Popular Alternative ( it, Alternativa Popolare, AP) is 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 ...

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 ...

that was founded on 18 March 2017 after the dissolution of

New Centre-Right New Centre-Right ( it, Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's transformation into Forza Ita ...

(NCD), one of the two parties that emerged at the break-up of

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

(PdL, the main Italian

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

party from 2008 to 2013). "Popular" is a reference to ''

popolarismo ''Popolarismo'' ( en, Popularism) is a political doctrine conceived by Don Luigi Sturzo which was the ideological basis for the Italian People's Party and later Christian Democracy. It inspired the French Popular Democratic Party (formed 1924 ...

'', the Italian variety of Christian democracy. The party has been 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) since its foundation, having inherited the membership of the NCD. The party's founder was

Angelino Alfano Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the g ...

, a former protége of

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

and secretary of PdL (2011–2013) who has served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

(

Berlusconi IV Cabinet The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th government of Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy of the Italian Re ...

, 2008–2011),

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

( Letta and

Renzi Cabinet The Renzi government was the 63rd government of the Italian Republic, in office from February 2014 to December 2016. It was led by Matteo Renzi, secretary and leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD). The government was composed of membe ...

s, 2013–2016) and

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

(

Gentiloni Cabinet The Gentiloni government was the 64th government of the Italian Republic, in office from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. The government was headed by Paolo Gentiloni, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Renzi government. The government ...

, 2016–2018). In December 2017 Alfano announced that he would not stand in the 2018 general election and the party suffered the split of a large centre-right faction, whose members wanted to re-align with the

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-destra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy, active—under several forms and names—since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed his Forza Italia party. Despite ...

. The rump of the party continued its alliance with the

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 ...

, by formally entering the

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

, and, with Alfano's backing,

Beatrice Lorenzin Beatrice Lorenzin (born 14 October 1971) is an Italian politician belonging to the Democratic Party (Italy), Democratic Party, former leader of Popular Alternative, and former Italian Minister of Health, Minister of Health from 28 April 2013 to ...

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

since 2013, became AP's ''de facto'' leader. In 2019 what remained of the party made a right-wing turn and formed an alliance with

The People of Family The People of Family ( it, Il Popolo della Famiglia, PdF), is a social conservative political party in Italy. Its leader and President is Mario Adinolfi, writer and director of ''La Croce'' newspaper and former member of the Democratic Party. I ...

History

Origins and background

In November 2013

(PdL), the centre-right party led by

, was transformed back into

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 ...

(FI). A group of dissidents, led by

, opposed the move and launched the

(NCD). Up to then, Alfano had been national secretary of the PdL and Berlusconi's protégé. Since its foundation, the NCD was part of the Italian governments successively led by

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 ...

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 been ...

and

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from December ...

, all three members of the

(PD), and Alfano served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and

Foundation and early splits

On 18 March 2017 the NCD was dissolved into Popular Alternative (AP). Alfano's aim was to build a centre-right alliance with FI, while being at odds with

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

(LN) and the

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy ( it, Fratelli d'Italia, FdI) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Italy. It is led by Giorgia Meloni, the incumbent Prime Minister of Italy and the first woman to serve in the position. Accor ...

(FdI), deemed "

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

". Alfano also proposed a

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

to select the centre-right candidate for Prime Minister. Virtually all NCD's leading members (including

Maurizio Lupi Maurizio Lupi (born 3 October 1959) is an Italian politician. He served as minister of infrastructure and transport between 28 April 2013 and 20 March 2015. Early life and education Lupi was born in Milan, Italy, on 3 October 1959. He has a deg ...

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 ...

Fabrizio Cicchitto Fabrizio Cicchitto (born 26 October 1940) is an Italian politician, whose career has followed a trajectory from radical socialism to centre-right reformism. Biography Fabrizio Cicchitto entered politics in the early 1960s, supporting the Ricc ...

, Antonio Gentile,

Gabriele Albertini Gabriele Albertini (born 6 July 1950 in Milan) is an Italian politician. Biography In 1974 he Graduated in Law from the University of Milan. He was the Manager of ''Albertini Cesare Spa'', a company working in the aluminium pressure die casting ...

, Laura Bianconi,

Giovanni La Via Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

and

Francesco Colucci Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

) followed Alfano in the new party, while

Maurizio Sacconi Maurizio Sacconi (Conegliano, 13 July 1950) is an Italian politician from Veneto. A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party, from 1979 to 1994 he was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and from 1987 to 1994 he served also as Under ...

joined

Stefano Parisi Stefano Parisi (Rome, 12 November 1956) is an Italian businessman and politician, General Secretary of Confindustria for 4 years and founder of Energies for Italy, a political party member of the centre-right coalition. Biography Origins and pers ...

Energies for Italy Energies for Italy ( it, Energie per l'Italia, EpI) was a political party in Italy, launched in November 2016 and officially established on 1 April 2017. Its leader is Stefano Parisi, a former director-general of Confindustria and CEO of Fastweb ...

