Alliance for Italy Alleanza per l'Italia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Francesco Rutelli |
| Vice President | Enrico Boselli |
| Founded | 11 November 2009 |
| Dissolved | 2016 |
| Split from | Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | Via di Campo Marzio, 46 – 00185Rome |
| Ideology | Centrism Liberalism Christian democracy Green politics |
| Political position | Centre |
| European affiliation | European Democratic Party |
| Website | |
| http://www.alleanzaperlitalia.it | |
Alliance for Italy (Italian:Alleanza per l'Italia;ApI) was acentrist[1]political party in Italy.
The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left", described as "an experience with high and memorable value, yet by now run out",[2] was launched on 11 November 2009 byFrancesco Rutelli, senator for theDemocratic Party (PD) and former leader ofDemocracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL). The core of the party was composed by theFree Democrats, the faction Rutelli launched some months before leaving the PD.
Most of the early party members were liberals and Christian democrats coming from the PD, includingLinda Lanzillotta,Gianni Vernetti andDonato Mosella or disgruntled centrists fromItaly of Values, likePino Pisicchio.[3][4]
The party was officially disbanded by the end of 2016.
Francesco Rutelli, who, as leader ofDemocracy is Freedom – The Daisy, was instrumental in the foundation of theDemocratic Party (PD), became soon uncomfortable with it because he saw as too stretched on theleft. In September 2009, when he was a guest at a party convention of theUnion of the Centre (UdC) ofPier Ferdinando Casini, he told the press that he was interested in an alliance with the new party Casini was organizing through the UdC.[5] Rutelli's critical view of the PD was reinforced by the election ofPier Luigi Bersani as party leader in aprimary election on 25 October 2009.
On 27 October, after months of speculation, Rutelli hinted that was leaving the PD. The core idea of Rutelli was that Italy needed a new "political proposal" in a time when the country was on the verge of splitting in two, withLega Nord more than ever confident in the North and the possible emergence of the Party of the South: a scenario that could mean complete marginalization for the centre-left and its failure as a national political force.[6]
On 28 October Rutelli presented a "Manifesto for Change and Good Government" (Manifesto per il Cambiamento e il Buongoverno) along with other ten founding members. These included, among others,Lorenzo Dellai (President of theProvince of Trento and leader of theUnion for Trentino),Massimo Cacciari, (Mayor ofVenice),Linda Lanzillotta (former Minister of Regional Affairs),Bruno Tabacci andElvio Ubaldi.[7] While Cacciari and Lanzillotta have been members of DL and then of the PD, Tabacci and Ubaldi are members ofWhite Rose, a small outfit that was part of theUnion of the Centre (UdC), led byPier Ferdinando Casini.[8]
For some days Rutelli lingered on whether he was leaving the PD or not because the strategic goal of his initiative was a stable alliance between the UdC and the Democrats, with Tabacci instrumental in that. However, on 31 October, through an interview toCorriere della Sera, Rutelli announced that it was his intention to leave the PD immediately. In the interview he remarked how in his viewsocial democracy was "a historical experience that has no chance to speak to present-day people" and that his goal was to "unite democratic, liberal and popular forces" in order to "build, in some years time, the largest [political] force of the country".[9]
On 8 December Tabacci left the UdC after that Casini had met with Berlusconi to discuss of justice reform and of an alliance betweenThe People of Freedom and UdC in some regions. Tabacci, who said he was going to assemble his fellow members of the White Rose, explained that the new party would be "distant and alternative to the populism of Berlusconi and of theLeague" but open to centre-right voters.[10] Casini soon foresaw a likely alliance between his party and ApI.[11]
On 11 November 2010, along with many others, Rutelli presented the name and the provisional logo of the party.[12]
On 11–12 December ApI organized its first assembly inParma. During the convention, which was attended byFrançois Bayrou,Guy Verhofstadt andWill Marshall,[13] Rutelli confirmed that the new party is headed to merge with UdC some day and opened to an alliance withGianfranco Fini, the President of theChamber of Deputies who is increasingly uncomfortable with his party,The People of Freedom, andSilvio Berlusconi.[14][15]
On 22 December the logo of the party was presented by Rutelli, Tabacci and the other ApI leading members during a press conference.
By January 2010 parliamentary groups of the party were formed in theSenate[16] and theChamber of Deputies.[17]
In March Rutelli announced for April a national convention, in which the party would have been enlarged to greens and liberals.[18] Between March and AprilChristian Democratic Refoundation party ofPublio Fiori,[19] a group of liberals led byValerio Zanone,[20] a former leader of theItalian Liberal Party, Democratic senator and leader ofLiberal PD, and a group of greens led byCamillo Piazza,[21] a formerGreen deputy, joined the Alliance.
