Background In the run-up to the
2006 Italian general election, there was talk among the
House of Freedoms coalition's member parties on merging into a "united party of moderates and reformers". (FI),
National Alliance (AN) and the
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) all seemed interested in the project. Soon after the election, however, UDC leader
Pier Ferdinando Casini, who had been a reluctant coalition partner, started to distance from its historical allies. Another party of the coalition,
Lega Nord (LN), showed no interest in the idea, because of its character as a regionalist party. On 2 December 2006, during a big rally of the centre-right in
Rome against
Romano Prodi's
government,
Silvio Berlusconi proposed the foundation of a "freedom party", stressing that centre-right voters were all part of a single "people of freedom". On 21 August 2007,
Michela Brambilla, president of the
Clubs of Freedom (a grassroot group), registered the name and the symbol of the "Freedom Party" (
Partito della Libertà) on Berlusconi's behalf, but none of Berlusconi's allies seemed interested in joining such a party and some leading FI dignitaries looked disappointed.
"Running board revolution" at a PdL rally On 18 November 2007, Berlusconi claimed that his supporters had collected over 7 million signatures on an appeal demanding the
President of the Republic,
Giorgio Napolitano, to call a fresh general election. Shortly afterwards, from the
running board of a car in a crowded Piazza San Babila in
Milan, he announced that FI would soon merge or transform into a new "party of the Italian people". The new course was thus called the "running board revolution" (
rivoluzione del predellino) and this expression soon became very popular both among Berlusconi's supporters and his adversaries. At the beginning, the fate of FI remained unclear. Later, it was explained that the new party's core would consist of FI, the
Clubs of Freedom and other grassroots groups, and that some minor parties of the House of Freedoms would join too. AN leader
Gianfranco Fini made very critical statements in the days after Berlusconi's announcement, declaring the end of his support for Berlusconi as candidate for Prime Minister and that his party would not join the new party. Also UDC leader Casini criticised the idea from the start and seemed interested in an alternative coalition with Fini.
Foundation and early years On 24 January, the Prodi II Cabinet fell as a result of the
2008 Italian political crisis, paving the way for a new general election. The day after Berlusconi hinted that FI would probably contest its last election, and postponed the foundation of the new party until after the election. In an atmosphere of reconciliation with Fini, Berlusconi also stated that the new party could involve the participation of other parties. On 8 February, Berlusconi and Fini agreed to form a joint list under the banner of The People of Freedom (PdL), in alliance with LN. In addition to Forza Italia and the National Alliance, several minor parties and groups chose to join the PdL: the
Clubs of Freedom of
Michela Vittoria Brambilla, the
Clubs of Good Government of
Marcello Dell'Utri, the
Liberal Populars (a splinter group from the
UDC) of
Carlo Giovanardi, the
Christian Democracy for Autonomies of
Gianfranco Rotondi, the
Pensioners' Party of
Carlo Fatuzzo,
Liberal Reformers of
Benedetto Della Vedova, the
Italian Republican Party of
Francesco Nucara, the
New Italian Socialist Party of
Stefano Caldoro, the
Liberal Democrats (a splinter group from
The Daisy) of
Daniela Melchiorre,
Decide! of
Daniele Capezzone,
Italians in the World of
Sergio De Gregorio,
Social Action of
Alessandra Mussolini, the Libertarian Right (a splinter group from
The Right) of
Luciano Buonocore and the Reformist Socialists of
Donato Robilotta. In the
2008 Italian general election, the PdL won 37.4% of the vote, getting elected 276
deputies and 146
senators and becoming the Italian largest party. The PdL was also the first party since
Christian Democracy in the
1979 Italian general election to get more than 35% of the popular vote. On 27–29 March 2009, the new party held its first congress in
Rome and was officially founded. Berlusconi was elected president, while
Sandro Bondi,
Ignazio La Russa and
Denis Verdini were appointed national coordinators,
Maurizio Lupi organizational secretary and
Daniele Capezzone spokesperson. In the
2009 European Parliament election in Italy, the party won 35.2% of the national vote, returning 29
MEPs. In the
big round of regional elections of 2010, the PdL retained
Lombardy with
Roberto Formigoni (in coalition with LN), gained
Lazio with
Renata Polverini (a former leader of the
General Labour Union),
Campania with
Stefano Caldoro (a leading
Socialist) and
Calabria with
Giuseppe Scopelliti (a former AN member). The PdL was also instrumental in the centre-right victories in
Veneto and
Piedmont, where two presidents of LN,
Luca Zaia and
Roberto Cota respectively, were elected.
