''Rutelliani'' referred to the followers of

Francesco Rutelli Francesco Rutelli (born 14 June 1954) is an Italian journalist and former politician, who is the president of ''Anica'', National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry, since October 2016. He also chairs the "Centro per un Futuro Sostenib ...

, a former leading member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and later leader of

Alliance for Italy Alliance for Italy ( it, Alleanza per l'Italia; 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 l ...

. The followers of Rutelli were mainly centrists who wanted the party to be modelled on the

Democratic Party of the United States The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero And ...

and to join the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

and the Alliance of Democrats. They included both liberals and Christian-democrats. Some groups considered close to Rutelli were: *

Liberal PD Liberal PD ( it, Liberal PD) is a social-liberal faction within the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy. The aim of the group is to promote liberal ideas within the party and elect liberal candidates. The faction, through the Itali ...

(also close to

Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He serve ...

) * Democratic Ecologists (also close to Walter Veltroni) * Teodem/ Persons and Networks Originally ''Rutelliani'' were the secular-liberal faction within

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties withi ...

, including

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from Decemb ...

Ermete Realacci Ermete Realacci (born 1 May 1955 in Sora) is an Italian politician. Biography In the early 1970s Realacci participated in the Christian Animation Movement (MAC). After finishing his studies at the classical high school, he worked as a publicist ...

Linda Lanzillotta Linda Lanzillotta (born 7 September 1948) is an Italian politician. She was the minister for regional affairs and local communities between 2006 and 2008. Early life Lanzillotta was born in Cassano all'Ionio in the Province of Cosenza on 7 Septe ...

Gianni Vernetti Gianni Vernetti (born 27 November 1960) is a writer and Italian politician. Early life Gianni Vernetti was born in Torino, Italy. In 1985 he graduated in Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Turin. In 1987 he was awarded a PhD in Urba ...

and

Roberto Giachetti Roberto Giachetti (born 24 April 1961) is an Italian politician, member of Italia Viva and of the Transnational Radical Party. He has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 2001. Biography Roberto Giachetti was born in Rome in 1 ...

. During Veltroni's leadership, some of these people, including Gentiloni (now one of the leaders of Liberal PD) and Realacci, distanced from Rutelli, who took a more conservative approach, and became ''

Veltroniani Veltroniani referred to the followers of Walter Veltroni, leader of the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy, from 2007 to 2009. Most of them are social democrats coming from the Democrats of the Left. Apart the core group of ''Veltronian ...

''. However, in June 2009 all ''Rutelliani'', including Gentiloni and Realacci, rallied again around Rutelli and joined his new association, the Free Democrats and chose to support the candidacy of

Dario Franceschini Dario Franceschini (; born 19 October 1958) is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD), of which he briefly became leader in 2009. Franceschini served as Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and To ...

in the 2009 Democratic Party leadership election. In the aftermath of the election, which saw the victory of

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 t ...

, Rutelli and a large portion of the faction left the party in order to set up an independent party,

. Some ''Rutelliani'', including Gentiloni and Realacci, chose to remain in the PD and, since September 2010, were part of Veltroni's

Democratic Movement A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution or organization or a country, in which all members have an equal share of power. Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities that differentiate ...

References

{{Democratic Party factions Democratic Party (Italy) factions Liberalism in Italy