South Tyrolean People's Party
Encyclopedia
The South Tyrolean People's Party is a regionalist
Christian democratic
political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol
.
Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking
population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in 1948
, the party has gained the absolute or relative majority in every election. Its best result ever was 67.8% in 1948, its worst 48.1% in the 2008 provincial election.
The party had been in alliance with Christian Democracy
(and the Italian Socialist Party
) until 1994 and later with some of its successor parties, including the Italian People's Party and the Democratic Union of Alto Adige
. In 1998, the SVP enlarged the provincial government to the social-democratic
Democrats of the Left
. Currently, the SVP governs with the support of the centre-left
Democratic Party
, while loosening its ties with it and becoming friendlier to the centre-right
The People of Freedom
–Lega Nord coalition at the national level.
was returned for the fourth time President of the Province (he has been in office since 1989), at the head of a coalition composed by the Democrats of the Left
and a local alliance between Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats.
In the 2004 European Parliament election
the SVP formed an electoral alliance with The Olive Tree. The party's share of votes fell for the first time down 50%, stopping at 46.7% (–9.3% from 1999, mainly because of the big win of the Greens (13.2%, +6.5%). However Michl Ebner
was elected MEP
with more than 90,000 preferences and a Green, Sepp Kusstatscher
(a former member of the internal left of the SVP), was elected too.
In the 2006 general election the party was part of the winning coalition The Union
and garnered three senators
and four deputies
, which included one for its sister-party in Trentino, the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
.
the party had its worst result ever in a general election, falling down to 44.3% (–9.1% from 2006 and –16.2% from 2001 and returning only two deputies, Siegfried Brugger and Karl Zeller. In the Senate election, thanks to the plurality voting system
, the SVP re-elected its three senators, Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, Oskar Peterlini
and Manfred Pinzger. This result was due both because of the strong showing of The Libertarians
(9.4%) on the right and the decision not to enter in alliance for the Chamber of Deputies either with the centre-left led by the Democratic Party
(18.0%) or the centre-right led by The People of Freedom
(16.0%).
Soon after the election, the SVP renewed its alliance with Roberto Nicco, the deputy from Aosta Valley, in the Chamber of Deputies, while forming a group in the Senate with the three senators of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, Antonio Fosson of the Valdotanian Union
, Mirella Giai of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad
and three senators for life (Giulio Andreotti
, Francesco Cossiga
and Emilio Colombo
).
rivals (The Libertarians
, South Tyrolean Freedom
and Union for South Tyrol
) gained a combined 21.5% of the vote. During the electoral campaign the party did not support as usual its counterparts in Trentino, the Union for Trentino
(successor of the Daisy Civic List
) and the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
, in order not to hurt the relations with Lega Nord, whose Trentino section, Lega Nord Trentino
, provided the opposition candidate, Sergio Divina. Despite rumors on an alliance with Lega Nord Südtirol
, after the election the SVP continued its alliance with the Democratic Party
.
In April 2009 Richard Theiner was elected new party president, after an agreement between the major factions of the party. Since then was assisted by two deputies, Thomas Widmann representing the party's right wing and Martha Stocker on behalf of Luis Durnwalder
. In the 2009 European Parliament election
, due to the absence of its rival parties on the right from the ballot because of the new electoral law, the SVP won 52.1% of the vote, electing Herbert Dorfmann.
, ranges from Christian democracy
, due to the deep Catholic tradition of the province, to elements of social democracy
, due to the virtual asbence of a true social-democratic rival party. However, between 1946 and 1994, the SVP entered in alliance only with the Christian Democracy
and its smaller allies. In German-speaking valleys the SVP has almost no opposition, apart from the The Libertarians
, South Tyrolean Freedom
and Union for South Tyrol
on the right
and the Greens on the left
.
