Left and Freedom SEL was formed as an alliance called
Left and Freedom (
Sinistra e Libertà, SL) in the run up to the
2009 European Parliament election in order to overcome the 4%
threshold introduced by the new electoral law in February 2009. However, Francescato and her faction decided to keep supporting SL as
Ecologists with Left Ecology Freedom and leave the Greens. SL was also weakened by the split occurred within PS, when the
United Socialists, who were opposed to the integration of PS into SL, walked out. Finally in November SL was hit by the sudden opt-out of the whole PS. Since November 2009 SL was thus composed of MpS, SD, UlS, the Ecologists and
Socialism and Left, a small minority of PS that wanted to continue the experience of SL. In December SL was officially launched as a party, and Vendola was elected spokesperson. After an important meeting in September in
Naples, where it was decided to add "Ecology" to the party's name, in December 2009
Left Ecology and Freedom (SEL) held a constituent assembly in
Rome. The new symbol was presented and Vendola was confirmed as spokesperson. SEL, often in coalition with the PS, did well in the
2010 regional elections, especially in
Central and
Southern Italy. Overall, SEL won 3.0% of the vote, with the PS at 0.7% and the Greens at 0.2%. In the
Apulian election Vendola was re-elected President of the Region and trailed SEL to 9.7%, its best regional result. during the party's first congress in
Florence. The party was officially founded in a congress in
Florence on 22–24 October 2010. Vendola was elected president.
Road to the 2013 general election In 2011 and 2012, the party offered a strong competition to the
Democratic Party (PD) in coalition primaries in many cities. In May 2011
Giuliano Pisapia and
Massimo Zedda, who had been supported by SEL in primaries, were elected mayors of
Milan and
Cagliari, respectively. The party gained 5% in Milan, 6% in
Turin, 10% in
Bologna, 6% in
Trieste, 4% in
Naples and 7% in Cagliari. In occasion of the
2011 referendums of June 2011 (on the abrogation of a law allowing the construction of nuclear power plants in Italy, the abrogation of a law allowing the
privatisation of water management and the abrogation of so-called "legitimate impediment"), SEL gave full support to the "yes" committees. In May 2012,
Marco Doria, another independent close to SEL, was elected Mayor of
Genoa. In August 2012, Vendola announced his bid for the
primary election in order to select the candidate for Prime Minister of the PD-led
centre-left coalition in the
2013 general election. On 25 November of the same year, Vendola won 15.6% of the vote and came third behind Democrats
Pier Luigi Bersani (44.9%) and
Matteo Renzi (35.5%). In the run-off Vendola supported Bersani, who defeated Renzi 60.9% to 39.1%. SEL selected its candidates for the election through a closed primary in December 2012.
2013 general election In the
2013 general election, which took place in February 2013, the party was part of the centre-left
Italy. Common Good coalition, which supported PD leader
Pier Luigi Bersani as candidate for
Prime Minister. In the election SEL won 3.2% of the vote, returning 37 deputies and 7 senators. In its
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol's list SEL included some representatives of the
Greens of South Tyrol: one of them,
Florian Kronbichler, was elected to the Chamber. On 16 March 2013,
Laura Boldrini, an independent member of SEL, was elected
President of the Chamber of Deputies. In September 2013, SEL expressed its intention to join the
Party of European Socialists (PES), however in January 2014, the party finally endorsed
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Greek
Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) and standard-bearer of the
Party of European Left in the
2014 European Parliament election, as their chosen candidate for
President of the European Commission, and contested the election within
The Other Europe electoral list.
2014 European Parliament election Ahead of the
2014 European Parliament election the party participated in the formation of a left-wing joint list,
The Other Europe, which was endorsed by
Alexis Tsipras and included several intellectuals and the
Communist Refoundation Party. In the election the list obtained 4.0% of the vote and 3 MEPs. Right after the election, the party suffered a severe split in its parliamentary ranks as 12 deputies out of 37, including the floor leader
Gennaro Migliore (who was replaced by
Nicola Fratoianni and, soon after,
Arturo Scotto), left the party over disagreements with the party's line and started to support the
Renzi Cabinet. The bulk of the splinters joined forces in
Freedom and Rights – European Socialists, while some others directly joined Renzi's
Democratic Party.
Dissolution into Italian Left In November 2015, SEL formed a joint parliamentary group in the Chamber, named
Italian Left (SI), with splinters from the PD (see
Future to the Left) and other parties. In February 2016, SI held its constituent assembly in Rome, where it was announced that SI will be founded as a full-fledged party in December. In March 2016, SI was established as a sub-group within the
Mixed Group in the Senate: five SEL senators joined, while other two (including
Sardist Luciano Uras) refused to do so. On 17 December 2016, SEL was merged into SI, which would be officially launched as a party in early 2017. ==Electoral results==