New Centre-Right

New Centre-Right
Nuovo Centrodestra
President Angelino Alfano
Coordinator vacant
Founded 15 November 2013
Split from The People of Freedom
Headquarters Via Arcione 71
00186 Rome
Newspaper l'Occidentale (online)
Youth wing Youth NCD
Membership  (2014) 100,000[1]
Ideology Conservatism[2]
Christian democracy[3]
Political position Centre-right[4]
National affiliation Popular Area
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation none
European Parliament group European People's Party
Colours      Blue
Chamber of Deputies
24 / 630
Senate
26 / 315
European Parliament
1 / 73
Website
www.nuovocentrodestra.it

New Centre-Right (Italian: Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) is a centre-right political party in Italy.[5]

The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's transformation into Forza Italia (FI), which would take place the day after.[6] The NCD leader is Angelino Alfano, who had been Silvio Berlusconi's protégé and national secretary of the PdL from 2011 to 2013.

On 11 September 2014 the NCD was officially accepted into the European People's Party (EPP).[7][8]

History

Background and foundation

The party was formed by splinters from the PdL on 15 November 2013. Its founders, lately known as "doves" in the party, were strong supporters of Enrico Letta's government and refused to join the new Forza Italia (FI), founded upon the dissolution of the PdL. All five PdL ministers, three under-secretaries, 30 senators and 27 deputies immediately joined the NCD.[9][10] Most were Christian democrats and many came from the southern regions of Calabria and Sicily.[11]

Besides Alfano (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior), leading members included Maurizio Lupi (Minister of Infrastructure and Transport), Nunzia De Girolamo (Minister of Agriculture), Beatrice Lorenzin (Minister of Health), Gaetano Quagliariello (Minister of Constitutional Reforms), Giuseppe Scopelliti (President of Calabria), Roberto Formigoni (former President of Lombardy), Renato Schifani (former President of the Senate and PdL floor leader until November 2013), Fabrizio Cicchitto (former PdL leader in the Chamber in 2008–2013) and Carlo Giovanardi (a former minister for the UDC).[12]

Support to Renzi and Popular Area

In February 2014, after the fall of Letta's government, the NCD joined a new coalition government led by Matteo Renzi, who had been elected secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) in December 2013. In the new government the NCD retained three ministers: Alfano at the Interior, Lupi at Infrastrctures and Transports, and Lorenzin at Health.[13] Quagliariello, who had not been confirmed as minister of Institutional Reforms, was elected national coordinator by the assembly of the parliamentary groups.[14] The party also started to structure itself at the local level.

The party ran in the 2014 European Parliament election on a joint list with the Union of the Centre (UdC). The list obtained 4.4% of the vote and three MEPs, two for the NCD and one for the UdC. The list did especially well in the South: 7.1% in Apulia, 11.4% in Calabria and 9.1% in Sicily.[15]

In December 2014 the NCD formed joint parliamentary groups with the UdC in both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The two groups, a step toward a complete merger of the two parties,[16] were named Popular Area, where "popular" was a reference to popolarismo, the Italian variety of Christian democracy.

Internal squabbles and splits

Following Alfano's decision to support Sergio Mattarella's bid to become President of Italy during the 2015 presidential election (Matteralla was effectively elected on 31 January), the NCD experienced an internal crisis. Most notably, Barbara Saltamartini and Maurizio Sacconi resigned from party's spokesperson and leader in the Senate, respectively.[17][18][19] Schifani was unanimously elected to succeed to Sacconi,[20] while Saltamartini left the party altogether.[21]

In March Lupi resigned from minister of Infrastrctures and Transports, after he was hit by a minor corruption scandal.[22][23] As result, the party was represented in the government only by two ministers. In April De Girolamo, a frequent critic of the government since Mattarella's election, was replaced as leader in the Chamber by Lupi.[24][25]

During the summer, one deputy (De Girolamo,[26][27] who had been a founder of The Republicans)[28][29] and one MEP (Massimiliano Salini)[30] re-joined FI.

A bigger blow to Alfano came in October, when Quaglieriello resigned from coordinator and threatened to led a splinter group out of the party if the NCD were to continue its support to Renzi.[31][32] In the following weeks, Quaglieriello deserted a meeting of the party's national board[33] and made clear he was leaving the party. Two deputies (Vincenso Piso[34][35] and Eugenia Roccella)[34] and two collagues of Quaglieriello (Andrea Augello[35][36] and Carlo Giovanardi)[37][38] in the Senate followed suit. These, along with a fourth senator (Luigi Compagna, a former Liberal) finally launched Identity and Action (IDEA).[39][40]

In February 2016, during a government reshuffle, NCD's Enrico Costa was appointed minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies.[41] Shortly afterwards, it was announced by Lorenzin that the party would soon change its name, dropping the word "right", or take part to the formation of an entirely new party.[42][43]

