Italy of Values
Encyclopedia
Italy of Values is a centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...

, populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 and anti-corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...

 (ELDR), is headed by former Mani pulite
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...

prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...

, who entered politics in 1996.

The party aims to gather and give voice to different sectors of the Italian society. From the beginning of its existence one of its major issue has been the so-called "moral issue". The other main issues of the party are: emancipation of public information by political parties to ensure full and adequate information to citizens, development of renewable energies, rationalisation of the state structure, recognition of rights and responsibilities for unmarried couples, minimum salary of € 1000-1100 per month in favour of the so-called "temporary workers".

At European level, the IdV party is member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...

 and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is the current liberal/centrist political group of the European Parliament...

.

Early years

Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...

 was Minister of Public Works
Minister of Public Works (Italy)
The Ministry of Public Works was a ministry in the government of Italy dealing with all infrastructure matters, including roads, motorways, railways, ports, airports and other means of transport. It was set up in 1860 and first held by Stefano Jacini. It was suppressed in the Bassanini reforms of...

 in the Prodi I Cabinet
Prodi I Cabinet
The Prodi I Cabinet was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 18 May 1996 to 21 October 1998.-Sources:*...

 from May to November 1996, when he resigned because he was under investigation in Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

. In November 1997 he was elected Senator in a by-election in Mugello
Mugello region
Mugello is a landscape north of Florence in northern Italy. It is separated by the Santerno river valley by the Futa Pass.The area was settled by a Ligurian tribe known as the Magelli, whence the name. Then the region was occupied by the Etruscans who have left many archeological traces and who...

, a Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...

  stronghold in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, by trouncing his major opponent Giuliano Ferrara
Giuliano Ferrara
Giuliano Ferrara is an Italian politician, journalist, founding editor of Il Foglio, and TV presenter.After the militancy in the PCI and PSI, in the nineties has become a supporter of Silvio Berlusconi, and finally one of the most intellectual representatives of Italian Theoconservativism-Life and...

 67.7% to 16.1%, despite the presence of a Communist
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist Italian political party. Its current secretary is Paolo Ferrero....

 candidate on the ballot, Sandro Curzi who received 13.0%. In March 1998 Di Pietro set up his own Italy of Values (IdV) party, alongside with Willer Bordon of the Democratic Union
Democratic Union (Italy)
The Democratic Union was a small social-liberal party in Italy.It was founded in 1996 by Antonio Maccanico , Willer Bordon and Giorgio Benvenuto, both members of Democratic Alliance...

 and Rino Piscitello and Franco Danieli of The Net.

In February 1999 Di Pietro integrated IdV into The Democrats, a new party founded by Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...

 with the goal of transforming the The Olive Tree coalition in a single "Democratic" party. In the 1999 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 1999
The European Parliament Election, 1999 was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory and where...

 The Democrats scored 7.7% and Di Pietro was elected MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

. After having been organisational secretary and Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

 floor leader of the party, Di Pietro left it in April 2000 because of his opposition to the appointment of Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato is an Italian politician. He was Prime Minister of Italy twice, first from 1992 to 1993 and then from 2000 to 2001. He was more recently Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the new European Constitution and headed the Amato Group. He is commonly...

, a long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...

 (which was the principal subject of investigation of Di Pietro when magistrate), as Prime Minister of Italy
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...

 after the resignation of Massimo D'Alema
Massimo D'Alema
Massimo D'Alema is an Italian politician. He is also a journalist and a former national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left...

. Shortly afterwards, Di Pietro set up his IdV party again.

IdV fought the 2001 general election
Italian general election, 2001
A national general election was held in Italy on May 13, 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The 14th Parliament of the Italian republic was chosen....

 alone on a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 platform, comprising tough management of illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

 and protest against waste of public money. IdV's campaign was focused principally against Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

, who was the candidate for Prime Minister of the centre-right House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

 coalition. The IdV scored 3.9% in the election for the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

 and obtained no seats, while electing one Senator, Valerio Carrara, who soon left the party and switched to Berlusconi's party Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

.

