Civic Choice

Civic Choice
Scelta Civica
Founder Mario Monti
President vacant
Secretary Enrico Zanetti
Founded 4 January 2013
Headquarters Via Poli 29
00184 Rome
Women's wing Civiche
Ideology Centrism[1]
Liberalism[2]
Political position Centre[3]
European affiliation none
European Parliament group no MEPs
Colours      Blue
Chamber of Deputies
25 / 630
Senate
0 / 315
European Parliament
0 / 73
Website
www.sceltacivica.it
Politics of Italy
Political parties
Elections

Civic Choice (Italian: Scelta Civica, SC) is a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti.

The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his political agenda.[4] In the election SC was part of a centrist coalition named With Monti for Italy,[5] along with Union of the Centre of Pier Ferdinando Casini and Future and Freedom of Gianfranco Fini.[6]

Since April 2013 SC has been part of the grand coalition government led by Enrico Letta of the Democratic Party. In February 2014 after Letta's resignation, Civic Choice supported the new cabinet of Matteo Renzi.

History

Foundation and composition

In order to compete in the upcoming general election, on 4 January 2013 technocratic Prime Minister Mario Monti launched SC as an electoral list of the "civil society" to implement his "agenda". It was announced that SC would be part of the With Monti for Italy (CMI) coalition, alongside the Union of the Centre (UdC) and Future and Freedom (FLI).

At its beginnings SC was composed of several groups and individuals, who were represented in the party's lists:[7]

2013 general election and aftermath

In the 2013 general election SC obtained 8.3% of the vote, 37 deputies (in its own lists) and 15 senators (within CMI).[25] After the election, SC deputies and senators formed joint groups named "Civic Choice", including also UdC and FLI MPs, in both houses of Parliament.

In late April the party joined Enrico Letta's grand coalition government, which included three SC leading members: Mario Mauro as minister of Defence, Enzo Moavero Milanesi as minister of European Affairs and Carlo Calenda as deputy minister of Economic Development.

Also the party began to take shape: on 13 March Monti, who replaced Andrea Riccardi as provisional president, appointed Andrea Olivero as coordinator; on 16 May Monti was unanimously elected president by the party's assembly;[26] on 23 May the leadership proposed by Monti was approved with only three abstentions.[27] In the event Olivero was confirmed coordinator, Alberto Bombassei was appointed first vice president, and Benedetto Della Vedova, a former member of the Italian Radicals, Forza Italia, the PdL and finally FLI, was chosen as spokesperson. The rest of the leadership was composed mainly by former Democrats: Maria Paola Merloni (vice president), Lorenzo Dellai (party leader in the Chamber of Deputies), Gianluca Susta (party leader in the Senate), Andrea Causin (organizational secretary), Pietro Ichino (platform coordinator) and Gregorio Gitti (local structures' coordinator). No member of Future Italy, a liberal[28] think tank, took a leading role.

Since then, the party was often riven by internal disputes. Monti twice presented (and later retracted) his resignation from the position of SC party president.[29][30] In late July he clashed with the "Catholic" wing of the party, especially with Olivero, whom he accused of being too close to the UdC (whose deputies and senators were part of SC's parliamentary groups).[31][32][33] Also Future Italy, seemed to have little patience with the "Catholic" wing and even to be willing to distance from the party.[34][35]

In this phase, an issue which divided SC was the debate on European party affiliation. Some, including the party's "Catholics", former members of PdL and Monti himself,[36] favoured joining the European People's Party (EPP), while others, notably those close to Future Italy, Benedetto Della Vedova and Linda Lanzillotta, preferred the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party.[37][38] It later emerged that Monti had favoured the EPP and had consequently started talks with the EPP's leadership in order to appease the party's Christian democrats led by Mauro and avoid a split.[39]

Monti's resignation and Populars' split

On 17 October 2013 Monti resigned as president of SC and was replaced by his deputy Alberto Bombassei as acting president. Monti cited his disagreement with 12 senators (out of 20), including Mario Mauro, Andrea Olivero, Gabriele Albertini, Pier Ferdinando Casini (UdC leader), Maria Paola Merloni, Luigi Marino and Lucio Romano. Particularly, Monti criticized Mauro's line of unconditioned support to the government and of transforming SC in a larger centre-right political party, open to the PdL.[39][40][41] One of the 12 senators, Tito Di Maggio, was even unveiled as PdL–SC–UdC joint candidate for President in Basilicata.[42]