Ideology and factions

Despite being home to some social democrats (We Reformers, Reformers and Freedom), the party is mainly a Christian-democratic party with a social-conservative streak. According to Corriere della Sera, differently from FI, NCD's stances on the "so-called ethical issues" (abortion, gay rights, etc.) are "closer to those of the European traditionalist right" and "thus not very compatible with those of the EPP's parties in big countries such as Germany".[44]

Former PdL-affiliated factions or think tanks which joined the NCD include:

In January 2014 three bigwigs of the party (Gaetano Quagliariello, Eugenia Roccella and Maurizio Sacconi) published a book titled Moderati. Per un nuovo umanesimo politico ("Moderates: For a new political humanism"), a sort of manifesto of the party. The book, whose key words are "person", "family", "enterprise" and "tradition", emphasises institutional reforms (including direct election of the President and federalism), ethical issues (marriage, opposition to abortion, limits to assisted reproductive technology, etc.) and the need for a smaller state ("less public law, more private rights").[50][51][52] According to Benedetto Ippolito, a university professor of history of philosophy, while NCD members insist that their party is "moderate", it is in fact "conservative" and "anti-progressive", albeit not "berlusconiano".[2]

In February 2014 the NCD unveiled a platform on labour, including a universal protection system safety net for the unemployed, a tax relief for entrepreneurs hiring the young, the reduction of the tax wedge on labour and the overcoming of article 18 of the "Statute of Workers", making easier for entrepreneurs to hire and fire employees.[53]

Electoral results

European Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
2014 1,202,350 (#5) 4.38
2 / 73
–
Angelino Alfano

Regional Councils

Region Latest election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won
Abruzzo 2014[lower-alpha 1] 40,219 (#4) 5.9
1 / 31
Apulia 2015[lower-alpha 2] 101,817 (#7) 6.0
4 / 51
Calabria 2014 47,574 (#6) 6.1
3 / 30
Campania 2015[lower-alpha 1] 133,753 (#5) 5.9
1 / 51
Emilia-Romagna 2014[lower-alpha 1] 31,635 (#7) 2.6
0 / 50
Liguria 2015[lower-alpha 3] 9,269 (#9) 1.7
1 / 31
Marche 2015[lower-alpha 4] 21,049 (#7) 4.0
1 / 31
Piedmont 2014[lower-alpha 1] 49,059 (#7) 2.5
0 / 50
Tuscany 2015[lower-alpha 3] 15,808 (#8) 1.2
0 / 41
Umbria 2015[lower-alpha 1] 9,285 (#9) 2.6
0 / 20
Veneto 2015[lower-alpha 3] 37.937 (#11) 2.0
1 / 51
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Joint list with Union of the Centre.
  2. ↑ Joint list of Francesco Schittulli's movement (Popular Area).
  3. 1 2 3 Joint list with Union of the Centre (Popular Area).
  4. ↑ Joint list with Marche 2020 (Popular Area).

