The Populars ( it, Popolari), short name of Populars for the Constituent Assembly of the Centre (''Popolari per la Costituente di Centro''), 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 ...

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 ...

active in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

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 ...

. It was led by

Ciriaco de Mita Luigi Ciriaco De Mita (; 2 February 1928 – 26 May 2022) was an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 1988 to July 1989. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), De Mita served as its secretary and leader from Ma ...

. The Populars' party was one of the main constituent parties of the Union of the Centre in 2008, along with the

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC), whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats" (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lore ...

and the

White Rose The White Rose (german: Weiße Rose, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students (and one professor) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, ...

History

The party was founded in 2008 by

Ciriaco De Mita Luigi Ciriaco De Mita (; 2 February 1928 – 26 May 2022) was an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 1988 to July 1989. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), De Mita served as its secretary and leader from Ma ...

, following the controversy with

Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He serve ...

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 ...

about the lack of his candidacy in the 2008 general election. Consequentially, he stood as a candidate for the Union of the Centre (UdC) for the Senate in the 2008 general election. In the event he failed election, but,

one year later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through books published by DC Comics. It involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'' storyline, to explore ...

, he managed to win a seat 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 ...

for the UdC in the Southern constituency. The party later merged with

Clemente Mastella Mario Clemente Mastella (born 5 February 1947) is an Italian politician who has served as the mayor of Benevento since 20 June 2016. He is the leader of Union of Democrats for Europe, a minor centrist Italian party. He was Minister of Labour i ...

UDEUR 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 ...

nucleus from Campania to give life to the Coordination Populars – Daisy for the Constituent Assembly of the Centre (''Coordinamento Popolari – Margherita per la Costituente di Centro''). The party took different names at the provincial level. In the

province of Avellino The Province of Avellino ( it, Provincia di Avellino) is a province in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The area is characterized by numerous small towns and villages scattered across the province; only two towns have a population over 20,0 ...

, De Mita's heartland, the party was called Coordination Populars – Daisy for the Constituent Assembly of the Centre (''Coordinamento Popolari – Margherita per la Costituente di Centro''), while the group in the provincial council was named The Populars – The Daisy for the Constituent Assembly of the Centre (''I Popolari – La Margherita per la Costituente di Centro''). In the

province of Caserta The Province of Caserta ( it, Provincia di Caserta) is a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and had a total population of 9 ...

the party was instead called Populars and Democrats for the Constituent Assembly of the Centre (''Popolari e Democratici per la Costituente di Centro'') or, simply, Populars and Democrats (''Popolari e Democratici''). In the summer of 2008, the provincial councilors of Avellino belonging to the Populars (in contrast to the decision to entrust two departments of the provincial government to the Democratic Party) signed their resignations together with the centre-right councilors, effectively defying the provincial government chaired by Alberta De Simone. The provincial government was subsequently submitted to a commissioner.

References

Christian democratic parties in Italy Catholic political parties Political parties in Campania {{Italy-party-stub