In the years the SVP suffered many splits reflecting the diverse composition of the party (Tyrolean Homeland Party, Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol
and Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol
) and many SVP leading members left the party in order to join other parties, notably including Alfons Benedikter
, a right-winger who launched Union for South Tyrol in 1989, Christian Waldner, a conservative liberal
who launched The Libertarians in 1992, Sepp Kusstatscher
, a leftist who joined the Greens in 1999, and finally Roland Atz, a centrist who switched to Lega Nord Südtirol
in 2008. The Party of Independents
/Freedom Party of South Tyrol
, the South Tyrolean Homeland Federation
, the Union for South Tyrol and The Libertarians can thus be all considered splits of the SVP.
Within the party it is possible to identify several internal factions. The most important ones are the "Economy" (Wirtschaft) faction, which represents small business
, and the "Labour" (Arbeitnehmer) faction, which reprents workers and is the political arm of the Union of South Tyrolean Independent Trade Unions (ASGB). The Wirtschaft faction, which is the party's largest, includes also the "Agriculture" (Landwirtschaft) faction, which represents the interests of farmers and which has in Luis Durnwalder
its leading representative.
The Wirtschaft faction, whose leader is Gerhard Brandstätter, includes Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, a conservative, Manfred Pinzger and Karl Zeller, while the Arbeitnehmer, led by Reinhold Perkmann and, since 2009, by Rosmarie Pamer include Oskar Peterlini
, the most lef-wing member SVP member in the Italian Parliament, Hans Georg Widmann and Sabine Kasslatter. Also the leader of ASGB, Georg Pardeller, is a provincial deputy. Siegfried Brugger and Elmar Pichler Rolle, who led the party in recent years, are mostly centrist
figures who work for preserving party unity.
The factional divisions between party members were reflected also on the vote of confidence on Berlusconi IV Cabinet
: Pinzger and Thaler Ausserhofer abstained, while Brugger, Zeller and Peterlini voted against. This kind of divisions continued during the legislature, with senators, excluding Peterlini, supporting some of the government's policies and deputies often opposing the same measures.
In order to prevent the break-up of the party along right-left lines, Perkmann, leader of the Arbeitnhemer, proposed a "federal reform" of the party in order to preserve its catch-all nature and simultaneously give more autonomy to its internal factions, which have now an official status in party organization. The result was a mild reform of the party and the election to the party leadership of a ticket composed by a member of the Arbeitnehmer, Richard Theiner, and a leading member of the Wirtschaft faction, Thomas Widmann, plus Martha Stocker, representing Durnwalder.
The Junge Generation
(Young Generation, JG) is the youth movement of the party, including all members at the age of 14 to 30.
Regionalism (politics)
Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...
Christian democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
.
Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in 1948
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regional election, 1948
The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regional election of 1948 took place on 28 November 1948.-Regional totals:Source: -Trentino:Source: -South Tyrol:Source:...
, the party has gained the absolute or relative majority in every election. Its best result ever was 67.8% in 1948, its worst 48.1% in the 2008 provincial election.
The party had been in alliance with Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
(and the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
) until 1994 and later with some of its successor parties, including the Italian People's Party and the Democratic Union of Alto Adige
Democratic Union of Alto Adige
The Democratic Union of Alto Adige was an Italian-speaking christian-democratic Italian political party active in South Tyrol, which has been South Tyrols sister party of the Trentino Democratic People's Union. Its long-time leader is Luigi Cigolla....
. In 1998, the SVP enlarged the provincial government to the social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
. Currently, the SVP governs with the support of the centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
, while loosening its ties with it and becoming friendlier to the centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
–Lega Nord coalition at the national level.
Recent history
In the 2003 provincial election the SVP won 55.6% of the vote and 21 provincial deputies out of 35 and Luis DurnwalderLuis Durnwalder
Luis Durnwalder is a politician of Italy, governor of the multilingual autonomous province of South Tyrol, and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy.- Biography :Durnwalder was born in Pfalzen...
was returned for the fourth time President of the Province (he has been in office since 1989), at the head of a coalition composed by the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
and a local alliance between Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats.
