'Party of the poorest' to be launched in Italy

Rome, March 17 (IANS/AKI) A new party will launch in northern Italy aimed at protecting "the poorest of the poor" and guaranteeing every citizen a house, job, free healthcare and pension.

The "innovative" party, to be called the Fourth Popular Pole, will be formed in Calderara di Reno in Bologna province on Saturday 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 said.

"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.

--IANS/AKI

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