Leader Matteo Renzi | Political position Centre to Centre-left | |
 | ||
Other members Maria Elena Boschi
Graziano Delrio
Lorenzo Guerini
Debora Serracchiani
Stefano Bonaccini Ideology Centrism
Liberalism
Third Way | ||
Renziani, previously known as Now! (Adesso!) and Big Bang, is a liberal and modernizing movement within the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy. Its leader is Matteo Renzi, party's national secretary and Prime Minister of Italy.
Contents
The Open Foundation (Fondazione Open), whose Secretary-General is Maria Elena Boschi, serves as think tank and financial arm of the faction.
History
The movement, which has never been organised as a formal faction, grew around Matteo Renzi, mayor of Florence since 2009. Born in 1975, Renzi is a devout Catholic (he has been a scout leader of AGESCI) and a moderate. He started his political career in the Italian People's Party and was elected president of the Province of Firenze in 2004, when he was just 29. Through Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy he joined the PD in 2007. A frequent critic of his party's leadership, especially under Pier Luigi Bersani, Renzi made his name as "scrapper" (of old leaders and ideas), advocate of complete change in the party, reformer and modernizer.
After organizing a convention of "scrappers" in Florence in November 2010, Renzi repeated the event in November 2011 under the Big Bang name. Leading Democrats who took part to the convention included Sergio Chiamparino, Arturo Parisi, Graziano Delrio, Ermete Realacci, Andrea Marcucci and Roberto Giachetti, but most of the speakers were people from the civil society, mainly entrepreneurs, artists and intellectuals. Among the ideas espoused by Renzi and his fellow Big-Bangers, many were genuinely liberal for a social-democratic party: labour market flexibility, abolition of professional bars, pension reform and cuts in public sector. This was seens as the platform for a Renzi's run for prime-ministerial candidate of the PD. Renzi's group was dubbed by some journalists as the party's "new right".
On 13 September 2012 Renzi officially announced in Verona, Veneto his bid to become the candidate for Prime Minister of the centre-left in 2013. On 25 November Renzi came second in the first round of the primary election with 35.5%, behind Pier Luigi Bersani (44.9%), but ahead of Nichi Vendola (15.6%), Laura Puppato (2.6%) and Bruno Tabacci (1.4%). In the subsequent run-off, on 2 December, Bersani trounced Renzi 60.9% to 39.1%, by winning in each and every single region but Tuscany, where Renzi won 54.9% of the vote. However, Bersani's demise as PD's secretary in April 2013 opened the way for another bid, this time for the party's leadership.
On 8 December 2013, during the open primary of party's leadership election, Renzi fended off the challenges of two rivals from the party's left, Gianni Cuperlo and Pippo Civati. He was elected PD leader with a landslide 67.6% of the vote. On 22 February 2014 Renzi was also sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy.
On 19 February 2017, during the PD National Assembly, Renzi resigned as Secretary of the party and announcing his candidacy for the next leadership election. Few days before he launched the movement In Cammino ("On the way"), in support of his candidacy.