The centre-left

In the 2004 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2004 (Italy)
Elections to the European Parliament were held in Italy on 12 and 13 June 2004. Italy's highly fragmented party system made it hard to identify an overall trend, but the results were generally seen as a defeat for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a victory for the centre-left opposition...

 Di Pietro teamed up with Achille Occhetto
Achille Occhetto
Achille Occhetto , nicknamed Akel, is an Italian political figure.-Biography:Occhetto was born in Turin. He served as the secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party between 1988 and 1994 Achille Occhetto (born 3 March 1936), nicknamed Akel, is an Italian political figure.-Biography:Occhetto...

, a former leader of the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

, to run as Società Civile Di Pietro–Occhetto. The list gained 2.1% of the national vote and both men were elected MEPs. After the election, Occhetto immediately renounced to his seat and was replaced by Giulietto Chiesa
Giulietto Chiesa
Giulietto Chiesa is an Italian journalist and politician, and was a Member of the European Parliament for North-West with the Independent - Di Pietro-Occhetto List Civil Society. Originally he represented Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, since 2006 - Party of European Socialists...

, a communist journalist.

In early 2006 Leoluca Orlando
Leoluca Orlando
Leoluca Orlando , is an Italian politician, who was mayor of Palermo in 1985-1990 and 1993-2000. He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia.-Biography:Orlando was born in Palermo...

, former Mayor of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, some splinters from the UDEUR Populars
UDEUR Populars for the South
UDEUR Populars for the South is a small centrist and Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Clemente Mastella, the party has been at times very strong in Southern Italy, but almost irrelevant in Northern Italy...

, including Pino Pisicchio and Egidio Pedrini, and former Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...

, such as Fabio Evangelisti, joined the party. In the 2006 general elections
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...

, IdV, this time member of the winning centre-left coalition The Union
The Union (political coalition)
The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:...

, scored 2.1% and Di Pietro was sworn in as Minister for Infrastructures
Italian Minister of Infrastructures
-Ministers of Public Works:-Ministers of Infrastructures and Transports:-Ministers of Infrastructures:-Ministers of Infrastructures and Transports:...

 in the Prodi II Cabinet
Prodi II Cabinet
The Prodi II Cabinet was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days...

.

After the fall of Prodi's government, Di Pietro formed an alliance with the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....

 for the 2008 general election
Italian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...

. IdV made major gains but its coalition partner did not and they were driven into opposition. With its 4.4% of the vote, 29 deputies and 14 senators, IdV became the fourth largest party in Parliament.

Following the election, IdV formed its own groups in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, instead of joining the Democrats in a joint group as promised, and started a competition with its main ally. In October 2008 Veltroni, who distanced from Di Pietro many times, declared that "on some issues he [Di Pietro] is distant from the democratic language of the centre-left", but anyway the PD decided to support Carlo Costantini (IdV) in the 2008 Abruzzo regional election
Abruzzo regional election, 2008
A regional election took place on 14–15 December 2008 in Abruzzo, due to the early resignation of President Ottaviano Del Turco, after his indictment for alleged corruption...

. Costantini was defeated, but IdV came close to the PD (15.0% versus 19.6%).

In the 2009 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Italy)
European elections to elect 72 members of the European Parliament representing Italy were held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on December 18, 2008...

 the list received 8.0% of the national vote, quadrupling the votes obtained five years before and gaining 7 seats. In the run-up for the election Di Pietro recruited to run in IdV lists Pino Arlacchi
Pino Arlacchi
Giuseppe Arlacchi, also known as Pino, is an Italian sociologist and is well known worldwide for his studies and essays about the Mafia...

, a former senator for the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...

, Gianni Vattimo
Gianni Vattimo
Gianteresio Vattimo, also known as Gianni Vattimo is an internationally recognized Italian author, philosopher, and politician. Many of his works have been translated into English.-Biography:...

, a leftist philosopher, Maurizio Zipponi, a former trade unionist and deputy of the Communist Refoundation Party
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist Italian political party. Its current secretary is Paolo Ferrero....

 (PRC), and Luigi De Magistris
Luigi de Magistris (magistrate)
Luigi de Magistris is the Mayor of Naples and a former prosecutor. He started his career as a public prosecutor in 1995 and worked in Naples from 1998 to 2002. He was deputy public prosecutor in Catanzaro, Italy, from 2002 to 2009 and was a Member of the European Parliament...

