Populars for Italy

Populars for Italy Popolari per l'Italia
President	Mario Mauro
Founded	28 January 2014
Split from	Civic Choice
Ideology	Christian democracy Social conservatism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	Forza Italia
European affiliation	European People's Party
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 400
Senate	0 / 200
European Parliament	0 / 73
Regional Councils	1 / 896
Website
www.popolariperlitalia.org
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

Populars for Italy (Italian : Popolari per l'Italia, PpI) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy led by Mario Mauro, minister of Defence in Letta Cabinet and, previously, long-serving MEP for Forza Italia.

History

The party was launched in November 2013 by splinters from Civic Choice (SC) led by Mario Mauro and Lorenzo Dellai, who wanted to continue supporting Enrico Letta's government (in which Mauro served as minister of Defence), but disagreed with SC's perceived liberal outlook. ^[1] Soon after, the PpI formed joint parliamentary groups, named For Italy, with the Union of the Centre (UdC). ^{[2] [3] [4]} According to its leaders, the party would soon merge with the UdC into a new "centrist" party. ^[5]

The party was officially founded on 28 January 2014. In the meantime, Mauro was appointed president. ^{[6] [7]}

In February 2014, Mauro was not confirmed as minister of Defence in Matteo Renzi's government, but the PpI joined the government with one deputy minister (Andrea Olivero at Agriculture) and three undersecretaries. ^[8]

In the 2014 European Parliament election, the party endorsed the New Centre-Right – Union of the Centre joint list.

In July 2014, the PpI suffered the defection of its left-wing faction (composed by the majority of the party's MPs: eight deputies out of twelve and two senators out of eight), led by Dellai, Olivero, Mario Marazziti, Mario Giro and Lucio Romano, who launched Solidary Democracy (Demo.S). The new party re-affirmed the strategic alliance with Renzi's Democratic Party and its support for the government, while the PpI considered it just temporary as the party's declared goal was to restructure the centre-right camp instead. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} By November, the PpI were reduced to two deputies and three senators.

On 11 September 2014, the PpI were officially accepted into the European People's Party (EPP). ^[13]

In November 2014, in an interview to Il Giornale , ^[14] Mauro hinted that the party might leave the Renzi Cabinet ^{[15] [16]} and explained that its goal was that of dissolving Italy's EPP-member parties (the new Forza Italia, the New Centre-Right, the UdC and the PpI) in a joint centre-right party. ^[17] Consequently, the three PpI senators left For Italy in order to join Great Autonomies and Freedom, ^[18] a centre-right miscellaneous group, but the PpI continued to participate in the government with two undersecretaries, Domenico Rossi (Defense) and Angela D'Onghia (Education).

Eventually, after the 2015 regional elections, which the party contested with its own list only in Apulia (obtaining a mere 0.4% of the vote), ^[19] the PpI decided to end their support to the Renzi Cabinet. As a consequence, three MPs left the party: Rossi and D'Onghia in order to continue to be part of the government, and Tito Di Maggio to join the Conservatives and Reformists, a group of splinters from the new Forza Italia, led by Raffaele Fitto. ^[20] Finally, in January 2016, Mario Caruso left the party and formed Popular Civil Italy, ^{[21] [22] [23] [24]} leaving senator Mauro as the only remaining member of Parliament of the party.

In March 2017, the PpI made an alliance agreement with Forza Italia, therefore Mauro joined that party's group in the Senate. ^[25]

In 2018, the party participated in the Molise regional election within the centre-right coalition, gaining 7.1% of vote and two seats.

Electoral results

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Leader
2019	80,553	0.30	0 / 76	–	Mario Mauro

Regional Councils

Region	Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
Marche	2015	18,109 [lower-alpha 1]	3.41	0 / 31	–
Molise	2018	10,351	7.12	2 / 21	2
Campania	2015	17,475 [lower-alpha 2]	0.76	0 / 51	–
Apulia	2015	6,575	0.41	0 / 51	–

1. In a joint list with Union of the Centre, that elected one councilor
2. In a joint list with Italian Republican Party

Leadership

• President: Mario Mauro (2014–)
  • Vice President: Potito Salatto (2014–2016), Isabella Poldrugo (2014–), Vincenzo Niro (2014–)

References

1. "Mauro presenta i Popolari per l'Italia: «Elettori in comune con Ncd, ma idee diverse". Corriere.it. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
2. Nasce “Per l’Italia” gruppo di popolari fuoriusciti da scelta civica
3. "I Popolari di Mauro ripartono da Milano. Ecco come e con chi". Formiche.net. 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
4. "Parte da Milano la semina dei Popolari di Mauro". Formiche.net. 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
5. Così i popolari per l’Italia si preparano alle Europee. Parola di Lucio Romano - Formiche
6. Centro: nasce movimento 'Popolari per l'Italia', presidente Mauro - ASCA.it Archived 2014-01-28 at archive.today
7. Lo schema delle alleanze dei Popolari di Mauro – Formiche
8. Internazionale » I sottosegretari del governo Renzi
9. L'ultima bufera tra i Popolari di Mauro: Dellai, Olivero e Giro fondano Democrazia Solidale - Formiche
10. Centro: nasce 'Demo.S-Democrazia Solidale', Dellai-Olivero tra promotori - ASCA.it
11. Così ripartono i Popolari senza Dellai e Olivero. Parla Mauro - Formiche
12. Perché puntiamo a un'alleanza con il Pd. Parla Dellai - Formiche
13. Ncd: Quagliariello, accolti con voto unanime in famiglia Ppe
14. "La collaborazione fra moderati e sinistra è giunta al capolinea. L'intervento di Mario Mauro | Popolari per l'Italia". Popolariperlitalia.org. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
15. "Senato, Mario Mauro "in fuga" dalla maggioranza". Direttanews.it. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
16. "Perché i Popolari di Mauro passano all'opposizione". Formiche.net. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
17. "Unita' Popolari passa attraverso scioglimento partiti esistenti | Popolari per l'Italia". Popolariperlitalia.org. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
18. "Senato della Repubblica senato.it - Variazioni nei Gruppi parlamentari". senato.it. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
19. "Puglia - Elezioni Regionali - 31 maggio 2015 - la". Repubblica.it. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
20. 3 giugno 2015 (2015-06-03). "Mauro: "I Popolari per l'Italia via dalla maggioranza". Al Senato il Governo ora ha meno margine". Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
21. "Nasce Italia Civile Popolare | Canicatti Web Notizie". Canicattiweb.com. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
22. "Caruso: Nasce "Italia Civile Popolare"". Aise.it. 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
23. "Italiani all'estero, e Mario Caruso si fa un partito: nasce Italia Civile Popolare". Italiachiamaitalia.it. 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
24. "Italiani all'estero, Mario Caruso alla Camera: 'voglio creare una nuova Dc'". Italiachiamaitalia.it. 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
25. "MARIO MAURO / Ritorno in Forza Italia, "dobbiamo ricostruire il centrodestra insieme"". 10 March 2017.

External links

• Official website (in Italian)