In the 2004 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2004 (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol)
The European Parliament election of 2004 took place on 12 -13 June 2004.The Olive Tree was the most voted list in Trentino, while the South Tyrolean People's Party came first as usual in South Tyrol. However the SVP lost many votes to the Greens, which had their best result ever, and to the Union...
the SVP formed an electoral alliance with The Olive Tree. The party's share of votes fell for the first time down 50%, stopping at 46.7% (–9.3% from 1999, mainly because of the big win of the Greens (13.2%, +6.5%). However Michl Ebner
Michl Ebner
Michl Ebner is an Italian politician andMember of the European Parliamentfor North-Eastwith the Südtiroler Volkspartei,Member of the Bureau of the European People's Party and sits on...
was elected MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
with more than 90,000 preferences and a Green, Sepp Kusstatscher
Sepp Kusstatscher
Sepp Kusstatscher is an Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for North-East with the Federation of the Greens, part of the European Greens and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs...
(a former member of the internal left of the SVP), was elected too.
In the 2006 general election the party was part of the winning coalition The Union
The Union (political coalition)
The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:...
and garnered three senators
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
and four deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, which included one for its sister-party in Trentino, the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
The Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party is a regionalist Christian-democratic Italian political party based in Trentino.-History:The party was founded in 1948 as Trentino Tyrolean People's Party . In 1982 a split between the conservative wing, led by Franco Tretter, and the centrist wing of the...
.
2008 general election
In the 2008 general electionItalian general election, 2008 (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol)
The Italian general election of 2008 took place on 13 -14 April 2008.In the province of Trentino the centre-right came first thanks to the strong showing of Lega Nord, while in South Tyrol the South Tyrolean People's Party was confirmed as the largest party, but lost many votes to its right-wing...
the party had its worst result ever in a general election, falling down to 44.3% (–9.1% from 2006 and –16.2% from 2001 and returning only two deputies, Siegfried Brugger and Karl Zeller. In the Senate election, thanks to the plurality voting system
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
, the SVP re-elected its three senators, Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, Oskar Peterlini
Oskar Peterlini
Oskar Peterlini is a Representative of the German-speaking South Tyrolean Minority in South Tyrol, Italy. He is a member of the Italian Senate in the Italian Parliament and used to be President of the district of the South Tyrolean Unterland of the South Tyrolean People's Party 2001-2010.- Life...
and Manfred Pinzger. This result was due both because of the strong showing of The Libertarians
The Libertarians
The Libertarians is a liberal and nationalist political party in the Italian province of South Tyrol committed to the German-speaking minority....
(9.4%) on the right and the decision not to enter in alliance for the Chamber of Deputies either with the centre-left led by the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
(18.0%) or the centre-right led by The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
(16.0%).
Soon after the election, the SVP renewed its alliance with Roberto Nicco, the deputy from Aosta Valley, in the Chamber of Deputies, while forming a group in the Senate with the three senators of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, Antonio Fosson of the Valdotanian Union
Valdotanian Union
The Valdotanian Union is a regionalist-centrist Italian political party active in Aosta Valley. Its leaders are Ego Perron, party president, and Augusto Rollandin, President of the Region....
, Mirella Giai of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad
Associative Movement Italians Abroad
The Associative Movement Italians Abroad is an Italian political party representing voters living in South America....
and three senators for life (Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
, Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
and Emilio Colombo
Emilio Colombo
Emilio Colombo is an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 1970 to 1972. In addition to having held top positions in Italian governments, he was also active in European politics.-Biography:...
).
2008 provincial election
In the 2008 provincial election the SVP managed to win the 48.1% of the vote in the Province (–7.5%), while its right-wingRight-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
rivals (The Libertarians
The Libertarians
The Libertarians is a liberal and nationalist political party in the Italian province of South Tyrol committed to the German-speaking minority....
