Independence Republic of Sardinia ( sc, Indipendèntzia Repùbrica de Sardigna, iRS) was a Sardist,

left-wing nationalist Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism, also known as social nationalism, is a form of nationalism based upon national self-determination, popular sovereignty, national self-interest, and left-wing political positions such as social equali ...

and

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. The party, whose long-time leader is

Gavino Sale Gavino is a male given name. It is common in Sardinia. Despite its form, it is unrelated to Gavin, dating back to ancient Latin (meaning "from Gabii"). Saint Gavinus (San Gavino, Porto Torres, Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italia ...

, supports the establishment of a "Republic of Sardinia" and its independence from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

Early years

The party emerged in 2001–2002 by the merger of ''Su Cuncordu'', a separatist platform animated by three Sardinian intellectuals living in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

( Franciscu Sedda, Frantziscu Sanna and Franciscu Pala), and a splinter group from Sardigna Natzione Indipendentzia (SNI) led by

. The latter and his followers left SNI because of its alliance with the Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az), which did not support independentism fully at the time and was engaged in alliances with Italian parties.

Electoral successes

As soon as in 2004 (when Sale won 1.9% of the vote in the regional election) iRS absorbed virtually all the voters of SNI, thanks to the charismatic leadership of Sale, a more coherent and intransigent secessionist platform and a more

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 the l ...

political position. In the 2006 general election iRS won 1.1% of the vote in Sardinia, while it chose to boycott the 2008 general election in order not to be partner in crime with the Italian political system. At the 2009 regional election Gavino Sale won 3.1% of the vote (4.2% in the

Province of Oristano The province of Oristano ( it, provincia di Oristano, sc, provìntzia de Aristanis) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia in Italy. Its capital is the city of Oristano. It has an area of , a total population of 160,746 (2016), ...

and 3.3% in the

Province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

, where the party had its early strongholds) as candidate for President of the Region, while the party stopped at 2.1%, short of the 3% threshold needed to enter the Regional Council. At the 2010 provincial elections iRS candidates for president gained more than 2% of the vote in all the provinces and the party obtained its best result ever. Notably, Sale won 6.5% in

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

(party list: 5.8%), Sebastian Madau 5.9% (5.8%) in

Oristano Oristano (; sc, Aristanis ) is an Italian city and ''comune'', and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the northern part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the pr ...

and Salvatore Bussa 4.4% (4.2%) in

Nuoro Nuoro ( or less correctly ; sc, Nùgoro ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), ...

Internal splits

In January 2010, during a party congress,

Ornella Demuru Ornella is an Italian feminine given name, probably derived from , " flowering ash tree" (''Fraxinus ornus''). It was coined by Gabriele D'Annunzio in his 1904 play '' The Daughter of Iorio'' and made popular also thanks to the fame of singer Orn ...

was elected secretary of the party, replacing Gavino Sale, who was elected president, and representing a power shift within the party from the old guard and younger activists. Notwithstanding the good results of the party at the 2010 provincial elections, the relation between Sale and Demuru was tense from the beginning. In October Demuru threatened her resignation and reclaimed more internal democracy within the party. Sale, for his part, replied that he rejected an '' intellectual-chic'' party as that imagined by Demuru and her supporters, who included the three founding members Franciscu Sedda, Frantziscu Sanna and Franciscu Pala, plus younger intellectuals such as

Michela Murgia Michela Murgia (born 3 June 1972) is an Italian novelist, playwright and radio personality. She is a winner of the Premio Campiello and the Mondello International Literary Prize. Biography Michela Murgia was born in Cabras, Sardinia on 3 June 1 ...

. During a grassroots' meeting on 12 December, Sale accused Demuru and the young guard of conspiring against him and, after this accusation, he was expelled from the party by the executive composed by Demuru's loyalists. By the end of December Sale was sure to have won the power struggle and suspended the members of the executive who had expelled him. A few days later, on 2 January 2010, the group of Demuru and Sedda finally decided to leave the party and launch a "Republican Constituent Assembly" (''Sa Costituente Repubricana''). In February the new party took the name of

Project Republic of Sardinia Project Republic of Sardinia ( sc, Progetu Repùblica de Sardigna, ProgReS) is a separatist political party in Sardinia, founded in January 2011 following a split from Independence Republic of Sardinia (iRS). The party's current secretary is L ...

(ProgReS). Moreover, on 10 February, Claudia Zuncheddu left the

Red Moors Red Moors ( it, Rossomori, RM) is a regionalist (separatist), social-democratic political party in Sardinia. The party was founded in 2009 as a left-wing split from the Sardinian Action Party (Psd'Az), after the Psd'Az had signed an electoral p ...

, party of which she was president, and joined iRS. Zuncheddu was a regional councillor, thus the party was represented in the Council for the first time. In May 2011 Zuncheddu ran for Mayor of

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

and gained a mere 2.4% of the vote, but better than Demuru, who stopped at 0.4%. Zunchedda would later form her own party, Free Sardinia.

Alliance with the centre-left

In the 2014 regional election the party chose to join forces with the Italian centre-left for the first time (whose candidate, Francesco Pigliaru, was elected President), instead of forming a coalition with other independentist parties. Consequently, iRS lost much of his electoral support and won a mere 0.8% of the vote (compared to the ProgReS-led coalition's 10.8%), but, thanks to the alliance, Sale was elected to the Regional Council. It was the first time that the iRs was able to elect a regional councillor on its own, but it lasted just a year: in July 2015 the

Italian Council of State The Consiglio di Stato ( en, Council of State) is a legal-administrative consultative body that ensures the legality of public administration in Italy. The council has jurisdiction on acts of all administrative authorities, except when these author ...

invalidated the election of four councillors, including Sale.

Leadership

*President:

(2010–present) *Secretary:

(2002–2010),

(2010–2011), vacant (2011–present)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Political parties in Sardinia Sardinian nationalist parties Separatism in Italy Secessionist organizations in Europe Political parties established in 2002 Social democratic parties in Italy