE): IN FORCE
At the end of WWII, and at the coming in force of the 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy, Trieste became independent. One of the first duties of Trieste’s first Government of State, the A.M.G. F.T.T. or British-United States Allied Military Government, was to re-establish democracy and legality. It wasn’t easy: this land was brutally oppressed by the Italian fascist dictatorship for more than 20 years.
One of the first steps towards democracy is Order No. 172 of August 17th, 1949 (Official Gazette of the A.M.G., Vol, II, No. 23, August 21, 1949). The Order is about the election and appointment of Trieste’s mayors. During the fascist era, it was the Italian King and Benito Mussolini to appoint a Pedestà.
But in the Free Territory of Trieste, the people have the right to elect their own representatives, including mayors. Mayors who pronounce the oath at Order No. 152 of 18 July 1949 before the Zone President. This is the oath:
“I swear loyally to observe the Laws of the British-United States Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste and to carry out my duties for the sole purpose of the public weal” (Allied Military Government Official Gazette, Volume II, No. 20 – 21 July 1949).
And:
The insignia of the Mayors shall consist in a blue silk sash to be worn around the waist. Embroider on the front of the two ends of the sash, there is an emblem consisting of a red escutcheon with white halberd surmounted by a golden turreted crown and surrendered by green laurel and oak leaves.
The size of the emblem must be in proportion to the width of the sash and shall occupy in the centre three quarters of its width.
At the ends of the sash must be fringed with a silver fringe 2 mm thick and 8 cm wide. The distance between the fringe and the lower part of the emblem must be the same as between the top of the emblem and the edge of the sash.
After the signature of the MoU regarding the Free Territory of Trieste, which came into force on 26 October 1954, the duty to respect and enforce the laws of the present-day Free Territory of Trieste was sub-entrusted to the Italian Government, which exercises its temporary civil administration on behalf of the British and US Government, on UN mandate.
Indeed, it is obligations in force even within the aforementioned administration regime. Trieste has the right to its own elections. Annex VI of the Treaty of Peace even provides a pure proportional system.
Also, democratically elected representatives should respect their mandate, without engagements with the local nationalistic Camorra‘s simulation of Italian sovereignty. However, this is not that easy, as I explained HERE.
Mayors with a (UN) blue sash surmounted by red escutcheon with white halberd. Only this way the next legitimate Mayor of Trieste can pronounce the oath before their people: the citizens of the Free Territory.
A mayor that the people of the Free Territory can only elect after the re-establishment of the correct temporary civil administration of their State.
A legal order cannot be enforced by breaching it.
Translated from blog “Environment and Legality” by Roberto Giurastante
Click here to read order 172 concerning mayor in the Free Territory of Trieste: LINK
