Avanti Insieme!
Forward Together! Avanti Insieme! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Daniela Iovino |
| Deputy Leader | Lapo Loy |
| Founded | 4 March 2013 |
| Headquarters | 6 Via Melino, Tradare |
| Youth wing | Giovani Insieme |
| Ideology | Social Democracy Democratic Socialism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Colours | Red |
| Parliament | 83 / 326
|
| Website | |
| www.avantiinsieme.ba | |
Avanti Insieme! (Idrean for "Forward Together!") is a centre-left, social democratic political party in Barcia which currently forms the official opposition. Initially founded in 2013 as an electoral alliance of various left-wing social democratic and democratic socialist parties including the Socialist Party and Citizen's Alliance, Avanti Insieme was formalised as a unified political party in 2016 and is currently the largest left-leaning party within the Parliament of Barcia. Avanti Insieme's policies aim to appeal to a wide range of left-wing interests, with the party positioning itself as a big-tent alternative to the Unity Party. Avanti Insieme primarily campaigns on issues of democratisation such as introducing a proportional voting system as well as instituting various economic and social reforms aimed at improving societal equality.
History
Avanti Insieme was initially founded as an electoral alliance to contest the 2013 Barcian General Election. The alliance was initially a union of the Citizen's Alliance, Progressive Party, Social Democratic Party, Socialist Party as well as a range of other smaller left-leaning parties. Each party campaigned with their own manifesto, however backed the leadership of Francesco Agrusa under the Avanti Insieme label. In the first election it contested Avanti Insieme won 54 seats out of 321 with 18.1% of the vote.
Following the 2013 election, ties between the involved parties intensified leading to the codification of a unified party constitution which was signed at the first party conference in Porto in 2016. The new party aimed to appeal to a broad range of views amongst the Barcian left-wing taking into account proposals from both the parliamentary party as well as the wider membership and youth wing. Daniela Iovino formerly of the Socialist Party was elected leader of Avanti Insieme in late 2016. The following year the party increased its vote share by 6.8% landing it 76 seats within the Barcian Parliament. This would increase further in 2021 to 83 seats making Avanti Insieme the second largest party in Parliament and the official opposition. Today the party retains a strong polling record going into the upcoming 2025 election. The party has also seen its membership expand considerably and has founded its own news publication L'Avanguardia.
Ideology
Political commentators describe Avanti Insieme as a centre-left political party, with a broad range of policies which can be considered both social democratic and democratic socialist in origin. Whilst the party maintains ties to trade unions it receives minimal funding from these organisations and is largely reliant on external donors for campaign funds. Whilst the party does advocate for nationalisation of natural monopolies not already under the control of the state, it does not maintain a commitment to widespread nationalisation within its constitution, as was the case with the preceding Socialist Party. The party favours a redistribution of wealth with a commitment to government economic intervention whilst also seeking greater political reform to decrease the country's democratic deficit.
Key policies from the party's 2021 manifesto included:
- Introduce a proportional voting system for elections to the Parliament of Barcia
- Overhaul of campaign financing to distribute funding more evenly across all parties
- Reform of the media to promote greater journalistic independence for TeleBarcia
- Reform and increase funding to the National Health Service
- Greater devolution of power to Barcia's regions
- Increase construction of new houses across the country
- Legalisation of same-sex marriage and greater legal equality for LGBTQ+ and minority groups
- Reversal of legalisation restricting the legal right to protest and empowering Trade Unions in employment negotiations
Election Results
| Election year | General Election | Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of overall votes |
% of overall vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | ||
| 2013 | 2,534,076 | 18.1 % | 54 / 321
|
 54
|
in opposition |
| 2017 | 3,672,043 | 24.9 % | 76 / 326
|
22
|
in opposition |
| 2021 | 4,688,192 | 27.8 % | 83 / 326
|
7
|
in opposition |