Berlusconi vs. Fini Between 2009 and 2010,
Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the conservative AN and president of the
Chamber of Deputies, became a vocal critic of the leadership of Berlusconi. Fini departed from party's majority line on
stem cell research,
end-of-life care,
advance health care directive, and
immigration, and he was a proponent of a more structured party organisation. His criticism was aimed at the leadership style of Berlusconi, who tended to rely on his personal charisma to lead the party from the centre, and supported a lighter form of party, which in his mind was to be a movement-party active only at election times, as the original FI and on some respects that of
political parties in the United States. Although some
Finiani, such as
Italo Bocchino,
Carmelo Briguglio and
Fabio Granata, shared Fini's views on moral issues and immigration, many others, including
Andrea Ronchi and
Adolfo Urso, were traditionalist. In fact most
Finiani were
Southern conservatives who opposed Berlusconi's firm alliance with LN, federal reform and
Giulio Tremonti's economic policy. Fini made inroads among the liberal and centrist ranks of the former FI, but he lost the support of most leading members of the former AN, notably including
Ignazio La Russa,
Maurizio Gasparri and
Altero Matteoli, who became close allies of Berlusconi. Others, including
Gianni Alemanno and
Alfredo Mantovano, found common ground with the party's Christian democrats. On 15 April 2010, Bocchino launched an association named
Generation Italy to better represent Fini's views within the party. Five days later 52 MPs (39 deputies and 13 senators) signed a document in support of Fini and his theses, while other 74 MPs former members of AN, including La Russa, Gasparri, Matteoli and
Giorgia Meloni, plus Alemanno, mayor of Rome, signed an alternative document in which they reasserted their loyalty to the party and Berlusconi. On 22 April 2010, the national council of the PdL convened in Rome for the first time in a year. The conflict between Fini and Berlusconi was covered live on television. At the end of the day a resolution proposed by Berlusconi's loyalists was put before the assembly and approved almost unanimously. Following then, clashes between Fini and Berlusconi became even more frequent and reached their height in late July, when Fini questioned the morality of some party bigwigs under investigation. On 29 July 2010, the executive committee released a document (voted by 33 members out of 37) in which Fini was described as "incompatible" with the political line of the PdL and unable to perform his job of President of the Chamber of Deputies in a neutral way. Berlusconi asked Fini to step down and the executive proposed the suspension from party membership of Bocchino, Briguglio and Granata, who had harshly criticised Berlusconi and accused some party members of criminal offences. As response, Fini and his followers formed their own groups in both chambers under the name of
Future and Freedom (FLI). It was soon clear that FLI would leave the PdL and become an independent party. On 7 November, during a convention in
Bastia Umbra, Fini asked Berlusconi to step down as Prime Minister and proposed a new government including the
Union of the Centre (UdC). A few days later, the four FLI members in the government resigned. On 14 December FLI voted against Berlusconi in a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, a vote won by Berlusconi by 314 to 311.
Re-organisation and discontents In May 2011 the party suffered a big blow in local elections. Particularly painful was the loss of Milan, Berlusconi's hometown and party stronghold, where the outgoing PdL mayor
Letizia Moratti was defeated by
Giuliano Pisapia, a left-wing independent close to
Nichi Vendola's
Left Ecology Freedom party. In response to this and to crescent fibrillation within party ranks (especially among
Scajoliani and ex-AN members),
Angelino Alfano, then minister of Justice, was chosen as national secretary in charge of re-organising and renewing the party. The appointment of 40-year-old Alfano, a former
Christian Democrat who had later been leader of FI in
Sicily, was unanimously approved by the party executive. However, economy minister
Giulio Tremonti expressed his concerns that the nominee would "make us lose votes in the North". On 1 July the national council modified the party's constitution and Alfano was elected secretary with little opposition. Alfano led the party through a huge membership drive and, on 1 November, announced that more than one million individuals had joined the party. He also drove the party in a Christian-democratic direction. The factions which benefited most from the effort were those of
Roberto Formigoni (
Network Italy),
Ignazio La Russa (
Protagonist Italy) and
Franco Frattini (
Liberamente). The Christian-democratization of the party and the perceived marginalisation of liberals and social democrats led some to leave the party. One of these,
Carlo Vizzini, declared: "It seems to me that the PdL is set to become the Italian section of the
European People's Party [which already was]. I come from another tradition: I have been secretary of the
PSDI and I was one of the founders of the
Party of European Socialists. When I joined Forza Italia there were
Liberals,
Socialists,
Radicals. Now everything has changed." In the midst of the
European sovereign debt crisis, on 14 October, following calls by
Claudio Scajola and
Giuseppe Pisanu for a new government, two deputies close to Scajola,
Giustina Destro and
Fabio Gava, voted against Berlusconi during a vote of confidence and left the party altogether. On 2 November, Destro and Gava, along with
Roberto Antonione,
Giorgio Stracquadanio,
Isabella Bertolini and
Giancarlo Pittelli (who had left the party along with
Santo Versace in September), promoted an open letter in which they asked Berlusconi to step down. Contextually, Antonione announced that he was leaving the party. In the following days three more deputies,
Alessio Bonciani,
Ida D'Ippolito and
Gabriella Carlucci, left to join the UdC. In three months, the PdL had lost 15 deputies and 4 senators, including the 7 deputies and 3 senators who launched
Force of the South under
Gianfranco Micciché.