, South Tyrolean Freedom
South Tyrolean Freedom
The South Tyrolean Freedom is a separatist German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol committed to the reunification of South Tyrol with the state of Tyrol within Austria....
and Union for South Tyrol
Union for South Tyrol
The Citizens' Union is a separatist, nationalist and conservative political party active in South Tyrol committed to the German-speaking minority and its right to self-determination...
) gained a combined 21.5% of the vote. During the electoral campaign the party did not support as usual its counterparts in Trentino, the Union for Trentino
Union for Trentino
The Union for Trentino is a regionalist centrist and Christian-democratic political party active in the province of Trentino, Italy. The party is currently led by Marco Tanas....
(successor of the Daisy Civic List
Daisy Civic List
The Daisy Civic List was a regionalist Christian-democratic and centrist Italian political party active in Trentino.-History:It was founded in 1998 by Lorenzo Dellai and other local politicians active in several centrist parties, both from the centre-left and the centre-right at the national...
) and the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party
The Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party is a regionalist Christian-democratic Italian political party based in Trentino.-History:The party was founded in 1948 as Trentino Tyrolean People's Party . In 1982 a split between the conservative wing, led by Franco Tretter, and the centrist wing of the...
, in order not to hurt the relations with Lega Nord, whose Trentino section, Lega Nord Trentino
Lega Nord Trentino
Lega Nord Trentino is a regionalist political party in Italy which is the provincial section of Lega Nord in Trentino. The current national secretary is Maurizio Fugatti, deputy to the Italian Parliament...
, provided the opposition candidate, Sergio Divina. Despite rumors on an alliance with Lega Nord Südtirol
Lega Nord Sud Tirolo
Lega Nord Sud Tirolo/Lega Nord Südtirol is a regionalist political party in Italy which is the provincial section of Lega Nord in South Tyrol...
, after the election the SVP continued its alliance with the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
.
In April 2009 Richard Theiner was elected new party president, after an agreement between the major factions of the party. Since then was assisted by two deputies, Thomas Widmann representing the party's right wing and Martha Stocker on behalf of Luis Durnwalder
Luis Durnwalder
Luis Durnwalder is a politician of Italy, governor of the multilingual autonomous province of South Tyrol, and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy.- Biography :Durnwalder was born in Pfalzen...
. In the 2009 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol)
The European Parliament election of 2009 took place on 6 -7 June 2009.The Democratic Party was the most voted list in the Trentino , narrowly ahead of The People of Freedom , while the South Tyrolean People's Party came first as usual in South Tyrol and got its leading candidate Herbert Dorfmann...
, due to the absence of its rival parties on the right from the ballot because of the new electoral law, the SVP won 52.1% of the vote, electing Herbert Dorfmann.
Ideology and factions
The ideology of the SVP, which is a typical example of catch-all partyBig tent
In politics, a big tent party or catch-all party is a political party seeking to attract people with diverse viewpoints. The party does not require adherence to some ideology as a criterion for membership...
, ranges from Christian democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
, due to the deep Catholic tradition of the province, to elements of social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, due to the virtual asbence of a true social-democratic rival party. However, between 1946 and 1994, the SVP entered in alliance only with the Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
and its smaller allies. In German-speaking valleys the SVP has almost no opposition, apart from the The Libertarians
The Libertarians
The Libertarians is a liberal and nationalist political party in the Italian province of South Tyrol committed to the German-speaking minority....
, South Tyrolean Freedom
South Tyrolean Freedom
The South Tyrolean Freedom is a separatist German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol committed to the reunification of South Tyrol with the state of Tyrol within Austria....
and Union for South Tyrol
Union for South Tyrol
The Citizens' Union is a separatist, nationalist and conservative political party active in South Tyrol committed to the German-speaking minority and its right to self-determination...
on the right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
and the Greens on the left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
.