After Monti's abrupt departure, spokesperson Benedetto Della Vedova, who represented the liberal wing of the party (including Pietro Ichino, Gianluca Susta, Linda Lanzillotta, etc.),[43][44] announced that SC would "go on" as a "liberal, people's, reform and European party"[41] and would never form a partnership with the PdL.[45] Lanzillotta remarked that "Italy needs a liberal, people's, deeply reform-minded and Europeanist party"[46] and that "we did not take votes for giving life to a Catholic party and being part of a centre-right still led by Berlusconi.[47] For his part, during a TV interview, Monti stated that "my and SC's commitment does not end now" and that "many tell me they did not vote for SC for the specific reason that we were with president Casini; they might have been right".[48]

On 22 October the executive committee voted in favour of the separation from the UdC.[49] The "popular" majority of SC's parliamentary group in the Senate responded by dismissing Susta as floor leader,[50][51] while Olivero stated that the Populars aimed at forming a party modelled on Germany's Christian Democratic Union.[44] On 6 November the SC senatorial group, dominated by Populars, elected L. Romano as new floor leader; the decision was not endorsed by Bombassei[52] and was opposed by Montiani and liberals, who talked about dismissing Lorenzo Dellai from leader in the Chamber as retaliation.[53][54]

On 15 November the Populars walked away from the party's national assembly and left the party altogether. The assembly elected Bombassei president and appointed Stefania Giannini secretary.[55][56][57] On 23 November the Populars, led by Mauro, Dellai and Olivero, launched Populars for Italy (PpI).[58] On 10 December the party's break-up was effective in Parliament: 20 deputies (led by Dellai) and 12 senators (led by L. Romano) launched For Italy (PI) groups, while 26 deputies (led by Andrea Romano) and 8 senators (led by Susta) confirmed their allegiance to SC. All the UdC MPs but one joined PI.[59][60]

From the centre to Matteo Renzi

After Matteo Renzi's election as secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) in December, SC started to approach the centre-left, while ruling out any alliance with the centre-right, once again led by Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. SC had long expressed a certain affinity for Renzi,[61][62] and, in early February 2014, Stefania Giannini finally declared that she saw "its party more as the right-wing of a reformed and reforming left than the left-wing of a right that still has in Berlusconi its standard-bearer".[63] Subsequently, SC was a keen supporter of the replacement of Enrico Letta with Renzi.[64][65]

On 22 February 2014 the Renzi Cabinet was sworn in with Giannini, a university professor, as minister of Education.[66]

On 4 March it was announced that SC would run in the 2014 European Parliament election within European Choice (SE), an electoral list including, among others, Democratic Centre, Act to Stop the Decline and the Italian Liberal Party.[67][68] Members of SC topped SE's slates in two of five constituencies.[69][70] The decision to side with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party, cherished by Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE's candidate for President of the European Commission) and Romano Prodi,[71][72] prompted the resignation of Andrea Causin, one of SC's few remaining Christian democrats, from organizational secretary.[73]

On 10 April Bombassei resigned as president of the party, citing his disagreement with the party's political re-positionment (no longer a third-party force, but a close ally of Renzi's PD, under Giannini's leadership), the change in party's identity and "prevailing personal ambitions".[74]

On election day SC/SE received just 0.7% of the vote and failed to return any MEPs. Consequently, Giannini resigned from secretary.[75][76][77]

In October A. Romano, who had left the position of floor leader in the Chamber some months earlier, left the party in order to join the PD.[78]

Party's congress and "migration" to the PD

In November the party's assembly decided that the new leadership, replacing Giannini and Balduzzi, who had been elected to the Supreme Council of Magistrature and had resigned from Parliament, will be selected in a congress to be held in January 2015.[79]

