Civic Choice

Scelta Civica ( " Civil choice " ) is a liberal and pro-European party of the political center in Italy. It was in January 2013, shortly before the general election, founded in February of the same year to gather the supporters of the then non-party interim Prime Minister Mario Monti. In the election the party came to 8.3% of the vote. She was a member of the coalition government Enrico lettas and is also one of the coalition government Matteo Renzis to.

Foundation

A precursor of Scelta Civica was the political initiative Verso la Terza Repubblica ( " the Third Republic against " ), which was mainly of entrepreneurs (notably Luca Cordero di Montezemolo ) founded in November 2012, Christian trade unionists and representatives of Catholic lay organizations, as well as mid - politicians to support Monti's reform policy. There were also three previously independent minister from Montis since November 2011 acting " technocrats ", politicians from smaller parties of the political center, moderate dissenters both the center-right party Il Popolo della Libertà ( PdL ) and the Social Democratic Partito Democratico (PD) and non-party figures from business and society who desired the continuation of Monti's reform agenda. According to Monti Scelta Civica no party in the true sense, but a constituency association of independent citizens should be. The traditional political directions left, right and center designated Monti as outdated. The new grouping was not a rebirth of the same, despite the involvement of many people from the spectrum of the defunct Christian Democrats.

Simultaneously with the formation of the new party announced Monti to an electoral alliance (so-called combined list after the Italian right to vote) with the parties Unione di Centro ( UDC) and Futuro e Libertà per l' Italia ( FLI). This was called Con Monti per l' Italia ( "With Monti of Italy "). In the election to the Senate began, the three parties, because of the specific circumstances of the franchise, with a common list.

The first chairman of the new party was Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Catholic lay Community of Sant'Egidio.

Election in 2013

In the election on 24 and 25 February 2013, the Scelta Civica won 8.3% of the vote and 37 of 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate Con list Monti per l' Italia won 9.1% of the vote and 18 seats, 15 of which went to members of the Scelta Civica. Thus, it was the fourth most powerful force behind the established major parties PD and PdL and the new movement "5 stars". Lorenzo Dellai, the former governor of Trentino, was party leader in the House of Representatives. Mario Mauro, former Speaker of the PdL members in the European Parliament, who had left his party because of the increasingly anti - European policy of his party leader Silvio Berlusconi was leader of the group Scelta Civica in the Senate. Mario Monti, the previously de facto leader ( " Leader" ) of the party and its leading candidate was in the election, took over in March formally the party chairmanship.

Government participation and division

The Scelta Civico joined the grand coalition of PD, PdL and center- bearing and is one of the introduced in April 2013 to the office of Enrico Letta government to. In it, she worked with Mario Mauro the Secretary of Defense and with Enzo Moavero Milanesi the Minister for European Affairs. Mauro's successor as chairman of the Senate fraction was Gianluca Susta.

Shortly after the election broke out towards disputes whether the party should be more likely to develop into a liberal or a Christian-democratic direction. Monti appeared in October 2013 down as party chairman after he had a falling out with a majority of the senators of the Scelta Civica on the future direction of the party. His successor was for an interim period the deputy Alberto Bombassei, founder of the brake manufacturer Brembo and former president of the employers' association Confindustria. After the loss of identification figure Monti, the wings still fighting intensified. The Christian Democratic majority in the Senate faction deposed the more socially liberal Susta chairman and replaced him with one of their own, Lucio Romano. On November 15, attracted the representatives of the Christian Democratic wing, including the Minister Mauro and the faction leaders Dellai, inferred from the Party Congress. Then founded the new party Per l' Italia ( " For Italy "). When Scelta Civica remaining 26 deputies and 8 senators. Alberto Bombassei was confirmed as a full party chairman. His deputy is Renato Balduzzi. New leader of the Scelta Civica in the Chamber of Deputies was Andrea Romano, who is close to the liberal think tank Italia Futura Montezemolo. The remaining senators again relied Gianluca Susta as a leader.