In the years the SVP suffered many splits reflecting the diverse composition of the party (Tyrolean Homeland Party, Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol
Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol
The Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol was a regionalist democratic-socialist and hard-line German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol....
and Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol
Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol
The Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol was a regionalist social-democratic and hard-line German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol, Italy....
) and many SVP leading members left the party in order to join other parties, notably including Alfons Benedikter
Alfons Benedikter
Alfons Benedikter was one of the most renowned politicians in South Tyrol. For 50 years he has been a member of the provincial parliament and for 40 years he acted as a member of the regional government of the region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and later the provincial government of South Tyrol...
, a right-winger who launched Union for South Tyrol in 1989, Christian Waldner, a conservative liberal
Conservative liberalism
Conservative liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or, more simply, representing the right-wing of the liberal movement....
who launched The Libertarians in 1992, Sepp Kusstatscher
Sepp Kusstatscher
Sepp Kusstatscher is an Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for North-East with the Federation of the Greens, part of the European Greens and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs...
, a leftist who joined the Greens in 1999, and finally Roland Atz, a centrist who switched to Lega Nord Südtirol
Lega Nord Sud Tirolo
Lega Nord Sud Tirolo/Lega Nord Südtirol is a regionalist political party in Italy which is the provincial section of Lega Nord in South Tyrol...
in 2008. The Party of Independents
Party of Independents (Alto Adige/Südtirol)
The Party of Independents was a regionalist liberal-conservative political party active in South Tyrol.It was launched in 1972 in support of the candidacy of Hans Dietl, member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the South Tyrolean People's Party, who was expelled from that party in 1971 for...
/Freedom Party of South Tyrol
Freedom Party of South Tyrol
The Freedom Party of South Tyrol was a regionalist liberal-conservative and national-liberal political party active in South Tyrol.It was launched in 1988 as the continuation of the Party of Independents by Gerold Meraner. In the 1988 provincial election FPS took 1.4% and got Meraner elected to...
, the South Tyrolean Homeland Federation
South Tyrolean Homeland Federation
The South Tyrolean Homeland Federation was a nationalist political party active in South Tyrol.It was launched in 1983 as Election Association of Homeland Federation and won 4.2% in the 1983 general election and 2.6% in the 1983 provincial election, enough for granting Eva Klotz a seat in the...
, the Union for South Tyrol and The Libertarians can thus be all considered splits of the SVP.
Within the party it is possible to identify several internal factions. The most important ones are the "Economy" (Wirtschaft) faction, which represents small business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
, and the "Labour" (Arbeitnehmer) faction, which reprents workers and is the political arm of the Union of South Tyrolean Independent Trade Unions (ASGB). The Wirtschaft faction, which is the party's largest, includes also the "Agriculture" (Landwirtschaft) faction, which represents the interests of farmers and which has in Luis Durnwalder
Luis Durnwalder
Luis Durnwalder is a politician of Italy, governor of the multilingual autonomous province of South Tyrol, and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy.- Biography :Durnwalder was born in Pfalzen...
its leading representative.
The Wirtschaft faction, whose leader is Gerhard Brandstätter, includes Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, a conservative, Manfred Pinzger and Karl Zeller, while the Arbeitnehmer, led by Reinhold Perkmann and, since 2009, by Rosmarie Pamer include Oskar Peterlini
Oskar Peterlini
Oskar Peterlini is a Representative of the German-speaking South Tyrolean Minority in South Tyrol, Italy. He is a member of the Italian Senate in the Italian Parliament and used to be President of the district of the South Tyrolean Unterland of the South Tyrolean People's Party 2001-2010.- Life...
, the most lef-wing member SVP member in the Italian Parliament, Hans Georg Widmann and Sabine Kasslatter. Also the leader of ASGB, Georg Pardeller, is a provincial deputy. Siegfried Brugger and Elmar Pichler Rolle, who led the party in recent years, are mostly centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
figures who work for preserving party unity.
