Martinazzoli studied at Collegio Borromeo in Pavia, where he received a law degree. He then became a lawyer. In the years 1960–1970s he assumed official roles in Brescia's DC, and became president of the province. He was also elected in the Italian Senate, after which he became Minister of Justice in 1983, a position he held for three years. In 1986–1989 he was president of DC's deputies. In 1989–1990 he was Minister of Defence, but resigned after the approval of a law which strengthened Silvio Berlusconi's monopoly over private TV channels in Italy. In 1992, when Democrazia Cristiana was being wiped out by the Tangentopoli bribery scandal, Martinazzoli, generally respected as an honest and competent man, was elected national secretary. Despite his efforts, the political crisis which followed the corruption scandals forced him to dissolve DC in 1994. Martinazzoli then founded a new party, based on similar ideals, known as People's Party" , whose name recalled that of the ancestor of DC, which was founded in the early 20th century by Luigi Sturzo. In the new majoritarian system, Martinazzoli's party placed itself in the center, between the left and the new Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, which had allied with the northern regionalist party, Lega Nord, and the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale. His will not to ally with any of them caused numerous politicians to leave PPI and form the Centro Cristiano Democratico, which supported Berlusconi. At the 1994 elections, Martinazzoli formed a center alliance known as Pact for Italy, including PPI and other democratic centre forces. However, the result of the election was disappointing, with PPI obtaining 11%, some one third of DC's consensus before its dissolution. In the same year, he accepted to run as mayor of Brescia for the new centre-left formation L'Ulivo, winning the final ballot and acting as mayor until 1998. In 2000 he lost the competition with Roberto Formigoni for the presidency of Lombardy. After PPI was dissolved in 2002, Martinazzoli migrated to Mastella's UDEUR, being appointed as its president. He resigned in 2005.