(EpI). Since its foundation AP was abandoned by five deputies (four re-joining FI, one joining the PD) and four senators (one joining FI, another the FdI and two the

Federation of Freedom Federation of Freedom ( it, Federazione della Libertà, FdL) was a centre-right parliamentary group in the Italian Senate. The group was formed in May 2017 by five defectors from the Great Autonomies and Freedom (GAL) group, including four of I ...

, FdL), while two deputies switched from the

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 ...

(ALA). One of the deputies who left the party was Enrico Costa, who also resigned as minister of Regional Affairs from

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and aimed at forming a "liberal centre" with FI.

Road to the 2018 general election

In the run-up of the 2018 general election AP, which was soundly defeated in the

2017 Sicilian regional election The 2017 Sicilian regional election for the renewal of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the election of the President of Sicily was held on 5 November 2017. Incumbent President Rosario Crocetta was not his party's candidate due to his low popu ...

, was divided in three camps: those who wanted an alliance with the PD (Lorenzin and Cicchitto), those who proposed to run as a stand-alone list (Lupi) and those who were keen on returning with the

(Formigoni). The decision by the party's national board was postponed several times. In the meantime, Alfano announced that he would not stand in the election. On 12 December 2017 AP's national board approved a consent settlement, under which the two parliamentary groups would continue to be active in order to prepare the electoral participation of the two main factions: the one led by Lorenzin and Cicchitto (backed by Alfano) with the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

(under the "Popular Alternative" name), the one led by Lupi and Formigoni with the centre-right (reviving the "New Centre-Right" banner). A few days later Gentile replaced Lupi as coordinator. On 19 December the group around Lupi and the former AP members close to Costa formed

Us with Italy Us with Italy ( it, Noi con l'Italia, NcI) is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Italy. NcI started as a federation of minor centre-right parties and, as such, was part of the centre-right coalition in the 2018 gen ...

(NcI), a pro-Berlusconi centrist electoral list within the centre-right coalition, along with

Direction Italy Direction Italy ( it, Direzione Italia, DI) was a liberal-conservative political party in Italy. The party was led by Raffaele Fitto, an MEP in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. History The party was formed in January 2017 ...

(DI),

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his polit ...

(SC),

Act! Act! (previously known as Sage ACT! 2010–2013) is a customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation software platform designed for, and used by, small and mid-sized businesses. It has a user base of over 800 thousand re ...

(F!),

Cantiere Popolare Cantiere Popolare (translatable into ''Popular construction site'') is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The party's leader is Francesco Saverio Romano, a former Sicilian leader of the Union of the Centre and, lat ...

(CP) and the

Movement for the Autonomies The Movement for Autonomy ( it, Movimento per l'Autonomia, MpA) is a regionalism (politics), regionalist, Christian democracy, Christian-democratic list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The MpA, whose found ...

(MpA). The list was later enlarged to the Union of the Centre (UdC) and

Identity and Action Identity and Action ( it, Identità e Azione, IDeA) is a conservative political party in Italy, whose membership stretches from Christian democracy to liberal conservatism. The party's leader is Gaetano Quagliariello, a former minister for Inst ...

(IdeA), with the goal of overcoming the 3% threshold under a new electoral law. On 29 December AP formed the

Popular Civic List The Popular Civic List ( it, Civica Popolare, CP) was a centrist coalition of political parties in Italy. Its leader is Beatrice Lorenzin, minister of Health from 2013 to 2018 and member of Popular Alternative. History CP participated in the 2 ...

(CP), a centrist electoral list within the centre-left coalition, along with

Italy of Values Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former ''Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the par ...

(IdV), the

Centrists for Europe Centrists for Europe ( it, Centristi per l'Europa, CpE) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. The party was launched, as Centrists for Italy (''Centristi per l'Italia'', CpI), by splinters from the Union of the Centre in December 2 ...

(CpE),

Solidary Democracy Solidary Democracy ( it, Democrazia Solidale, DemoS) is a Christian-leftist political party in Italy. The party's early leader, Lorenzo Dellai has described it as a " Christian-social" party. DemoS is led by Paolo Ciani; several party members, ...

(DemoS), the

Union for Trentino The Union for Trentino ( it, Unione per il Trentino, UpT) is a regionalist, centrist and Christian-democratic political party active in Trentino, Italy. The party has its roots in the experience of Daisy Civic List and was founded on 7 June 2008 ...

(UpT),

Italy is Popular Italy is Popular ( it, L'Italia è Popolare, IP) is a Christian-democratic political party active in Italy. History IP was launched as a split from the Union of the Centre (UdC) in November 2017 by Giuseppe De Mita, nephew of Ciriaco De Mita, ...

(IP) and minor parties/groups, and Lorenzin was chosen as leader. Contextually, Gentile stepped down from coordinator and announced his return to FI, while continuing to serve as undersecretary in Gentiloni's government.