Berlusconi's resignation in 2012 On 7 November 2011 Lega Nord's then-leader
Umberto Bossi proposed
Angelino Alfano as Berlusconi's successor. On 8 November, during a key vote on a financial statement in the Chamber was approved thanks to the abstention of opposition parties, but Berlusconi got just 308 votes, 8 short of an absolute majority. Subsequently, Berlusconi announced that he intended to step down after the passage of the budget bill. Days of turmoil followed. Not only the party was highly divided, but its numerous factions and groups were divided too. As the appointment of
Mario Monti, an independent economist and former
European Commissioner, looked likely, some in the party wanted to support the new possible government (and some even wanted to join it), while others were resolutely against and preferred an early election instead. Alfano, in his capacity of secretary, had to mediate. Among the party's Christian democrats,
Roberto Formigoni,
Maurizio Lupi and
Raffaele Fitto (
Network Italy),
Claudio Scajola (
Christopher Columbus Foundation), and
Giuseppe Pisanu (hence
Pisaniani) supported Monti, while
Gianfranco Rotondi (
Christian Democracy for Autonomies) and
Carlo Giovanardi (
Liberal Populars) did not. Within
Liberamente and among the party's
Socialists,
Franco Frattini (who threatened to leave the party) and
Fabrizio Cicchitto were in favour, while
Mariastella Gelmini,
Paolo Romani,
Maurizio Sacconi,
Renato Brunetta and, covertly,
Giulio Tremonti were against. The vast majority of ex-AN members (
Ignazio La Russa,
Maurizio Gasparri,
Altero Matteoli,
Giorgia Meloni, etc.) was against, while a minority (mainly
Gianni Alemanno) was in favour. On 12 November Berlusconi tendered his resignation to President
Giorgio Napolitano. The executive of the PdL decided to support a government led by Monti under some conditions, the first being that it should not include politicians but only technocrats. The
Monti government took office on 16 November. In the subsequent votes of confidence in the two houses of Parliament, the PdL voted largely for Monti; however, some party members, including
Antonio Martino, Gianfranco Rotondi and
Alessandra Mussolini, deserted the party. Subsequently, LN broke its ties with the PdL at the national level.
2013 general election After long deliberation, on 24 October 2012, Berlusconi finally announced that he would not run again for Prime Minister in the
2013 Italian general election. In a written press release, the PdL leader also hinted that the party would select his successor through an
open primary on 16 December. Berlusconi, who praised Monti, seemed to aim at a new centre-right led by Monti and a PdL led by Alfano. On 25 November eight candidates filed the required number of signature in support of their bid: Angelino Alfano,
Giorgia Meloni,
Giancarlo Galan (who renounced right after),
Guido Crosetto,
Daniela Santanchè,
Michaela Biancofiore,
Giampiero Samorì and
Alessandro Cattaneo. However, on 28 November, after Berlusconi had expressed doubts on its success, the primary was cancelled altogether. On 6 December Alfano announced that Berlusconi would run again for Prime Minister. As soon as 12 December Berlusconi backtracked and stated that if Monti were to run for Prime Minister as the leader of a united centre-right (including also
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo's
Future Italy) he would stand aside and support him. The move appeased the pro-Monti majority of the party, while disappointing other party wings. On 16 December the centrist majority of the party, consisting of several leading factions (
Liberamente,
Network Italy,
Reformism and Freedom,
Liberal Populars,
New Italy,
FareItalia, etc.), rallied in Rome under the "Popular Italy" banner: in presence of Alfano, the bulk of the party expressed its support for Monti and Berlusconi. On the very same day, a group of anti-Monti reformers, led by Crosetto and Meloni, organised a separate rally and espoused opposite views. On 17 December
Ignazio La Russa announced he was leaving the PdL to form "National Centre-Right", aiming at representing not just anti-Monti right-wingers, but also the liberals and Christian democrats around Crosetto. On 21 December La Russa's National Centre-Right and the groups around Crosetto and Meloni joined forces and formed
Brothers of Italy. To complete the picture of a highly fragmented centre-right, in the previous months there had already been two minor but significant splits from the PdL: on 3 October
Giulio Tremonti left to form the
Labour and Freedom List, while on 22 November a group of MPs, led by
Isabella Bertolini, formed
Free Italy. In early January 2013, after Berlusconi had announced his return as party leader and Monti had refused to join forces with the PdL, the bulk of the party rallied again behind Berlusconi and just a few leading members, notably including
Mario Mauro, left to join Monti's
Civic Choice party. Most of the centre-right was regrouped around the PdL, which took part to the February general election in coalition with
Lega Nord (including the Labour and Freedom List), Brothers of Italy,
The Right,
Great South (including the
Movement for the Autonomies), the
Pensioners' Party, the
Moderates in Revolution and
Popular Agreement. In the election the PdL obtained 21.6% of the vote (−15.8% from 2008) and the coalition came just 0.3% short of the centre-left. After some inconclusive attempts by
Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the
Democratic Party, to form a government, the PdL joined
Enrico Letta's
government of
grand coalition, providing five ministers, including Angelino Alfano who was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, two deputy ministers and several under-secretaries.
