Autonomy Movement (Italy)

Early years

The party was founded on April 30, 2005 as the Movement for Autonomy ( Movimento per l'Autonomia ) by the Sicilian former members of the Union Center (2002) (UDC) and other center-right parties, the most notable of which are Forza Italia (FI), Italian Republican Party (PRI) and Nuovo Partito Socialista Italiano (NPSI).

In the 2006 election, the party joined the center-right coalition Casa delle Libertà and formed a joint list, Pact for Autonomies , together with the Northern League , a regionalist movement based in northern Italy , and the Sardinian Action Party . The MpA elected five deputies (two on the FI lists) and two senators (one on the FI lists). Lombardo claimed that he did not find the possibility of an alliance with the left-centrist coalition The Union mainly due to mainly because of the recent opposition to the construction of the Bridge across the Strait of Messina and their support for same-sex unions.

In January 2008, the MpA formed a political pact with Italia del Centro (IdC), in which Vincenzo Scotti , the leader of IdC, became party president. ^[2] In the 2008 Parliamentary elections, the party received 1.1% of the vote (7.4% in Sicily) and received 8 deputy and 2 senatorial seats thanks to an alliance with Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) and Lega Nord . After the election, the MpA became part of the Berlusconi government . The most important event in the life of the party was the Regional Elections in Sicily , where Lombardo was elected president of the region, and MpA became the third largest party with 13.8% of the vote (21.8% taking into account the personal list of Lombardo and votes for Democratici Autonomisti ) and 15 regional deputies.

South Party

In the 2009 European Parliament Elections, the MpA changed its name to the Autonomy Movement in order to reflect its intention to become a national party, established in every part of the country, acting as part of the L'Autonomia coalition , which also includes La Destra , Partito Pensionati and Alleanza di Centro . ^{[3] [4]} as part of its “national” strategy, the party s joined by some small regionalist parties from northern Italy : Lombardia Autonoma , the Forum dei Veneti , Autonomist Trentino and SOS Italia . At the national level, the alliance gathered about 2.2% of the vote, thus returning no MEPs, but received 15.6% in the elections in its Sicilian patrimony .

In connection with the elections, rumors appeared about the possibility of forming a new "Party of the South" in which MpA was to become the core. ^[5] In December 2009, Rafael Lombardo , leader of the MpA and President of Sicily, formed his third cabinet, which included ministers from his MpA party, as well as the “PdL-Sicily” of Gianfranco Micciché and the newly formed regional section of Alleanza per l'Italia (ApI) , and several independents, including one that was close to the center-left opposition of Partito Democratico (PD). Lombardo did not appoint any of the “official” PdL and UDC. ^[6]

The breakdown of the alliance with official PdL in Sicily and other regions of the South led to a painful internal split. In January 2010, Vincenzo Scotty and four other eight deputies who wanted to maintain an alliance with PdL were expelled from the party ^[7] and formed their Noi Sud (NS) movement. ^{[8] [9]} However, in September 2010, Lombardo also broke with Micciché and formed his fourth cabinet, backed by the so-called “third pole” coalition, consisting of MpA , Future and Freedom (FLI), and the wing of UDC and ApI, plus PD. ^{[10] [11]} In November, as an ally of Gianfranco Fini 's FLI, MpA ousted the Berlusconi government. ^[12]

As of December 15, 2010, MpA is a major member of Nuovo Polo per l'Italia (NPI) along with UDC, FLI, and ApI. ^{[13] [14]}

In March 2011, Lombardo announced that MpA should soon be transformed into the largest "party in the South." ^{[15] [16] [17]}

In July 2012, Lombardo resigned as party secretary and was replaced by Giovanni Pistorio , long-term Sicilian leader of the party, and Agazio Loiero , a former Democrat who served as president of the Calabria region from 2005 to 2010. ^{[18] [19]}

Sicilian Party

In August, Lombardo resigned as President of Sicily, stimulating earlier elections . ^{[20] The} Sicilian branch of MpA was renamed Partito dei Siciliani (PdS). Lombardo decided not to run for re-election and PdS supported the candidacy of Gianfranco Miccichè , leader of the Grande Sud , for the presidency, as part of the “Socialist” coalition. ^{[21] [22] [23]} Micciché received 15.4% of the vote, while PdS collected 9.5%. ^[24]

PdS / MpA Did not overcome the election threshold in the 2013 Parliamentary Elections in Italy , but, thanks to an agreement with PdL, got one deputy seat ( Angelo Attaguile ) and two senatorial seats ( Antonio Scavone and Pippo Compagnone ). ^[25] Attaguile chose to join the North League team in the Lega Nord-Autonomies parliamentary group. ^[26] Attaguile later left PdS / MpA and joined Noi con Salvini , becoming their national secretary. ^[27]

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Sicily Regional Assembly

• Federal Secretary: Raffaele Lombardo (2005-2012), Giovanni Pistorio / Agazio Loiero (2012-2013)
• Federal President: Vincenzo Scotty (2008—2010)

• Independence Movements in Southern Italy