2018 general election and decline

CP obtained a mere 0.5%, but the rump of AP, led by Lorenzin, had two elects to the Chamber from single-seat constituencies: Lorenzin herself and Gabriele Toccafondi. NcI scored a little better with 1.3% of the vote and a handful of former AP members, notably including Lupi, were elected in single-seat constituencies. In September 2018 Alfano stepped down from AP presidency and was replaced by Paolo Alli. In the run-up to the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

the party formed a joint list with

, a social-conservative party. However, the party was deeply fractured, as Lorenzin seemed to be supportive of the PD, while former spokesperson

Valentina Castaldini Valentina may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Valentina'' (1950 film), a 1950 Argentine film * ''Valentina'' (2008 film), a 2008 Argentine film Television * ''Valentina'' (1993 telenovela), a 1993 Mexican telenovela * Valentina (2013 telenov ...

stood as candidate for FI. In September 2019 Lorenzin joined the PD, while Toccafondi was a founding member of Renzi's

Italia Viva Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). History Background Matteo Renzi started ...

party, thus leaving the party with no representatives in Parliament.

Ideology and factions

The party's ideology is that of the NCD, as the former is the perfect continuation of the latter. Despite being home to some

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(Reformism and Freedom, We Reformers), the party was mainly a

party with a social-conservative streak. According to ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

'', differently from FI, NCD's stances on the "so-called ethical issues" (

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

, etc.) were "closer to those of the European traditionalist right" and "thus not very compatible with those of the EPP's parties in big countries such as (Germany)". However, the party voted in favor of

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s, whereas most FI members voted against it. The NCD was also criticised by some

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

associations for not opposing enough the teaching of

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

in schools. In addition, the NCD, as part of

governments, proved more progressive than FI on the management of

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

, which was negatively evaluated by Berlusconi's party. Precisely for these and other reasons, several NCD politicians left the party to either form

(IdeA) led by

Gaetano Quagliariello Gaetano Quagliariello (born 23 April 1960) is an Italian politician, former Minister of Constitutional Reforms and current leader of Identity and Action party. Biography Toti was born in Naples in 1960. During the University he was a member o ...

or re-joined FI (e.g.

Nunzia De Girolamo Nunzia De Girolamo (born 10 October 1975) is an Italian lawyer and politician who served as the minister of agricultural, food and forestry policies from late April 2013 to 26 January 2014. Early life and education De Girolamo was born on 10 Oc ...

Renato Schifani Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani (; born 11 May 1950
.) is an Italian politician who has served as the

and Massimiliano Salini), in both cases re-aligning with the FI-led

. Some of the formerly NCD-affiliated factions or think tanks are now affiliated to AP: *

Network Italy Network Italy (''Rete Italia'') is a Christian-democratic association connected to Popular Alternative (AP), a political party in Italy, and earlier to The People of Freedom. Most of its members, including its long-time leader Roberto Formigoni, are ...

(''Rete Italia'') – ideology:

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 ...

; leader:

; * Christian Populars (''Cristiano Popolari'') – ideology:

; leader:

Mario Baccini Mario Baccini (born 14 December 1957 in Rome) is an Italian politician, former member of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats and promoter of the White Rose. Biography He started his political activity as town councilor in Rome, for th ...

; *

Christian Reformists The Christian Reformists (''Cristiano Riformisti'', CR) are a Christian-democratic faction within New Centre-Right (NCD), a political party in Italy. The group emerged as a faction within National Alliance (AN), a conservative party. Its founders ...

(''Cristiano Riformisti'') – ideology:

; leader: Antonio Mazzocchi; *

Reformism and Freedom Reformism and Freedom (''Riformismo e Libertà'', ReL) is a "reformist" and mainly social democracy, social-democratic think tank in Italy. ReL, whose president is Fabrizio Cicchitto,

(''Riformismo e Libertà'') – ideology:

Social democracy 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 ...

; leader:

; *

We Reformers We Reformers (''Noi Riformatori'') was a social-democratic association connected to New Centre-Right (NCD), a political party in Italy. Francesco Colucci is the president of the association, while his son Alessandro, a regional minister of Lombar ...

(''Noi Riformatori'') – ideology:

; leader:

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Regional Councils

Leadership

*President:

(2017–2018), Paolo Alli (2018–present) **Coordinator:

(2017), Antonio Gentile (2017), Stefano Bandecchi (2022–present) **Spokesperson:

(2017–2019) *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 ...

(2017–2018),

(2018-2019), Gianluca Rospi (2020–2021), Giorgio Silli (2021) *Party Leader in 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 ...

: Laura Bianconi (2017–2018), Tiiziana Drago (2020–2021) *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 ...

(2017–2018)

References

{{Italian political parties Centrist parties in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Catholic political parties Political parties established in 2013 2013 establishments in Italy Member parties of the European People's Party