, a left-wing former prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...

 of Catanzaro who inquired Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...

. Arlacchi, De Magistris and Vattimo were elected to the European Parliament.

Following these results, Di Pietro said that IdV "will remove his name from the symbol of the party, in order to build something larger, more useful and that represents something more important". He also said that "we need to become a great progressive party that supports a proposal for a credible government". However the party's executive finally decided not to remove the name of its founder, considering that name still too important for the party.

Recent events

Over the last months, IdV has proposed three referenda
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

 which will take place in June 2011. Thanks to its activists, the party was able to collect two million signatures among the Italian population in support of these referenda, which are concerned with the abrogation of the so-called "legittimo impedimento" (an Italian law which permits the Prime Minister to postpone potential trials if prosecuted by the judiciary), the abrogation of a law allowing the construction of nuclear power plants
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 in Italy and the abrogation of a law allowing the privatisation of water management
Water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...

.

On 30 May 2011 Luigi de Magistris
Luigi de Magistris (magistrate)
Luigi de Magistris is the Mayor of Naples and a former prosecutor. He started his career as a public prosecutor in 1995 and worked in Naples from 1998 to 2002. He was deputy public prosecutor in Catanzaro, Italy, from 2002 to 2009 and was a Member of the European Parliament...

 was elected Mayor of Naples by a landslide. The IdV candidate, who had received just 27.5% of the vote in the first round (enough to beat the Democratic Party's candidate off the second round), won a thumping 65.4% of the vote against the centre-right candidate in the run-off. This was a huge success for IdV and its main ally, the Federation of the Left
Federation of the Left
Federation of the Left is a communist coalition of political parties in Italy.The coalition is the evolution of the Anticapitalist List and includes:*Communist Refoundation Party...

, which together also gained the majority in the Municipal Council.

Ideology and EU affiliation

While the party is currently member of the centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...

 coalition, led by the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....

 (PD), its members had been very diverse ideologically, ranging from the far left (i.e. Franca Rame
Franca Rame
Franca Rame is an Italian theatre actress and playwright. She is also the wife of Nobel Prize winning author Dario Fo and the mother of the writer Jacopo Fo.- Life :...

, a former member of Soccorso Rosso, and Pancho Pardi, a former activist of Potere Operaio
Potere Operaio
Potere Operaio was a radical left-wing Italian political group, active between 1968 and 1973. Among the group's leaders were Antonio Negri, Franco Piperno, Oreste Scalzone and Valerio Morucci, who led its clandestine...

) to right-wing, thanks to the populist message of the party. The party includes former Communists
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

 and former Leghisti, as well as former Missini
Italian Social Movement
The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...

and several former Christian Democrats. According to a study by Pino Pisicchio, a political scientist who was Deputy for IdV until his departure in late 2009, 57.1% of the MPs of the party are former Christian Democrats or members of post-Christian Democratic parties (including 11.9% from the UDEUR Populars
UDEUR Populars for the South
UDEUR Populars for the South is a small centrist and Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Clemente Mastella, the party has been at times very strong in Southern Italy, but almost irrelevant in Northern Italy...

), 9.5% are former Communists, 4.8% from far-left parties and movements, 2.4% former Missini and 2.4% former Leghisti.

The party is a supporter of legality
Legality
The principle of legality is the legal ideal that requires all law to be clear, ascertainable and non-retrospective. It requires decision makers to resolve disputes by applying legal rules that have been declared beforehand, and not to alter the legal situation retrospectively by discretionary...

, law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...

, the police forces, first-past-the-post voting, federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

, corporate reform, lowering the costs of politics, improving the efficiency of public services
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...

, fighting corruption, simplifying trials bureaucracy to achieve faster verdicts and regulating conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

.

During the Prodi II Cabinet
Prodi II Cabinet
The Prodi II Cabinet was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days...