Revival of Forza Italia On 28 June 2013 Berlusconi announced the revival of the defunct and the transformation of PdL into a centre-right coalition. On 1 August 2013 Berlusconi was convicted for tax evasion and sentenced to four years of imprisonment, the last three being automatically
pardoned. On 18 September, when discussing the enactment of a related six-year public office ban, as required by the "Severino law", the Senate committee in charge of elections refused to endorse a PdL resolution relinquishing Berlusconi's ban, as both the PD and the M5S disagreed. On the same day Berlusconi launched the
new Forza Italia (FI) and pledged to stay on as its leader in any case. The would-be PdL coalition might include the new FI,
Lega Nord and other parties. In fact, in disagreement with the new FI's
liberalism, some members led by former mayor of Rome
Gianni Alemanno, who left the PdL in October 2013, might form a
conservative party modelled on the late
National Alliance (AN), along with
Brothers of Italy and other minor right-wing parties, and eventually join the coalition. After months of bickering within the party between "doves", supporting Letta's government, and "hawks", very critical of it, on 28 September Berlusconi asked to the five ministers of the party (
Angelino Alfano,
Maurizio Lupi,
Gaetano Quagliariello,
Beatrice Lorenzin and
Nunzia De Girolamo) to resign from the government over a tax hike. The ministers obeyed, but made clear that they dissented from the decision; Quagliariello and Lorenzin announced that they might not join the new FI, while Alfano described himself "differently
berlusconiano". The party's moderates, mainly Christian democrats as Alfano and Lupi (
Roberto Formigoni,
Carlo Giovanardi, etc.) and social democrats (
Fabrizio Cicchitto,
Maurizio Sacconi, etc.), sided with the ministers, while the hawks led by
Daniela Santanchè, most of whom liberals (
Antonio Martino,
Denis Verdini,
Giancarlo Galan,
Renato Brunetta,
Sandro Bondi,
Niccolò Ghedini,
Daniele Capezzone, etc.), supported the exit from the government. On 2 October a confidence vote, called by Prime Minister Letta, revealed the division within party ranks, to the extent that around 70 PdL lawmakers were ready to split to support the government, in case Berlusconi and the party had decided not to do the same. Faced by this ultimatum, Berlusconi made a U-turn few minutes ahead of the vote and subsequently tried a reconciliation process within the party to avoid the split. The outcome was a clear victory for the doves and the "ministerial faction" of the PdL, who continued to serve in the government.
Raffaele Fitto, Christian democrat and leader of the self-proclaimed "loyalists" (the party's mainstream, including
Mariastella Gelmini,
Mara Carfagna, etc.), supported by Galan and Bondi, announced his disagreement with Alfano's political line and proposed a congress to decide the party's positionment, while the floor leaders,
Maurizio Gasparri,
Altero Matteoli,
Paolo Romani and others came out as "mediators". On 25 October, the PdL's executive committee voted to suspend all the party's activities and proposed the transformation of the current party into the new FI. Consequently, all the leadership roles in the PdL were temporarily revoked and a national council was summoned for 16 November. To approve the executive's proposal over the party's future, a 2/3 majority among voting delegates at the national council was required. On 16 November, the PdL was formally dissolved and replaced by the new FI, while a day earlier a group of dissidents, led by Alfano and including all five PdL ministers, had announced the formation of separate parliamentary groups, called
New Centre-Right (NCD). == Ideology and factions ==