The Associative Movement of Italians Abroad ( it, Movimento Associativo Italiani all'Estero, MAIE) is an Italian political party representing Italians abroad. Based in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and active mainly in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, the MAIE is a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

party.

History

The party emerged from the split of the liberal wing of the

Italian Associations in South America The Italian Associations in South America (''Associazioni Italiane in Sud America'', AISA) was an Italian political party representing voters living in South America, since many Italians have immigrated to South America. The party won one seat i ...

(AISA) in 2008. In the 2008 general election the MAIE won one seat in the Chamber of Deputies for

Ricardo Antonio Merlo Ricardo Antonio Merlo (born 25 May 1962 in Buenos Aires) is an Italian politician, leader of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad. Born and resident in Argentina, he acquired Italian citizenship through Jus sanguinis. Biography Graduated ...

, elected to the Chamber for AISA in 2006, and one seat in the Senate for

Mirella Giai Given name Mirella is a feminine given name which may refer to: * Mirella Amato, bilingual beer consultant, beer sommelier and author in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Mirella Arnhold (born 1983), Brazilian alpine skier * Mirella Avalle (born 1922) ...

, a former member and candidate of the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

(DS). Both Merlo and Giai joined forces with centrist and centre-right groups, notably including the Liberal Democrats (LD), with whom the MAIE formed a joint electoral list for the 2009 European Parliament election, and the Union of the Centre (UdC). Giai was a member of

For the Autonomies For the Autonomies ( it, Per le Autonomie, Aut) is a heterogeneous mostly centrist to centre-left and originally regionalist parliamentary group, which has been active, with slightly different names and different composition, in the Italian Sen ...

group, along with the UdC, for the entire parliamentary term. In the 2013 general election the party elected three deputies (two, Merlo and Mario Borghese, in its own lists and a third, Fucsia Nissoli, in

With Monti for Italy With Monti for Italy ( it, Con Monti per l'Italia) was an electoral coalition of political parties in Italy, formed for the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti and his reform plans. Its platform was based ...

's list for North America) and one senator (

Claudio Zin Claudio Zin (born 11 November 1945) is an Italian-Argentinian physician and politician. He was Senator of the Italian Republic representing the Italian people living in South America between 2013 and 2018 belonging to Associative Movement Italian ...

). After the election, Nissoli left, while another deputy (

Renata Bueno Renata is an Italian, Polish, Tatarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Germanian, Sweden, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Czech, and Lithuanian feminine given name. See Renatus. In Francophone countries there is a cognate name Renée. The following people ...

, elected with the

South American Union Italian Emigrants The South American Union of Italian Emigrants ( it, Unione Sudamericana Emigrati Italiani, USEI) is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil. Its leader is , who was elected t ...

, USEI) joined forces for two years. During the parliamentary term, MAIE deputies formed an alliance with the

Alliance for Italy Alliance for Italy ( it, Alleanza per l'Italia; ApI) was a centrist political party in Italy. The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic l ...

(ApI) from 2013 to 2015 and with

Liberal Popular Alliance The Liberal Popular Alliance, whose full name was Liberal Popular Alliance – Autonomies ( it, Alleanza Liberalpopolare – Autonomie, ALA), was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy. ALA members were known as ''Verdiniani'', from the ...

since 2015, while senator Zin was a member of For the Autonomies. For the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

the MAIE formed a joint electoral list with

I Change I Change (''Io Cambio'', IC) is a political party in Italy. History The party was formed in 2013 by Angelo Alessandri, former federal president of LN, national secretary of Lega Nord Emilia and member of the Chamber of Deputies, who had not suppor ...

(IC), a split from Lega Nord (LN). In the 2018 general election the party elected one deputy (Borghese) and one senator (Merlo). A senator from the rival USEI, Adriano Cario, joined MAIE in May 2018. In December 2021 Cario's election was annulled.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

References

{{Political parties of Italy Political parties in Argentina 2008 establishments in Argentina Italian expatriate representation parties Political parties established in 2008