 IdV was the most centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...

 party in the centre-left coalition and sometimes, despite its harsh criticism of Berlusconi, it switched sides in Parliament on some key issues. Di Pietro, after he was refused entry the PD, and before several clashes with Clemente Mastella
Clemente Mastella
Mario Clemente Mastella is an Italian politician. He is currently leader of Popular-UDEUR, a minor centrist Italian party. He was Minister of Labour in the Berlusconi government from 10 May 1994 to 17 January 1995, and Minister of Justice in the Prodi government from 17 May 2006 to 17 January 2008...

, even proposed an electoral list between its party, the UDEUR Populars and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, ruling out any future alliance with the far left (Federation of the Greens
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...

, Party of Italian Communists
Party of Italian Communists
The Party of Italian Communists is a communist political party in Italy. Its long-time leader is Oliviero Diliberto.-Foundation and early years:...

 and Communist Refoundation Party
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist Italian political party. Its current secretary is Paolo Ferrero....

). Also during the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...

 IdV supported some plans of the government, notably the introduction of fiscal federalism
Fiscal federalism
As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government"...

.

The fact that IdV is member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...

 (ELDR) does not mean that it is a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 party. Notwithstanding its European affiliation, the party is rarely regarded as liberal in Italy, due to its "justicialist" and "populist" tendencies. In fact the party's character is that of a "protest party" and it opposes many policies generally supported by liberals. That is why it can better seen as a centrist-populist party. On the left Di Pietro is described as a right-wing populist
Right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...

 by Fausto Bertinotti
Fausto Bertinotti
Fausto Bertinotti is an Italian politician and former leader of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista. On April 29, 2006, after the center-left coalition's victory in the Italian general election, he was chosen by the new parliament as President of the Chamber of Deputies .-Trade...

, as well as by some political commentators. According to Panorama
Panorama (Italian magazine)
Panorama is a right-wing Italian-language news magazine.-Ownership:The magazine is published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the largest Italian publishing house...

, the reason for these bitter comments by Bertinotti is that Di Pietro is very able to attract votes from the far-left electorate, as well as the right, and this could prevent a resurgence of those parties which were driven out of Parliament in the 2008 general election
Italian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...

.

Anyway, during a council meeting in Rome, ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck
Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck
Anne-Marie Cécile J. Neyts-Uyttebroeck is a Belgian politician andMember of the European Parliament for Flanders with the Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs.She is for the...

 underlined that European Liberals are honored to have IdV as one of its Italian member parties as it exemplifies a political party of integrity and high quality politics. Di Pietro added that "ELDR as the common house of European Liberals is the political home for us in terms of common convictions and a strong support for the cause of political freedoms in Italy".

Factions and splits

This shift to the left represented by people such as De Magistris was criticised by Pisicchio because, in his view, it was endangering the centrist nature of the party. In November 2009 the party was joined by Franco Grillini
Franco Grillini
Franco Grillini is an Italian politician and Italy's most prominent gay rights activist.-Career:He was born in Pianoro, Province of Bologna. During the 1970s, he took part in student political movements. He attended the University of Bologna, graduating in 1979 with a degree in education, and...

, honorary president of Arcigay
Arcigay
Arcigay is Italy's first and largest national gay organization.The association was first founded as a local association in Palermo in 1980, then nationally established in Bologna in 1985.. The organisation became known throughout Italy for its campaign for civil unions...

 and former member of the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...

, Democratic Left
Democratic Left (Italy)
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party in Italy.It was founded on 5 May 2007 by splinters of the Democrats of the Left centred around Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius, who opposed the merger of the DS into the Democratic Party...

 and, lately, the Socialist Party. However the party continues to recruit people also on the right, such as Alessandro Cè, a social-conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

 former member of Lega Nord with whom Grillini clashed in the past.

As the party is getting bigger, it is possible to outilne some factional cleavages. Since De Magistris's strong showing in the 2009 European election (when he got more personal votes than Di Pietro) there were rumors about an underground row between him and Di Pietro for the leaderhip of the party, even if both denied there was any divergence between them. Moreover some members of the party were entalied with corruption charges, some members, notably Francesco Barbato, urged Di Pietro to be more earnest in cleaning up the party. While the grassroots of the party supported a change of leadership and De Magistris initially did not rule out that he may be an alternative candidate to Di Pietro, the party's old guard (Silvana Mura, Massimo Donadi
Massimo Donadi
Massimo Donadi is an Italian politician from Veneto.Having joined Italy of Values in 2000, he was elected to the Italian Senate in a by-election held in January 2005. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2006 and re-elected in 2008...

