Possible (Italy)

Possible Possibile

Secretary	Giuseppe Civati
Founded	21 June 2015^[1]
Split from	Democratic Party
Headquarters	Rome
Membership (2015)	4,773^[2]
Ideology	Progressivism^[3] Social democracy^[3] Green politics Social liberalism^[4] Participatory democracy
Political position	Left-wing^[1]
National affiliation	with Free Alternative
European affiliation	none
International affiliation	none
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Cerise
Slogan	It's possible
Chamber of Deputies	5 / 630
Senate	0 / 315
European Parliament	1 / 73
Website
www.possibile.com
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

Possible (Italian: Possibile) is a left-wing political party in Italy, launched in Rome on 21 June 2015.^[1]

The party's leader is Giuseppe Civati, a former prominent member of the Democratic Party (PD). Possible's progressive platform are a mixture of social democracy, green politics, social liberalism and elements of participatory democracy.

History

In May 2015, after months of tensions with Prime Minister and party secretary Matteo Renzi, Civati chose to leave the PD.^[5] Civati, who had lost a bid to become leader of the party to Renzi in 2013, had long accused the Prime Minister of being a right-winger^[6]^[7]^[8] and moving the PD to the right or toward a centrist "party of the nation".^[9]^[10]^[11]

Civati was immediately followed by Luca Pastorino,^[12] a member of the Chamber of Deputies who was running, with Civati's support,^[13]^[14] for President in the 2015 Ligurian election and was instrumental in the Democratic candidate defeat,^[15]^[16] and Elly Schlein, a member of the European Parliament sitting in the Socialists and Democrats' Group.^[17] Later on, the party was joined by two more deputies, Andrea Maestri and Beatrice Brignone.^[18]^[19]^[20]

At Possible's launch, Civati explained that it was intended to "have minimum bureaucracy, and membership will be light, participatory, horizontal"^[21] and aimed at unifying all the parties, groups and individuals to the left of the PD, including Sergio Cofferati, Stefano Fassina, Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom (SEL), Maurizio Landini's Social Coalition, the Greens and other environmentalists, etc., in a single party, with a potential support around 10% of the vote.^[22] Also representatives of the Italian Radicals, Green Italy, the Communist Refoundation Party, Free Alternative and Italy Work in Progress (the latter two splinter groups from the Five Star Movement, M5S) showed up at Possible's first convention in Rome.^[23]^[24]

In the run-up of the party's second convention, to be held on 17–18 July in Florence, some media hinted that five deputies who had left the M5S, four of whom affiliated to Free Alternative and one to SEL, and four senators, including the two of Italy Work in Progress, were on the verge of joining Possible,^[25]^[26]^[27] which was thus close to the formation of a group in the Senate. In the meantime, while being open to a joint party with Civati, the two senators of Italy Work in Progress joined The Other Europe.^[28]

As of November, Possible parted ways with most left-wing splinters of the PD, who had launched Future to the Left and joined Italian Left, along with SEL and some left-wing splinters of the M5S.^[29]^[30] For his part, Civati looked interested in organising his party more "outside" than "inside the [political] palace".^[31] Consequently, Possible joined forces with Free Alternative, which was active also at the grassroots' level, and formed a joint sub-group within the Mixed Group of the Chamber.^[32]^[33]^[34] Shortly after, one deputy of Free Alternative, Toni Matarrelli, directly joined Possible, becoming its fifth deputy.^[35]

On 31 January 2016 Civati was elected secretary of the party with 93.2% of the vote by party members.^[2]

Ideology

The party, a strong supporter of secularism, calls for a new plan on civil rights (including same-sex marriage, LGBT adoption, legalisation of cannabis and euthanasia), opposes austerity policies, while supporting redistributive ones aimed at a more egalitarian society and is a vocal proponent of environmentalism.^[36] Civati, who describes himself both as a social democrat and a liberal^[37] (or, more precisely, a "left-wing liberal"),^[38] is also known for his stance for a more competitive free market.^[39]

Possible's logo, including an equals sign, refers to a fundamental issue for the party, equality, inflected in multiple fields such as the economy, conflict of interest, separation of powers, feminism, LGBT rights, and immigration.^[40]

The party's name is reminiscent of the slogan "Yes We Can", used by Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, "The party of possibilities", title of the motion supporting Civati in the 2013 Democratic Party leadership election,^[41] and Podemos, a kin political party in Spain.^[42]

Leadership

Secretary: Giuseppe Civati (2015–present)

Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Giuseppe Civati (2015–present)
Party Leader in the Senate: no senators
Party Leader in the European Parliament: Elly Schlein (2015–present)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Possibile.

Political parties in Italy

Major	Democratic Party Five Star Movement

Medium	Forza Italia Lega Nord–Us with Salvini New Centre-Right–Union of the Centre Left Ecology Freedom–Future to the Left/Italian Left

Minor	Brothers of Italy/Our Land Green Italy–Federation of the Greens Italy of Values Conservatives and Reformists Civic Choice Democrazia Solidale Possible–Free Alternative Identity and Action Act! Italian Socialist Party Democratic Centre Movement for the Autonomies Great South Communist Refoundation Party Alliance for Italy New Italian Socialist Party Popular Construction Populars for Italy X Movement Unique Italy The Right Communist Party of Italy The Network 2018

Regional	Aosta Valley Valdostan Union Progressive Valdostan Union Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology Edelweiss Piedmont Lega Nord Piemont Moderates Lombardy Lega Lombarda South Tyrol South Tyrolean People's Party Die Freiheitlichen Greens South Tyrolean Freedom Trentino Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party Union for Trentino Trentino Project Lega Nord Trentino Trentino Civic List Veneto Liga Veneta Tosi List for Veneto We Independent Veneto Venetian Independence Friuli-Venezia Giulia Responsible Autonomy Lega Nord FVG Civic Freedom Emilia-Romagna Lega Nord Emilia Lega Nord Romagna Liguria Lega Nord Liguria Tuscany Lega Nord Toscana Marche Lega Nord Marche Marche 2020 Umbria Lega Nord Umbria Campania We the South Basilicata Reality Italy Calabria The DemoKRats Autonomy and Rights Sicily Pact of Democrats for Reforms Party of Sicilians The Megaphone Democratic Sicily Sardinia Sardinian Reformers Sardinian Action Party United Project Republic of Sardinia Party of Sardinians Red Moors Sardinian Democratic Union Christian Popular Union

Abroad	South America Associative Movement Italians Abroad South American Union Italian Emigrants

Parliament	Chamber and Senate Mixed Group Popular Area Senate For the Autonomies Liberal Popular Alliance – Autonomies Great Autonomies and Freedom

Politics of Italy List of political parties in Italy Historical parties

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.