Two candidates, Irene Tinagli and Enrico Zanetti, announced their bid for secretary,[80] while Pietro Ichino was the front-runner to become the party's president.[81] However, in mid December, Tinagli retired from the race[82] In January 2015 Benedetto Della Vedova came out against Zanetti on the grounds that SC should continue to exist only through its parliamentary groups,[83] tried to stop the congress (along with Giannini, Bombassei, Ichino, Tinagli, Carlo Calenda, Linda Lanzillotta and other MPs)[84] and finally decided to run for secretary (along with a third candidate, Luciana Cazzaniga).[85] During the congress, postponed two weeks in order not to overlap with the presidential election triggered by President Giorgio Napolitano's resignation, Zanetti was virtually unanimously elected secretary.[86]

However, on 6 February, two days before the congress, eight senior members of the party (six of which former Democrats), including Giannini (minister), Calenda (undersecretary), two deputies and five senators (including Giannini),[87][88] had already left the party in order to join the PD. As a result the party was deprived of its parliamentary group. Also Della Vedova left SC, but during the congress,[89] while the group's remaining senator, Monti, was no longer a party member.

In two years, from the 2013 election to February 2015, SC had lost more than the half of its MPs, mostly to Popular Area and the Democrats.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Chamber of Deputies
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
2013 2,824,001 (#4) 8.3
37 / 630
–
 Mario Monti
Senate of the Republic
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
2013 2,797,486 (#4) 9.1
19 / 315
–
 Mario Monti

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
2014 196,157 (#9) 0.7
0 / 73
–
 Stefania Giannini

