Renziani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Matteo Renzi |
| Other members | Maria Elena Boschi Luca Lotti Graziano Delrio Lorenzo Guerini Roberto Giachetti |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Dissolved | 2019 |
| Merged into | Italia Viva |
| Ideology | Centrism Liberalism Reformism Third Way |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-left |
| National affiliation | PD |
TheRenziani was aliberal area within theDemocratic Party (PD) composed of the followers ofMatteo Renzi, party's former national secretary and formerPrime Minister of Italy from February 2014 to December 2016. This area also took the name ofNow! (Adesso!) andBig Bang. In September 2019, Renzi founded his own movement,Italia Viva (IV), exiting from the PD.
TheOpen Foundation, whose Secretary-General isMaria Elena Boschi, served as think tank and financial arm of the faction. It was later replaced by theMatteo Renzi Foundation.
The faction, which has never been organised as a formal faction, grew aroundMatteo Renzi. Born in 1975,Matteo Renzi is a devoutCatholic (he was a scout leader ofAGESCI) and acentrist. He started his political career in theItalian People's Party (PPI), aChristian-democratic outfit, and was elected president of theProvince of Florence in 2004, when he was just 29. ThroughThe Daisy party he joined theDemocratic Party in 2007[1] and was electedMayor of Florence in 2009. A frequent critic of his party's leadership, especially underPier Luigi Bersani, Renzi made his name as "scrapper" (of old leaders and ideas), advocate of complete change in the party, reformer and modernizer.[2][3][4] A frequent critic of his party's leadership, especially underPier Luigi Bersani, Renzi made his name as "scrapper" (of old leaders and ideas), advocate of complete change in the party, reformer and modernizer.[5][6][7]
After organizing a convention of "scrappers" in Florence in November 2010, Renzi repeated the event in November 2011 under the Big Bang name. Leading Democrats who took part to the convention includedSergio Chiamparino,Arturo Parisi,Graziano Delrio,Ermete Realacci,Andrea Marcucci andRoberto Giachetti, but most of the speakers were people from the civil society, mainly entrepreneurs, artists and intellectuals.[8][9] Among the ideas espoused by Renzi and his fellow Big-Bangers, many were genuinely liberal for asocial-democratic party:labour market flexibility, abolition of professional bars,pension reform and cuts inpublic sector. This was seen as the platform for a Renzi's run for prime-ministerial candidate of the PD.[10][11][12] Renzi's group was dubbed by some journalists as the party's "new right".[13]
On 13 September 2012 Renzi officially announced inVerona,Veneto his bid to become the candidate forPrime Minister of thecentre-left in 2013.[14] On 25 November Renzi came second in the first round of theprimary election with 35.5%, behind Pier Luigi Bersani (44.9%), but ahead ofNichi Vendola (15.6%),Laura Puppato (2.6%) andBruno Tabacci (1.4%). In the subsequent run-off, on 2 December, Bersani trounced Renzi 60.9% to 39.1%, by winning in each and every single region butTuscany, where Renzi won 54.9% of the vote.[15] However, Bersani's demise as PD's secretary in April 2013 opened the way for another bid, this time for the party's leadership.
On 8 December 2013, during the open primary ofparty's leadership election, Renzi fended off the challenges of two rivals from the party's left,Gianni Cuperlo andPippo Civati. He was elected PD leader with a landslide 67.6% of the vote. On 22 February 2014 Renzi was also sworn in asPrime Minister of Italy.
On 19 February 2017, during the PD National Assembly, Renzi resigned as Secretary of the party and announcing his candidacy for the nextleadership election.[16] Few days before he launched the movementIn Cammino ("On the way"), in support of his candidacy.[17]
After having won the vote by party members in March with almost 67% of votes,[18] on 30 April, Renzi was re-elected Secretary of the party by a landslide with 69.2% of votes;[19] whileAndrea Orlando received 19.9% andMichele Emiliano 10.9% of votes.[20] However, after the defeat in the2018 general election,[21] in which the PD gained only 19% of vote, Renzi was forced to resign as party secretary.[22]
As of mid 2019Renziani were divided in three official factions and associations,Reformist Base,Always Forward andBack to the Future. The latter two were closer to Renzi himself and would mostly follow him out of the PD.
On 17 September, during an interview to Italian newspaperla Repubblica, Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, and create new parliamentary groups led by himself.[23] On the same day, interviewed byBruno Vespa during thelate-night TV talk-showPorta a Porta, he officially launchedItalia Viva (IV).[24] Renzi was followed by 25 deputies and 12 senators, who left the PD to join his movement.[25] However, not all theRenziani decided to follow him. Members ofReformist Base (BR), notably including its leadersLorenzo Guerini andLuca Lotti, decided not to join the new movement, remaining within the PD.[26]
Before the foundation ofItalia Viva in September 2019, theRenziani area was divided into three official factions and associations. While most of theRenziani inAlways Forward andBack to the Future followed Renzi in Italia Viva,Reformist Base remained within the PD.
| Factions | Ideology | Leaders | Founded | Dissolved | Merged party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always Forward | Liberalism | Roberto Giachetti,Anna Ascani | June 2019 | September 2019 | Italia Viva | |
| Back to the Future | Third Way | Ettore Rosato,Ivan Scalfarotto | October 2018 | September 2019 | Italia Viva | |
| Reformist Base | Reformism | Luca Lotti,Lorenzo Guerini | May 2019 | still active | Democratic Party | |