, Felice Belisario, Luigi Li Gotti and Leoluca Orlando
Leoluca Orlando
Leoluca Orlando , is an Italian politician, who was mayor of Palermo in 1985-1990 and 1993-2000. He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia.-Biography:Orlando was born in Palermo...

) staunchly defended the current leader. Finally an agreement was reached between the two contenders: in the 5–7 February 2010 party congress De Magistris will support Di Pietro in exchange of a leading role in the party. In any event Di Pietro was re-elected as party president unopposed, while De Magistris did not became party secretary as he wanted to.

Differences between Di Pietro and De Magistris will be a feature within IdV also in the future, the former being closer to the social-democratic PD (even hinting that IdV may eventually merge into the PD) and the latter keener on a strong alliance with the Communist parties (PRC and PdCI
Party of Italian Communists
The Party of Italian Communists is a communist political party in Italy. Its long-time leader is Oliviero Diliberto.-Foundation and early years:...

), the newly formed Left Ecology Freedom and the most radical groups in opposition to Berlusconi. De Magistris dubbed Di Pietro as too moderate and denounced that the party "risks of becoming the DC
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....

 of the third millennium". The "moderate" line of Di Pietro and his decision to support Vincenzo De Luca for President in the Campania regional election
Campania regional election, 2010
The Campania regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010.The region came out from ten years of undisputed dominance by the centre-left led by Antonio Bassolino . A former Mayor of Naples and minister, he was re-elected by a landslide 61.6% of the vote in 2005...

, despite being under investigation with corruption charges, was criticised also by long-standing intellectual supporters within and outside the party such as Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio is an Italian investigative journalist, writer and commentator.-Biography:Travaglio was born in Turin. He started his career writing for Catholic publications such as Il nostro tempo , then worked for the renowned journalist Indro Montanelli for newspapers such as Il Giornale and...

, Paolo Flores d'Arcais
Paolo Flores d'Arcais
Paolo Flores d'Arcais is an Italian philosopher and journalist, editor of the magazine MicroMega...

 and Pancho Pardi. Di Pietro, for his part, in one of his speeches during the congress, remarked IdV's liberal identity and denounced "Berlusconi's false liberalism". Due to its harsh anti-berlusconismo, IdV is however popular especially among left-wing voters, a fact that was highlighted also by the increasing number of communists in party ranks.

The populist course taken by the party, that enforced its co-operation with the far left, and the emergence of more "extreme" figures like De Magistris led Pisicchio and his centrist faction to leave the party in order to join Francesco Rutelli's Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy is a centrist political party in Italy.The party, which is described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left, an experience with high and memorable value, yet by now run out", was launched on 11...

 in November 2009. While leaving the party along with other three MPs, Pisicchio told the press that the choice of Di Pietro to line up IdV in the "antagonist camp" was a departure from its would-be nature of a "centrist party of liberal-democratic inspiration". A centrist senator elected in Di Pietro's Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...

, Giuseppe Astore, left the party making similar remarks: "De Magistris is too far on the left for me [...]. I want a reformist not an extremist party".

In the summer of 2010 two MEPs, Pino Arlacchi
Pino Arlacchi
Giuseppe Arlacchi, also known as Pino, is an Italian sociologist and is well known worldwide for his studies and essays about the Mafia...

 and Vincenzo Iovine, left IdV in disagreement with the lack of democracy in the party and its "authoritarian" ways. Arlacchi, a former senator of the Democratic Party of the Left
Democratic Party of the Left
The Democratic Party of the Left was a post-communist, democratic socialist political party in Italy.-History:...

, subsequently joined the PD, while Iovine, a former Christian Democrat, Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy is a centrist political party in Italy.The party, which is described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left, an experience with high and memorable value, yet by now run out", was launched on 11...

. In December two deputies, Antonio Razzi and Domenico Scilipoti, left the party in order to support Berlusconi's government.

Popular support

The electoral results of Italy of Values in the 10 most populated Regions of Italy plus Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

 and Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...