Leadership

References

  1. ↑ Tom Lansford (8 April 2014). Political Handbook of the World 2014. SAGE Publications. p. 710. ISBN 978-1-4833-3327-4.
  2. ↑ Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe". Parties and elections. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Françoise Kadri (29 December 2012). "Italy's Monti to lead centrist coalition in February polls". AFP.
  4. ↑ "Italy's Mario Monti presents own election list and motto". GazzettaDelSud. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Stefano Albertini; Anna Sgobbi (1 August 2013). Großer Lernwortschatz Italienisch aktuell. Hueber Verlag. p. 118. ISBN 978-3-19-838600-2.
  6. ↑ Italy's Monti unveils alliance, rules out minister role Reuters 4 January 2013
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lista candidati di “Scelta Civica"-"Con Monti per. Italia" - Italia e Circoscrizione Estero - Insieme per l'Agenda Monti. (20 January 2013). Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 A Montecitorio spazio solo alla società civile Le «quote» del Senato. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  9. ↑ La mappa del prossimo Parlamento: più operai e meno professionisti | CorriereUniv.it - Corriere dell'Università Job. CorriereUniv.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Liberoreporter News, il coraggio di essere differenti. Daring to be different. News.liberoreporter.eu. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  11. ↑ Kermesse dei moderati per l'operazione centro. Corriere della Sera Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Il centro lancia la sfida. E spera in Monti. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 La sorpresa di Monti in Veneto, piace al Nord-est - [ Il Foglio.it › La giornata ]. Ilfoglio.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  14. ↑ Il Trentino, laboratorio dell’alleanza dem-Monti - Europa Quotidiano. Europaquotidiano.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  15. ↑ «L'agenda Monti così non va» Passera: lista di Monti, occasione persa Serviva un programma più coraggioso. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  16. ↑ Catania sale in politica. Il ministro tecnico sarà candidato nella lista Udc alla Camera. Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Centristi, vertice sulle candidature E Bondi taglia i profili «sospetti». Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 E in Toscana e Umbria il Professore schiera gli ex renziani. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Centristi, caccia a cattolici e renziani delusi. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  20. ↑ Prove di alleanza tra Bersani e Monti. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  21. ↑ "Unione Italiana". Unione Italiana. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  22. ↑ Fabio Gava « Scelta Civica Veneto. Sceltacivicaveneto.it (21 January 2013). Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  23. ↑ "Emanuela Baio". Riparte il futuro. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  24. ↑ Da Bombassei alla Vezzali Nelle prime linee anche le coop bianche. Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  25. ↑ Elezioni 2013. Elezioni.interno.it. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  26. ↑ "Monti fa ripartire Scelta civica Nuovi vertici tra una settimana". Corriere. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Scelta civica, strappo di Italia Futura". Corriere. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  28. ↑ "Per gli Stati Generali dei Liberali". Italia futura. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  29. ↑ "La scelta di Monti: niente incarichi di partito". Corriere. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  30. ↑ "La lunga notte di Scelta Civica: Monti si dimette, poi ci ripensa". Corriere. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  31. ↑ "Scelta civica, l?ala cattolica tentata dall?Udc". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  32. ↑ "Scelta civica si spacca: Monti "avvisa" Olivero per quell'asse con l'Udc". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  33. ↑ "Scelta civica, tra Monti e Olivero è pace armata". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  34. ↑ "Strappo di Italia Futura: "Subito la fase 2.0"". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  35. ↑ "Italia Futura cambia pelle: siamo alternativi a questa politica". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  36. ↑ "Mario Monti "Il governo faccia le riforme o ne usciamo Scelta Civica è con il Ppe, mai con il Pdl"". Repubblica. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  37. ↑ "Scelta civica si spacca Monti "avvisa" Olivero per quell?asse con l?Udc". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  38. ↑ "Addio Monti. Firmato: Montezemolo". Formiche. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "«Ho imbarcato specialisti di slalom Senza me Berlusconi sarebbe sul Colle". Corriere. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  40. ↑ "Mario Monti si dimette da Scelta Civica". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1
  42. ↑ "Monti "tradito" per la Basilicata Ecco l’accordo dietro la candidatura di Di Maggio". IlQuotidianodellaCalabria. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  43. ↑ "La solitudine del leader e i sospetti su Casini: sei mesi di accuse e veleni". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Vogliamo fare una Cdu italiana". Italiaoggi. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  45. ↑ "Scelta Civica, Della Vedova: "Nessuna 'casa dei moderati' con Berlusconi e il Pdl"". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  46. ↑ "Sc, Lanzillotta: "Comprendo l’amarezza di Monti"". Linda Lanzillotta. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  47. ↑ "Linda Lanzillotta: "Monti ha avuto coraggio. Dentro il partito c'è chi è non stato leale"". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  48. ↑ "VIDEO - Mario Monti: "Scelta Civica non finisce certo qui"". