The Associative Movement of Italians Abroad () is an Italian political party representing Italians abroad. Based in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and active mainly in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, the MAIE is a

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

party.

History

The party emerged from the split of the liberal wing of the Italian Associations in South America (AISA) in 2008. In the 2008 general election, the MAIE won one seat in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for

Ricardo Antonio Merlo Ricardo Antonio Merlo (born 25 May 1962 in Buenos Aires) is an Italian politician, leader of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad. Born and resident in Argentina, he acquired Italian citizenship through Jus sanguinis. Biography Graduated i ...

(elected to the Chamber for AISA in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

), and a one seat in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Mirella Giai, a former member and candidate of the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

(DS). Both Merlo and Giai joined forces with centrist and centre-right groups, notably including the Liberal Democrats (LD), with whom the MAIE formed a joint electoral list for the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

, and the Union of the Centre (UdC). Giai was a member of

For the Autonomies For the Autonomies (, Aut) is a heterogeneous, mostly centrist, centre-left and regionalist, parliamentary group which has been active, with slightly different names and compositions, in the Italian Senate since 2001. History The group was for ...

group, along with the UdC, for the entire parliamentary term. In the 2013 general election, the party elected three deputies (two, Merlo and

Mario Borghese Mario Alejandro Borghese is an Italian politician. He is currently serving as a Senator of the Italian Republic after previously serving in the Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and ...

, in its own lists and a third,

Fucsia Nissoli ''Fucsia'' () is a Colombian-based monthly magazine. It is the leading women's fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on journalism, writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about and crit ...

, in

With Monti for Italy With Monti for Italy () was an electoral coalition of political parties in Italy, formed for the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti and his reform plans. Its platform was based on Monti's manifesto titled "C ...

's list for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

) and one senator (

Claudio Zin Claudio Zin (born 11 November 1945) is an Italian-Argentine physician and politician. He was Senate of Italy, Senator of the Italian Republic representing the Italian people living in South America between 2013 and 2018 belonging to Associative Mo ...

). After the election, Nissoli left, while another deputy (

Renata Bueno Renata is a feminine given name of European origin, and a New Zealand surname. The name is of Latin origin of Renatus. The cognate names include Renée and Renate. Notable people with the given name Renata include: * Renata Adler (born 193 ...

, elected with the

South American Union Italian Emigrants The South American Union of Italian Emigrants () is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil. Its leader is , who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2018 general ele ...

, USEI) joined forces for two years. During the parliamentary term, MAIE deputies formed an alliance with the

Alliance for Italy Alliance for Italy (; ApI) was a centrist political party in Italy. The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left", described as "an e ...

(ApI) from 2013 to 2015 and with

Liberal Popular Alliance The Liberal Popular Alliance, whose full name was Liberal Popular Alliance – Autonomies (, ALA), was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy. ALA members were known as ''Verdiniani'', from the name of their leader Denis Verdini, who w ...

since 2015, while senator Zin was a member of For the Autonomies. For the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

the MAIE formed a joint electoral list with

I Change I Change (''Io Cambio'', IC) is a political party in Italy. History The party was formed in 2013 by Angelo Alessandri, former federal president of LN, national secretary of Lega Nord Emilia and member of the Chamber of Deputies, who had not supp ...

(IC), a split from

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

(LN). In the 2018 general election, the party elected one deputy (Borghese) and one senator (Merlo). A senator from the rival USEI, Adriano Cario, joined MAIE in May 2018. In December 2021 Cario's election was annulled.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

References

{{Political parties of Italy Political parties in Argentina 2008 establishments in Argentina Italian expatriate representation parties Political parties established in 2008