 (party strongholds) are shown in the table below. IdV is particularly strong in Abruzzo and Molise because Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...

 hails from Molise and Abruzzo is a neighbouring region. In general the party is stronger in the South than in the North, where the protest vote is absorbed primarily by Lega Nord.
(2006)>
2001 general 2004 European 2005 regional 2006 general 2008 general 2009 European 2010 regional
Piedmont 4.1 2.4 1.5 2.6 5.0 8.7 6.9
Lombardy 3.9 1.7 1.4 2.0 4.0 6.5 6.3
Veneto 4.6 2.1 1.3 2.2 4.3 7.2 5.3
Emilia-Romagna 3.5 1.9 1.4 1.7 4.2 7.2 6.4
Tuscany 2.5 1.8 0.9 1.4 3.5 6.8 9.4
Lazio 2.8 2.1 1.0 1.9 4.1 8.3 8.6
Abruzzo 6.3 3.9 2.4 4.1 7.0 13.8 15.0 (2008)
Molise 14.3 7.8 8.8 (2006) 8.1 27.7 28.0 8,8 (2011)
Campania 3.8 2.1 2.4 2.6 4.7 8.9 4.5
Apulia 5.1 2.8 2.4 1.8 4.6 8.9 6.5
Calabria 3.6 2.3
2.2 3.6 9.1 5.4
Sicily 3.9 2.7
4.4 3.4 7.1 1.9 (2008)
ITALY 3.9 2.1 - 2.3 4.4 8.0 -

Conventions

By statute IdV must periodically celebrate a national congress. Congresses usually take place every other year, according to the art. 8 of the party's statute. Up to this point, IdV held three national conventions:
  • National Assembly – Rome
    Rome
    Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

    , 20 February 1999
  • National Assembly – Rome, 2–3 October 2004
  • National Congress – Rome, 5–7 February 2010 (slogan: The alternative for a new Italy)

Leadership

  • President: Antonio Di Pietro
    Antonio Di Pietro
    Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...

     (1998–1999, 2000–present)
  • Spokesperson: Alessandra Paradisi (1998–1999), Elio Veltri (2000–2002), Giorgio Calò (2002–2005), Aniello Formisano
    Aniello Formisano
    Aniello Formisano is an Italian politician. Born in Torre del Greco, Province of Naples, he graduated in law and became a leading member of the Italy of Values party, the political movement of Antonio Di Pietro.-References:...

     (2005–2006), Leoluca Orlando
    Leoluca Orlando
    Leoluca Orlando , is an Italian politician, who was mayor of Palermo in 1985-1990 and 1993-2000. He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia.-Biography:Orlando was born in Palermo...

     (2006–present)
  • Organization Coordinator: Antonio Borghesi
    Antonio Borghesi
    Antonio Borghesi is an Italian politician from Veneto.Borghesi, a university professor of economics, entered politics in 1995, when he was elected President of the Province of Verona supported by a coalition comprising Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, the Italian People's Party, Patto Segni and the...

     (2000–2005), Felice Belisario (2005–2008), Ivan Rota (2008–present)
  • Treasurer: Silvana Mura (2000–present)

  • Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies
    Italian Chamber of Deputies
    The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

    : Massimo Donadi
    Massimo Donadi
    Massimo Donadi is an Italian politician from Veneto.Having joined Italy of Values in 2000, he was elected to the Italian Senate in a by-election held in January 2005. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2006 and re-elected in 2008...

     (2006–present)
  • Party Leader in the Senate
    Italian Senate
    The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

    : Aniello Formisano
    Aniello Formisano
    Aniello Formisano is an Italian politician. Born in Torre del Greco, Province of Naples, he graduated in law and became a leading member of the Italy of Values party, the political movement of Antonio Di Pietro.-References:...

     (2006–2008), Felice Belisario (2008–present)
  • Party Leader in the European Parliament
    European Parliament
    The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

    : Niccolò Rinaldi
    Niccolò Rinaldi
    In 2009 he was elected at the European Parliament with Italia dei Valori. He is member of the ALDE group, of which he has been, since 2000 and until the election, general secretary adjunct. He is currently Vice President for the group...

    (2009–present)

External links

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