Leadership

Symbols

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Albertini cambia: "Aderisco al Nuovo centrodestra, Mauro mi segua"". Il Giorgno. 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  2. 1 2 "Un paio di consigli spassionati per il Nuovo Centrodestra di Alfano". Formiche. 2014-01-13. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  3. ↑ "Nuovo Centrodestra o vecchia Democrazia Cristiana?" (in Italian). Panorama. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Walter Kickert; Tiina Randma-Liiv (2015). Europe Managing the Crisis: The Politics of Fiscal Consolidation. Routledge. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-317-52570-7.
  5. ↑ "Silvio Berlusconi's heir Angelino Alfano forms new party in Italy". The Independent. Associated Press. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Nicolas Bonnet (2015). "Silvo's Party". In Agnès Alexandre-Collier; François Vergniolle De Chantal. Leadership and Uncertainty Management in Politics: Leaders, Followers and Constraints in Western Democracies. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–106. ISBN 978-1-137-43924-6.
  7. ↑ "EPP concerned over actions of radical Islamic militant groups and over latest political developments in Romania; welcomes five new member parties - EPP". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ncd: Quagliariello, accolti con voto unanime in famiglia Ppe". ANSA.it. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Alfano lancia il Nuovo centrodestra: "No a Fi per me scelta dolorosa. No a decadenza Berlusconi"", Il Messaggero (in Italian), 16 November 2013, retrieved 16 November 2013
  10. ↑ Tom Lansford (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 3067. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  11. ↑ Francesco Bei (16 November 2013), "Il "Nuovo centrodestra", gruppi in crescita e logo tricolore", la Repubblica (in Italian), retrieved 18 November 2013
  12. ↑ Kevin Lees (18 November 2013). "What the Alfano-Berlusconi split means for Italian politics". Suffragio. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "I ministri giurano, il governo è in carica Renzi: "Ce la faremo". Ma Letta lo gela". LaStampa.it. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Ncd, Quagliariello coordinatore". rainews. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  15. ↑ http://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=E&dtel=25/05/2014&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S
  16. ↑ "Ncd e Udc verso la fusione, la "start-up dei moderati" per incidere sul voto del Colle - Data 24 News". Data 24 News. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ncd nel caos. E Sacconi si dimette". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "Quirinale/ Terremoto nell'Ncd, Saltamartini e Sacconi si dimettono". Affaritaliani.it. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  19. ↑ Federico Morbegno. "Terremoto nel Ncd: si dimettono Sacconi e Saltamartini". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Ncd, Schifani nuovo capogruppo al Senato". Affaritaliani.it. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Ncd, Barbara Saltamartini lascia, critiche ad Alfano. E Matteo Renzi sfotte Angelino: "Leccati le ferite"". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  22. ↑ "Lupi si dimette da ministro: "Lascio a testa alta". Per la successione le ipotesi sono Delrio e Lotti". LaStampa.it. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  23. ↑ "Maurizio Lupi si dimette". Panorama. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Lupi nuovo capogruppo di Area Popolare alla Camera, De Girolamo si dimette in polemica". LaStampa.it. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  25. ↑ F. Q. "Ncd, Lupi capogruppo Camera al posto di De Girolamo. Lei: 'Come Grande Fratello' - Il Fatto Quotidiano". Il Fatto Quotidiano. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  26. ↑ http://www.corriere.it/politica/15_agosto_24/de-girolamo-da-l-addio-ncd-alfano-andra-centrosinistra-681d77e0-4a23-11e5-bdc5-ee9c5a368093.shtml
  27. ↑ http://www.iltempo.it/politica/2015/08/26/nunzia-de-girolamo-torno-in-forza-italia-e-non-ho-paura-del-cerchio-magico-1.1450826
  28. ↑ http://www.linkiesta.it/reguzzoni-de-girolamo-repubblicani
  29. ↑ http://www.lettera43.it/politica/il-ncd-e-spolpato-de-girolamo-lancia-i-repubblicani_43675173130.htm
  30. ↑ http://www.ansa.it/europa/notizie/rubriche/altrenews/2015/09/24/ncd-eurodeputato-salini-lascia-per-andare-in-fi_e811feb0-feb7-44a7-8fe3-954531016dde.html
  31. ↑ http://www.corriere.it/politica/15_ottobre_14/quagliariello-rompe-ncd-52c51c14-727c-11e5-b015-f1d3b8f071aa.shtml
  32. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.it/2015/10/14/gaetano-quagliariello-si-dimette-da-coordinatore-ncd_n_8294002.html
  33. ↑ http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/quagliariello-diserta-direzione-ncd-1191233.html
  34. 1 2 http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/alfano-ne-perde-altri-due-1197799.html
  35. 1 2 http://www.iltempo.it/politica/2015/10/24/augello-e-piso-lasciano-ncd-il-caso-dei-gesti-sessisti-sara-riesaminato-1.1471501
  36. ↑ http://www.secoloditalia.it/2015/10/alfano-perde-pezzo-andrea-augello-lascia-ncd-direzione-fitto/
  37. ↑ http://www.corriere.it/politica/15_ottobre_26/giovanardi-suoi-lasciano-ncd-alfano-ha-fallito-governo-arrogante-nozze-gay-29b40cc8-7c0d-11e5-9069-1cf5f2fd4ce8.shtml
  38. ↑ http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2015/10/26/news/il_senatore_giovanardi_lascia_ncd-125934839/
  39. ↑ http://www.loccidentale.it/node/138607
  40. ↑ http://www.affaritaliani.it/puglia/ncd-quagliariello-lancia-il-quarto-petalo-cassano-voleva-il-ministero-394591.html?refresh_ce
  41. ↑ http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2016/01/28/news/governo_sottosegretari-132243596/
  42. ↑ http://www.quotidiano.net/ncd-cambia-nome-1.1771717
  43. ↑ http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/alfano-ritrova-pudore-destra-simbolo-ncd-1226806.html
  44. ↑ "Pd-azzurri: asse sui diritti (senza Ncd)". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  45. ↑ "Il clan politico di Cl si attovaglia per spartirsi la torta dell’Expo". Mentiinformatiche.com. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  46. ↑ "Popolari liberali nel Ncd in pista per le primarie" (in Italian). L'Arena. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  47. ↑ irpinia24 (2013-02-21). "Federazione Cristiano Popolari, l’on.Baccini ad Avellino per il nuovo Centrodestra" (in Italian). Irpinia24.it. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  48. ↑ "Il "Nuovo centrodestra", gruppi in crescita e logo tricolore". Repubblica.it. 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  49. ↑ "Noi Riformatori Per Il Nuovo Centrodestra". Noiriformatori.it. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  50. ↑ ""Per un nuovo umanesimo politico". In libreria il manifesto dei moderati". Affaritaliani.it. 2002-01-04. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  51. ↑ "Meno tasse e più etica, il manifesto dei moderati". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  52. ↑ "Tutte le riforme che ha in mente il Nuovo Centrodestra". Formiche. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  53. ↑ "Ncd, il Piano Sacconi sul lavoro in dieci punti". Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  54. ↑ Schifani's full title was "President of the Promoting Committee".
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.