In late March2010 regional elections the party run joint lists with the UdC in most regions and run its own lists in only four regions:Marche (where it gained 2.0% of the vote and one regional councillor),[22]Campania (3.0% and no councillors),[23]Basilicata (4.2% and one councillor),[24] andCalabria (2.2% and no councillors).[25] The result was a little bit disappointing and the party had no real presence in the North.
This situation came into criticism by the Northern branches of the party, especiallyUnion for Trentino (UpT) and Alliance for Veneto (ApV), launched byMassimo Calearo as a competitor ofLiga Veneta–Lega Nord.[26]Giorgio Lunelli, leading member of UpT, spoke for many Northern party members when he criticized the party's lack of interest for the North, called for Rutelli's resignation and proposed a confederal structure for the party.[27] In September 2010 Calearo left ApI and ApV was disbanded.[28]
On 15 December 2010 ApI was a founding member of theNew Pole for Italy (NPI) along with theUnion of the Centre (UdC),Future and Freedom (FLI) and some minor parties.[29][30] Also in DecemberEnrico Boselli, long-time leader of theItalian Democratic Socialists and founder of the revivedItalian Socialist Party, who had left active politics after his 2008 defeat, joined ApI and was soon appointed vice president of the party.[31]
In November 2011 the party was joined bySanto Versace, a former Socialist coming fromThe People of Freedom (PdL).[32] In January 2012Luigi Fabbri, also a former Socialist passed through the PdL joined.[33] In FebruaryCristina De Luca replaced a deceased Democratic senator, but, instead joining the PD's group, she joined ApI.[34] With Versace, Fabbri and De Luca the party had seven deputies and seven senators.
In May 2012 the party obtained notable results inCampania: 17.5% inTorre Annunziata,[35] 4.6% inTorre del Greco,[36] and 7.3% inSan Giorgio a Cremano.[37] The result was however grim for the NPI as a whole andPier Ferdinando Casini, leader of UdC, the coalition's largest party, hinted that the alliance was out-of-date.[38][39]
As a result, in June 2012 two heavyweights,Linda Lanzillotta andGianni Vernetti, left the party. According to the former, ApI had become a "personal party".[40][41][42][43][44] In July also Versace left the party, but his exit was counterbalanced by the entry ofGiuseppe Vatinno, who had switched fromItaly of Values (IdV).[45]
In September 2012 Rutelli started to re-position the party within thecentre-left coalition, aiming at making the ApI its liberal and centrist component. Rutelli also stated that he aimed to represent a "new environmentalism".[46] In October 2012Riccardo Milana, a leading centrist, left in order to join the UdC.[47][48] In November 2012, Tabacci, a leading member of the ApI and Christian democrat, ran in thecentre-left primary election for becoming the Prime Minister candidate of the centre-left.[49]
On 28 December 2012, in the run-up to the2013 Italian general election, Tabacci announced an agreement withRights and Freedom, a splinter group from IdV, and the formation ofDemocratic Centre (CD) as centrist wing of theItaly. Common Good coalition. Rutelli and other party's bigwigs were present at first press conference of the new electoral list.[50][51][52] Subsequently, the ApI's sub-group in the Chamber changed its name to "Democratic Centre".[45] Most leading members and incumbent MPs of ApI (Tabacci,Pino Bicchielli,Francesco Bruno,Cristina De Luca,Luigi Fabbri,Vincenzo Iovine,Vilma Mazzocco,Donato Mosella,Pino Pisicchio,Giacinto Russo, etc.) joined CD,[53][54] while Rutelli chose not to be a candidate and announced that ApI would return for the2014 European Parliament election.[55]Lorenzo Dellai, former member and coordinator of ApI, became a leading supporter and the practical leader ofMario Monti'sCivic Choice (SC).
In the election, Tabacci, Pisicchio, Bruno andRoberto Capelli (ApI regional leader inSardinia) were elected for CD, while Dellai and Lanzillotta were elected for SC. Of the four elects for CD, only Bruno chose to remain within ApI and, consequently, did not join the CD sub-group in the Chamber of Deputies.[56][57]
After the 2013 election, Rutelli started to re-organize the party, along with the sole vice president left,Enrico Boselli, and the only MP,Franco Bruno. Through theEuropean Democratic Party (EDP), of which Rutelli is co-president, and an alliance with theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party), the ApI planned to field a liberal, green and Europeanist list for the2014 European Parliament election.[56][58] This list did not emerge; however Democratic Centre was part of the ALDE-supportingEuropean Choice list for the election,[59] which received 0.7% of the vote and failed to win any seats in the European Parliament.[60]
In the2015 regional elections the party fielded candidates, within larger electoral lists, inCampania andCalabria.
The party was officially disbanded by the end of 2016.