The factional divisions between party members were reflected also on the vote of confidence on Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
: Pinzger and Thaler Ausserhofer abstained, while Brugger, Zeller and Peterlini voted against. This kind of divisions continued during the legislature, with senators, excluding Peterlini, supporting some of the government's policies and deputies often opposing the same measures.
In order to prevent the break-up of the party along right-left lines, Perkmann, leader of the Arbeitnhemer, proposed a "federal reform" of the party in order to preserve its catch-all nature and simultaneously give more autonomy to its internal factions, which have now an official status in party organization. The result was a mild reform of the party and the election to the party leadership of a ticket composed by a member of the Arbeitnehmer, Richard Theiner, and a leading member of the Wirtschaft faction, Thomas Widmann, plus Martha Stocker, representing Durnwalder.
The Junge Generation
Junge Generation (SVP)
The Young Generation is the youth organisation of the South Tyrolean People's Party , a political party representing the German-speaking and Ladin-speaking population of South Tyrol, an Italian province separated from the Austrian territory and annexed to the Italian Monarchy in 1920 as...
(Young Generation, JG) is the youth movement of the party, including all members at the age of 14 to 30.
Popular support
The electoral results of the SVP in South Tyrol since 1992 are shown in the table below.| 1992 general | 1993 provinc. | 1994 general | 1994 European | 1996 general | 1998 provinc. | 1999 European | 2001 general | 2003 provinc. | 2004 European | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2008 provinc. | 2009 European |
| 57.3 | 52.0 | 60.1 | 56.9 | 52.7 | 56.6 | 56.0 | 60.5 | 55.6 | 46.7 | 53.4 | 44.3 | 48.1 | 52.1 |
Leadership
- President: Erich Amonn (1945–1948), Josef Menz-Popp (1948–1951), Toni Ebner (1951–1952), Otto von Guggenberg (1952–1954), Karl Tinzl (1954–1956), Toni Ebner (1956–1957), Silvius MagnagoSilvius Magnago- Biography :Magnano was born in Merano. He was a trained lawyer, and lived all his life in Bolzano. He was chairman of the South Tyrolean People's Party and governor of the autonomous province of South Tyrol from 1960–1989....
(1957–1991), Roland Riz (1991–1992), Siegfried Brugger (1992–2004), Elmar Pichler Rolle (2004–2009), Richard Theiner (2009–present)- Honorary President: Silvius MagnagoSilvius Magnago- Biography :Magnano was born in Merano. He was a trained lawyer, and lived all his life in Bolzano. He was chairman of the South Tyrolean People's Party and governor of the autonomous province of South Tyrol from 1960–1989....
(1991–2010)
- Honorary President: Silvius Magnago
- Secretary: Josef Raffeiner (1945–1947), Otto von Guttenberg (1947–1952), Albuin Forer (1952–1953), Vinzenz Stötter (1953–1954), Ivo Perathoner (1954–1957), Hans Stanek (1957–1965), Josef Atz (1965–1978), Bruno Hosp (1978–1989), Hartmann Gallmetzer (1989–1997), Thomas Widmann, (1997–2004), Michael Mühlberger (2004), Alexander Mittermair (2004–2009), Philipp Achammer (2009–present)
Sources
- History of 60 years of the SVP, 1945–2005
- Provincial Council of Bolzano – Historical Archive
- Trentino Alto-Adige Region – Elections
- Provincial Government of Bolzano – Elections
- Cattaneo Institute – Archive of Election Data
- Parties and Elections in Europe – Province of Bolzano
- Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections
- Günther Pallaver, Political parties in Alto Adige from 1945 to 2005
- Anton Holzer, Die Südtiroler Volkspartei, Kulturverlag, Thaur (Tyrol) 1991, ISBN 9783853951570
- Joachim Goller, Die Brixner Richtungen. Die Südtiroler Volkspartei, das katholische Lager und der Klerus, Studienverlag, Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen 2007, ISBN 9783706542307