Italian political party
Italia Viva (
lit. 'Italy Alive', IV ) is a
liberal
political party in Italy founded in September 2019.
[6] The party is led by
Matteo Renzi , a former
Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the
Democratic Party (PD).
[7] As of 2021, Italia Viva is a member of the
European Democratic Party .
[8]
History
Background
Matteo Renzi started his political career in the
Italian People's Party (PPI), a
Christian-democratic party, and was elected president of the
Province of Florence in 2004. Through
The Daisy party, he joined the
Democratic Party in 2007
[9] and was elected
Mayor of Florence in 2009. A frequent critic of his party's leadership, especially under
Pier Luigi Bersani , Renzi made his name as il Rottamatore , in English the Scrapper
[10] or the Demolisher
[11] (of old leaders and ideas), for his advocacy of complete change in the party, as well as a reformer and a moderniser.
[12]
[13]
[14] His followers were known as
Renziani .
Speculations over a new party led by Renzi date back to 2012, when he was defeated by Bersani in the run-off of the
centre-left primary election .
[15] Rumors stopped when Renzi was elected secretary of the PD in December 2013. He also became
Prime Minister in February 2014.
[16] He led the party to huge electoral success in the
2014 European Parliament election (40.8%), but badly lost the
2016 Italian constitutional referendum (59.1% to 40.9%), which caused his resignation as Prime Minister.
After the PD's defeat in the
2018 general election ,
[17] in which the PD only gained 18.7% of vote, forcing Renzi to resign as secretary,
[18]
[19] rumours of a split emerged.
[20] In March 2019,
Nicola Zingaretti , a
social democrat and a prominent member of the party's left wing who had roots in the
Italian Communist Party , won the
leadership election by a landslide, defeating
Maurizio Martina (Renzi's former deputy secretary) and
Roberto Giachetti (supported by most Renziani ).
[21] Zingaretti focused his campaign on a clear contrast with Renzi's policies and, according to pundits, his victory opened the way for a major shift in the character of the Democratic Party.
[22]
[23]
In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting
Giuseppe Conte 's
first government , leading to a motion of no-confidence by the
League .
[24] Despite having opposed it in the past, Renzi advocated the formation of a new government between the PD and the populist
Five Star Movement (M5S).
[25] After days of tensions within the PD, on 28 August, Zingaretti announced his support for a new government with the M5S, led by Conte.
[26] The
Conte II Cabinet was sworn in on 5 September,
[27] and Renzi was seen by many as the real kingmaker of the new parliamentary majority.
[28]
Foundation
Matteo Renzi in 2018
On 16 September, in an interview to
la Repubblica , Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD and create new parliamentary groups.
[29] On the same day, interviewed by
Bruno Vespa during the
late-night TV talk-show
Porta a Porta , he officially launched Italia Viva .
[30] In the interview he also confirmed his support for Conte's government.
[31] Renzi was initially followed by 24 deputies and 12 senators from the PD, notably including
Maria Elena Boschi ,
Roberto Giachetti ,
Teresa Bellanova (Minister of Agriculture) and
Elena Bonetti (Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities).
[32]
[33] Three more senators, Donatella Conzatti,
Riccardo Nencini and Gelsomina Vono, joined respectively from
Forza Italia (FI), the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and M5S,
[34]
[35]
[36] while one deputy, Gabriele Toccafondi, joined from
Popular Civic List (CP).
[37]
The split was condemned by the PD's leadership: Zingaretti described it as a "mistake",
[38] while
Dario Franceschini called it a "big problem".
[39]
[40]
Beppe Grillo , founder of the M5S, described Renzi's actions as "an act of narcissism".
[41] Prime Minister Conte declared his perplexity too, saying that Renzi "should have informed [him] before the birth of the government".
[42] Additionally,
Il Foglio revealed that internet domains italiaviva.eu and italiaviva.org were created on 9 August 2019, hinting that the split had been prepared in advance.
[43] The following day, la Repubblica revealed that the domains were bought by Alessandro Risso, a former member of
Christian Democracy and the PPI from Piedmont.
[44] However, Risso explained that his moves had nothing to do with Renzi, whom he opposed.
