A new party will launch in northern Italy on 18 March aimed at protecting ' the poorest of the poor' and guaranteeing every citizen a house, a job, free health-care and a pension.
The "innovative" party, to be called the Fourth Popular Pole will be formed in Calderara di Reno in the province of Bologna by several associations, independent trade unions and civil society organisations, according to its future leader, Antonino Magistro.
The Fourth Popular Pole will aim to represent voters alienated from Italy's mainstream parties including the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and also from the Internet-based populist 'grassroots' Five Star movement, Magistro said.
"We represent true innovation in Italian politics in that we are based on the direct participation of citizens," he stated.
"The Five-Star movement has shown itself to be an empty vessel that appears democratic but in reality is run by just four people," Magistro continued.
"And we have all seen what the PD has become," he said, referring to a recent schism in the party by leftists disillusioned with the more centrist politics of former premier Matteo Renzi.
Renzi resigned as prime minister and party secretary after a crushing defeat in a December constitutional reforms referendum to streamline Italy's political machinery, but wants to make a political comeback and win Democratic Party leadership primaries in April.
.jpg)