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  49. ↑ "La delibera del Comitato Direttivo di Scelta Civica del 22 ottobre". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  50. ↑ Altri articoli dalla categoria » (24 October 2013). "Scelta civica, passa la linea Mauro. Gruppo Senato in mano ai popolari". Repubblica. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  51. ↑ "Sc: passa linea Casini-Mauro, montiani in minoranza al Senato (24 ott 2013) - ilVelino/AGV NEWS". Ilvelino.it. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  52. ↑ "Bombassei ai capigruppo SC: "Rinviare ogni nomina a dopo l'Assemblea del 15 novembre"". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  53. ↑ "Scelta Civica, Lucio Romano eletto nuovo capogruppo. I montiani non votano". Huffington Post. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  54. ↑ "Divisioni continue in Scelta Civica. Il caso del congresso". Formiche. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  55. ↑ ""È un sabotaggio". "Usurpatori" Scelta civica, si consuma il divorzio". Corriere. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  56. ↑ "Dal perfetto inglese agli insulti: fine di Scelta civica". Corriere. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  57. ↑ "Nuovi vertici e la conferma di una linea politica autonoma, europeista e riformatrice". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  58. ↑ "Mauro presenta i Popolari per l’Italia: «Elettori in comune con Ncd, ma idee diverse". Corriere. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  59. ↑ "XVII Legislatura - Deputati e Organi Parlamentari - Composizione gruppi Parlamentari". Camera.it. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  60. ↑ "Variazioni nei Gruppi parlamentari". Senato. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  61. ↑ "Scelta civica, documento che apre a sinistra". Lettera43. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  62. ↑ Andrea Carugati (29 January 2014). "Il dilemma di Scelta Civica"Nuova" destra oppure con Renzi - Italia - l'Unità - notizie online lavoro, recensioni, cinema, musica". Unita. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  63. ↑ "Giannini: "Vedo SC come l'ala destra di una sinistra riformata e riformatrice"". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  64. ↑ "Renzi: Scelta Civica apprezza, Forza Italia chiede crisi in Parlamento, Ncd da Letta a Palazzo Chigi". Rai News. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  65. ↑ "Governo: Scelta Civica; da Renzi chiarezza, avanti al 2018". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  66. ↑ "I ministri giurano, il governo è in carica Renzi: "Ce la faremo". Ma Letta lo gela". La Stampa. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  67. ↑ Scelta europea: “An alternative to People’s Party – Socialists alliance in power in Berlin” | Eunews.it
  68. ↑ L’impegno di SC e dei movimenti liberal-democratici per le elezioni europee | Scelta Civica per l'Italia
  69. ↑ Le liste complete dei candidati di Scelta Europea alle elezioni europee, 25 Maggio 2014. #sceglileuropa | Scelta Civica per l'Italia
  70. ↑ Giannini, Tabacci e Boldrin presentano Scelta Europea. Le foto - Formiche
  71. ↑ Ecco la lista arcobaleno degli ultra liberal-europeisti che (con Prodi e montiani doc) sfidano Popolari e Socialisti - Formiche
  72. ↑ Romano Prodi battezza il vascello della Lista Alde alle Europee guidato da Boldrin, Tabacci e montiani doc - Formiche
  73. ↑ La mia lettera di dimissioni da Responsabile Organizzativo Nazionale di Scelta Civica
  74. ↑ Bombassei lascia presidenza Scelta Civica: ecco la lettera - Repubblica.it
  75. ↑ Giannini lascia Un?assemblea per rifondare Scelta civica
  76. ↑ Scelta civica al bivio dopo la disfatta Monti: Matteo prosegue la mia linea
  77. ↑ L'Assemblea di SC, ribadendo la volontà di rafforzare il ruolo e l'azione dei gruppi parlamentari, ha conferito all'on. Balduzzi il ruolo di reggente del partito | Scelta Civi...
  78. ↑ "Andrea Romano entra nel Pd: "Sono sempre stato un po' di sinistra"". Huffington Post. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  79. ↑ http://www.sceltacivica.it/doc/1607/scelta-civica-il-31-gennaio-il-nuovo-segretario-tinagli-e-zanetti-i-candidati.htm
  80. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2014/10/30/tinagli-vs-zanetti-ecco-il-testa-testa-il-futuro-scelta-civica/
  81. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2014/11/27/cosi-scelta-civica-punta-ichino-presidente/
  82. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2014/12/09/perche-irene-tinagli-corre-piu-la-segreteria-scelta-civica/
  83. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2015/01/02/della-vedova-zanetti-rifondare-scelta-civica-rimettere-dentifricio-nel-tubetto/
  84. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2015/01/08/fermiamo-il-congresso-scelta-civica-lappello-calenda-della-vedova-ichino-lanzillotta-tinagli/
  85. ↑ http://www.formiche.net/2015/01/11/vi-spiego-le-prossime-tappe-scelta-civica/
  86. ↑ http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/Zanetti-scelta-Civica-pronta-a-votare-contro-il-governo-c9e44065-63e5-439a-9c59-3ec77db5ac14.html
  87. ↑ http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2015/02/06/renzi-gets-civic-choice-defectors_fc05f87a-d007-4bfc-8456-6adcf95796e5.html
  88. ↑ http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/06/uk-italy-politics-idUKKBN0LA1JW20150206
  89. ↑ http://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2015/02/06/della-vedova-lascio-sc-ma-non-per-il-pd_1e945536-9af8-4c70-8e90-97e93df090a0.html
  90. ↑ "Consultazioni elettoriali per il rinnovo della Camera dei deputati indette per il 24-25 Febbraio 2013: Programma elettorale" (PDF). Interno. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  91. ↑ "Il comitato di Presidenza di Scelta Civica". Scelta Civica per l'Italia. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  92. ↑ http://www.europaquotidiano.it/2013/04/19/forti-malumori-dentro-scelta-civica-per-la-scelta-di-monti/
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scelta Civica.