[45]
Italia Viva's backbone was largely based on the Committees of Civil Action of
Back to the Future , launched by Renzi during the 2018 Leopolda convention in
Florence
[46] and seen by some people as the initial step of a new party.
[47]
Ettore Rosato , the organiser of the committees, and Bellanova were appointed party's coordinators.
[48]
In October, during the Leopolda annual convention, the logo of IV was unveiled. It featured a stylised
seagull and was chosen by supporters in an online vote.
[49]
[50]
Road to the 2022 general election
In February,
Nicola Danti , IV member and MEP, left the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group and joined the
Renew Europe group.
[51] A few days before,
Sandro Gozi , a former member of the PD's national board who later joined IV,
[52] had been sworn in as
member of the
European Parliament for
France (elected with Renaissance list, formed largely by members of
La République En Marche ) and became the party's second MEP.
In January 2021, IV withdrew its support for Conte's second government, triggering a political crisis.
[53] Conte subsequently won confidence motions in both houses of Parliament, with the abstention of IV, but could only reach a plurality in the Senate, rather than an absolute majority.
[54]
[55]
[56] In the wake of this, Conte tendered his resignation to President Mattarella, who then began a round of discussions with various parties to form a new government.
[57] Consequently, IV was instrumental in the formation of
Mario Draghi 's
government , in which minister Bonetti was confirmed.
In December 2021, IV joined the
European Democratic Party .
[58]
In December 2022, Renzi was elected president of the party, replacing Rosato and Bellanova.
[59]
2022 general election and aftermath
In the run-up of the
2022 general election , the party, which refused to join, or was refused entry to, the PD-led
centre-left coalition ,
[60]
[61] joined forces with the
National Civic List
[62] (put forward by
Federico Pizzarotti of
Italia in Comune and
Piercamillo Falasca of
L'Italia c'è ) and the
Italian Republican Party (PRI).
[63] Most importantly, IV formed a
joint electoral list with
Carlo Calenda 's
Action .
[64]
[65]
[66] The joint list obtained 7.8% of the vote.
After the election, Renzi frequently clashed with Calenda,
[67]
[68] leaving the alliance's future uncertain. The party continued to achieve high-profile recruits, notably including senator
Enrico Borghi from the PD,
[69]
[70] deputies
Naike Gruppioni and
Isabella De Monte from Action
[71]
[72] and
Dafne Musolino from
South calls North .
[73] In September 2023, Renzi announced that IV would run in the
2024 European Parliament election within a brand new coalition/list named "The Centre".
[74]
[75] This led
Elena Bonetti to leave the party in order to seek an alternative alliance with Action.
[76]
[77] Also
Ettore Rosato was critical and seemed interested in joining Action, but, before leaving the party, he was expelled by Renzi.
[78]
[79] Subsequently, Bonetti and Rosato launched
Populars Europeanists Reformers
[80] and, in January 2024, joined Action.
[81]
[82]
In October 2023 the party held its first national congress, during which Renzi was re-elected president.
[83]
In March 2024 the party dropped the idea of "The Centre" list in favour of a broader, liberal and pro-Europeanist list named "
United States of Europe ", which will include also
More Europe , the
Italian Radicals , the
Italian Socialist Party and the
European Liberal Democrats , in order to overcome the 4% electoral threshold.
[84]
[85]
Ideology
Italia Viva is considered a
liberal and
reformist party.
[86] Its "Charter of Values", presented in October 2019, referred to republican and
anti-fascist values expressed in the
Constitution of Italy , as well as in the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights .
[87] The movement also emphasised the principle of
gender equality , the relaunch of
globalisation and a strong opposition to all forms of
protectionism and
souverainism .
[88] It also supported a more incisive European political and economic integration, with the direct election of the
President of the European Commission and the introduction of transnational lists.
[89]
Renzi described his party as a "young, innovative and
feminist house, where new ideas for Italy and Europe are launched."
[90] Additionally, Renzi has likened IV to
Emmanuel Macron 's
La République En Marche! (REM).
[91]
[92]
Electoral results
Italian Parliament
Regional Councils
Leadership
See also
References
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External links