The Valdostan Autonomist Popular Edelweiss ( it, Edelweiss Popolare Autonomista Valdostano, EPAV) was 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 ...

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 ...

active in

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

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 ...

. The party was originally named Autonomist Popular Edelweiss (''Stella Alpina Popolare Autonomista'', SAPA). The party was launched in March 2017 as a split from

Edelweiss EDELWEISS (Expérience pour DEtecter Les WIMPs En Site Souterrain) is a dark matter search experiment located at the Modane Underground Laboratory in France. The experiment uses cryogenic detectors, measuring both the phonon and ionization signal ...

(SA), which had decided to stop supporting the government led by

Augusto Rollandin Augusto Arduino Rollandin (born 13 June 1949 in Brusson, Aosta Valley, Italy) is an Italian politician and veterinarian. He is a member of the Valdostan Union, a center-right, pro-autonomy Italian political party active in the Aosta Valley. Caree ...

of the

Valdostan Union The Valdostan Union (french: Union valdôtaine, UV), also Valdostian Union or Valdotanian Union is a regionalist and centrist political party in Aosta Valley, Italy. It represents mainly the Arpitan-speaking minority in the region. Former lead ...

(UV) and, along with the Progressive Valdostan Union (UVP),

Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology (french: Autonomie, Liberté, Participation, Écologie, ALPE) was a regionalist political party active in Aosta Valley, Italy, whose progressive ideology mixes elements of social democracy and green politic ...

(ALPE) and

For Our Valley For Our Valley (''Pour Notre Vallée'', PNV) is a centrist political party active in Aosta Valley, Italy. In November 2016 two regional councillors, former senator Antonio Fosson and Claudio Restano, left the Valdostan Union (UV) in disagreeme ...

(PNV), later formed a new government under President

Pierluigi Marquis Pierluigi Marquis (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian politician, and the President of Aosta Valley since 10 March until 11 October 2017. References 1964 births Living people Presidents of Aosta Valley Politicians of Aosta Valley {{ ...

(UV). The two founders of the EPAV were regional councillors Mauro Baccega and

André Lanièce André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

. In October Marquis resigned and was replaced by

Laurent Viérin Laurent Viérin (born 7 August 1975) is an Italian politician who served as president of Aosta Valley from 13 October 2017 to 27 June 2018. He is the co-founder of the Progressive Valdostan Union party. Early life Viérin was born in Aosta on ...

(UVP) at the head of a coalition composed of the UV, the UVP, the EPAV and the PD. In the 2018 regional election Baccega was re-elected from the UV's list. The EPAV, which was transformed into an association and changed its name into Valdostan Autonomist Popular Europeanists (''Europeisti Popolari Autonomisti Valdostani'') in November 2018, ceased to exist as an autonomous party and was amalgamated into the UV, especially after Baccega was appointed regional minister of Health, under President

Antonio Fosson Antonio Fosson (born 11 October 1951) is an Italian politician. Antonio was elected president of Aosta Valley from 10 December 2018 to 16 December 2019. Antonio is a member of the Pour Notre Vallée Party. Biography Antonio was born in Ivrea, ...

, in December 2018. In the 2020 regional election Baccega was elected councillor for For the Autonomy, which obtained 6.4% of the vote and a total of three seats.

References

{{Aosta political parties Centrist parties in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Political parties in Aosta Valley Political parties established in 2017 2017 establishments in Italy