The Italian People's Party ( it, Partito Popolare Italiano, PPI) was a

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

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 ...

and Christian-leftist

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. The party was a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

(EPP). The PPI was the formal successor of the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

(DC), but was soon deprived of its conservative elements, which successively formed the

Christian Democratic Centre The Christian Democratic Centre ( it, Centro Cristiano Democratico, CCD) was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy from 1994 to 2002. Formed from a right-wing split from Christian Democracy, the party joined the centre-right coalition, a ...

(CCD) in 1994 and the

United Christian Democrats The United Christian Democrats ( it, Cristiani Democratici Uniti, CDU) was a minor Christian democratic political party in Italy. The CDU was a member of the European People's Party from 1995 until 2002. History The party was started in 1995 by s ...

(CDU) in 1995. The PPI was finally merged into

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties within ...

(DL) in 2002, and DL was later merged with 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) and minor centre-left parties into

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD) in 2007.

History

The party emerged in January 1994 as the successor to the

(DC), Italy's dominant party since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, following the final national council of the DC and the split of a right-wing faction led by

Pier Ferdinando Casini Pier Ferdinando Casini (; born 3 December 1955) is an Italian politician. He served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006. Casini is the honorary president of the Centrist Democrat International and the Inter-Parliamentary ...

, which had formed the

(CCD). The first secretary of the PPI was Mino Martinazzoli, which led the party to a big defeat (11.1% of the vote) in the 1994 general election, fought in coalition with the

Segni Pact The Segni Pact ( it, Patto Segni), officially called Pact of National Rebirth (''Patto di Rinascita Nazionale''), was a Christian-democratic, centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a form ...

, under the

Pact for Italy The Pact for Italy ( it, Patto per l'Italia) was a centrist political and electoral alliance in Italy launched by Mario Segni and Mino Martinazzoli in 1994. History The alliance was composed of the Italian People's Party (PPI), the main successo ...

banner. After the election, Martinazzoli was replaced as secretary by conservative philosopher

Rocco Buttiglione Rocco Buttiglione (; born 6 June 1948) is an Italian Union of Christian and Centre Democrats politician and an academic. Buttiglione's nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil liberties, result ...

. In 1995, when his proposal to join the centre-right

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Govern ...

coalition (composed of

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, National Alliance and the CCD) was rejected by the party's national council, Buttiglione, along with

Roberto Formigoni Roberto Formigoni (born 30 March 1947) is a former Italian politician born in Lecco, Italy. He was the President of Lombardy from 1995 to 2013. He is the former unofficial political spokesperson of the Communion and Liberation movement. On 21 Fe ...

, Gianfranco Rotondi and other bigwigs, formed the

(CDU), leaving the PPI in the hands of the late DC's leftist factions, becoming part of the

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-sinistra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy active, under several forms and names, since 1995 when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left ...

. For the 1996 general election the PPI formed the

Populars for Prodi The Populars for Prodi ( it, Popolari per Prodi) was an electoral list of political parties in Italy. The list participated in the 1996 general election as a component of The Olive Tree, supporting Romano Prodi as candidate for Prime Minister ...

list with the Democratic Union (UD), the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...

(PRI) and the

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (german: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy. Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP h ...

(SVP). The list was part of The Olive Tree, the formal alliance of the centre-left coalition, and won 6.8% of the vote. The PPI was represented in

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

's first government by three ministers: Beniamino Andreatta at Defence, Rosy Bindi at Health and Michele Pinto at Agriculture. Additionally,

Nicola Mancino Nicola Mancino (born 15 October 1931) is an Italian politician. He was President of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2001. He was also president of Campania's regional parliament from 1965 to 1971, governor of Campania from 1971 to 1972 ...

was President of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In the 1999 European Parliament election the PPI was damaged by the competition from The Democrats (Dem), a centrist and

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

party launched by Prodi: the PPI won only 4.3% of the vote, while The Democrats took 7.7%. For the 2001 general election the PPI formed a joint list with The Democrats, the

Union of Democrats for Europe The Union of Democrats for Europe ( it, Unione Democratici per l'Europa, UDEUR), also known as UDEUR Populars (''Popolari UDEUR''), was a minor centrist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Clemente Mastella, minister of Labour ...

(UDEUR) and

Italian Renewal Italian Renewal ( it, Rinnovamento Italiano, RI) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was a member of The Olive Tree and centre-left coalition, while also affiliated to the European People's Party from 1998 to 2004. ...

(RI). The list, named

(DL), won 14.5% of vote. In 2002 DL was transformed into a full-fledged party, the PPI was merged into it and a cultural association named

The Populars The Populars (''I Popolari'') is a loose association within the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy. The Populars are the heirs of the Italian People's Party (PPI), a Christian-democratic party of the Christian left, and of the l ...

was formed. DL would later be merged, along with the

(DS) and minor centre-left parties, into the

(PD), of which The Populars became a faction. Two members of the PPI and DL,

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...

and

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...

, would successively serve as

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

in 2013–2016.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Leadership

*Secretary: Mino Martinazzoli (1994),

(1994–1995),

Gerardo Bianco Gerardo Bianco (12 September 1931 – 1 December 2022) was an Italian politician. Early life Bianco was born in Guardia Lombardi, Campania in Italy. Winner of a scholarship at the Augustinianum College of Catholic University of the Sacred Hear ...

(1995–1997),

Franco Marini Franco Marini (9 April 1933 – 9 February 2021) was an Italian politician and a prominent member of the centre-left Democratic Party. From 2006 to 2008, he was the president of the Senate. Biography Trade unionist Marini was born in San Pi ...

(1997–1999),

Pierluigi Castagnetti Pierluigi Castagnetti (born 9 June 1945, in Reggio nell'Emilia) is an Italian politician. Biography Graduated in Political science, in the 1970s he was collaborator of Giuseppe Dossetti, then of Benigno Zaccagnini and Mino Martinazzoli. In 19 ...

(1999–2002) **Deputy Secretary:

(1997–1998),

Dario Franceschini Dario Franceschini (; born 19 October 1958) is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD), of which he briefly became leader in 2009. Franceschini served as Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and T ...

(1997–1999) **Coordinator:

(1997–1999), Lapo Pistelli (1999–2002) *President: Rosa Russo Jervolino (1994), Giovanni Bianchi (1994–1997),

(1997–1999) *Party Leader in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

: Beniamino Andreatta (1994–1996), Antonello Soro (1996–2001) *Party Leader in the

(1994–1996),

Leopoldo Elia Leopoldo Elia (4 November 1925 – 5 October 2008) was an Italian politician. Biography Leopoldo Elia was born in Fano, Marche, in 1925. His father was Raffaele Elia, the secretary of the Italian People's Party in Fano in the first post-war p ...

(1996–2001) *Party Leader in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(1994–1999), Guido Bodrato (1999–2004)

Symbols

Before the secession of the CDU, the PPI’s logo was adaptation of the old DC’s logo. File:Italian People's Party logo (1994).jpg , First logo (1994–1995) File:PARTITO POPOLARE ITALIANO.gif, Alternative logo

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian People's Party 1994 establishments in Italy 2002 disestablishments in Italy Centrist parties in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Defunct Christian political parties Defunct political parties in Italy Political parties established in 1994 Political parties disestablished in 2002