between 1982 and 1992, the excessive budget deficit built a significant proportion of the debt that would plague the country well into the 21st century. Dissolution In 1992 the Mani pulite investigation was started in Milan, uncovering the so-called Tangentopoli scandals (endemic corruption practices at the highest levels), and causing numerous, often controversial, arrests and resignations. After the dismal result in the 1992 general election (29.7%), also due to the rise of Lega Nord in northern Italy and two years of mounting scandals (which included several Mafia investigations which notably touched Andreotti), the party was disbanded in 1994. In the 1990s most of the politicians prosecuted during those investigations were acquitted, sometimes however on the basis of legal formalities or on the basis of statutory time limit rules. The DC suffered heavy defeats in the 1993 provincial and municipal elections and the subsequent split of the Mario Segni's Pact, and contemporary polling suggested heavy losses in the upcoming 1994 general election. In hopes of changing the party's image, the DC's last secretary, Mino Martinazzoli decided to change the name of the party into the Italian People's Party (PPI). Pier Ferdinando Casini, representing the right-wing faction of the party (previously led by Forlani) decided to launch a new party called Christian Democratic Centre and form an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's new party, Forza Italia (FI). The left-wing factions stayed within the new PPI (albeit a minority which had formed the Social Christians in 1993 and would join forces with the post-communist Democratic Party of the Left), while some right-wingers joined the National Alliance. In 1995 the centre-right United Christian Democrats, which were led by Rocco Buttiglione split off from the PPI and also entered in alliance with FI. In the following years, most Christian Democrats joined FI, which became the party with the most ex-DC members in absolute terms. In December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the European People's Party. Ideology The party's ideology drew on the Christian democratic doctrines developed from the 19th century referred to as Catholic social teaching, the political thought of Romolo Murri and Luigi Sturzo, and ultimately the tradition of the defunct Italian People's Party. Two Papal encyclicals, Rerum novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII, and Quadragesimo anno (1931) of Pope Pius XI, offered a further basis for the DC's social and political doctrine. In economics, the DC preferred competition to cooperation, supported the