Italian Liberal Party (2004)
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The Italian Liberal Party (; PLI) is a minor liberal
political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...
, which considers itself to be the successor of the original
Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...
(PLI), the Italian main centre-right liberal party that was active in different capacities from 1922 to 1994. Originally named the Liberal Party (), the new PLI changed its name in 2004. It is not represented in the
Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...
.


History


Foundation and early years

In July 1997 former members of the
Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...
(PLI) and, mostly, of the Union of the Centre (UdC), that is to say PLI's main successor, as well as some former
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
formed the Liberal Party (PL). Most of its leading figures were also members of
Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...
(FI): Stefano De Luca,
Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Se ...
, Egidio Sterpa, Ernesto Caccavale, Luigi Caligaris and Guglielmo Castagnetti. Scognamiglio was a former
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...
(1994–96), De Luca, Caccavale and Caligaris
MEPs A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...
, while Sterpa would have been elected to the Chamber of Deputies for FI in 2001. In December 2004 the party was merged with other liberal groups and, as result, its name was changed to Italian Liberal Party (PLI), along with the claim of being the successor of the historical PLI, disbanded in 1994. At that point the party was completely enfranchised from FI and the centre-right
House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms (, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/ Pole of Good Government and the Pole for Freedoms. The former ...
coalition, even though Sterpa continued to be a deputy within FI's parliamentary group. In the
2006 Italian general election The 2006 Italian general election was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freed ...
the PLI shortly rejoined the House of Freedoms. Being present only in a few regions, it obtained 0.3% of the vote.


Enlargement of the party

In June 2007, during a party congress, the PLI reaffirmed its autonomy and De Luca was unanimously re-elected secretary. Additionally, some leading former Liberals joined (or re-joined) the party: Carlo Scognamiglio ( PLD), Luigi Compagna ( UDC) and
Luciano Magnalbò Luciano is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese given name and surname. It is derived from Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of ''Lucius'' ("Light"). The French form is ''Lucien'', while the Basque form is '' Luken''. Single name *Luciano (rapper ...
( DLI/ AN). For the 2008 general election the PLI tried to form an electoral pact with the
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre (, UdC), whose complete name is Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lorenzo Cesa is the part ...
(UDC), but finally chose to run as a stand-alone list. Running in a few constituencies, the party obtained 0.3% of the vote and no seats. In February 2009 the PLI held another congress. Arturo Diaconale, supported by Angelo Caniglia, a group of Liberal Reformers (including
Marco Taradash Marco Taradash (born 19 May 1950) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Marco Taradash was born in Livorno on 19 May 1950 from a Tuscan mother and a New Yorker father, who came to Italy with the allied army. The surname has a Ukrain ...
, Emilia Rossi, Carlo Monaco and Pietro Milio) and other newcomers, presented his candidacy for secretary in opposition to De Luca, who was supported by the old guard and by
Paolo Guzzanti Paolo Guzzanti (born 1 August 1940) is an Italian journalist and politician. Early life Born in Rome, Guzzanti is the nephew of Elio Guzzanti and father to actors Corrado, Sabina, and Caterina. As a journalist, he worked for '' Avanti!'', '' ...
, a dissenting member of Forza Italia and former
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
. De Luca was re-elected with the support of 73% of the delegates, Guzzanti was appointed deputy secretary and Scognamiglio president. Diaconale left the party and would later revive the Italian Liberal Right (DLI), along with Giuseppe Basini. In December 2010 Guzzanti left the party over personal problems with De Luca and became briefly engaged with the New Pole for Italy (NPI). In March 2011 the party was joined by two former secretaries of the old PLI,
Alfredo Biondi Alfredo Biondi (29 June 1928 – 24 June 2020) was an Italian politician and lawyer. In 1994 he served as Italian Minister of Justice, Minister of Justice of the Italian Republic during the first cabinet chaired by Silvio Berlusconi. Biography B ...
, who had represented FI in Parliament from 1994 to 2006, and
Renato Altissimo Renato Altissimo (4 October 1940 – 17 April 2015) was an Italian politician and minister. Biography He was born in Portogruaro, near Venice. Altissimo was a member of the Italian Liberal Party (''Partito Liberale Italiano''; PLI), a small pa ...
.


Back in Parliament

In 2011 the PLI was joined by Enrico Musso, a senator of
The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...
(PdL), who was soon appointed deputy secretary of party. Through Musso the party re-joined the NPI. In November 2011 five disgruntled deputies of the PdL ( Roberto Antonione, Giustina Destro, Fabio Gava, Giancarlo Pittelli, who later left, and Luciano Sardelli) joined the party through the Liberals for Italy (LpI). Another former member of the PdL, Angelo Santori, joined the "Liberals for Italy–PLI" sub-group in April 2012. In March 2012, in the run-up of a congress, Scognamiglio, Biondi and Altissimo proposed Musso as new secretary and De Luca as president. The proposal was not well received by the party's old guard and, not only De Luca was barely re-elected secretary, but Scognamiglio was replaced as president by Enzo Palumbo. In the 2012 municipal election in
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, Musso obtained 15.0% of the vote in the first round, as joint NPI candidate, and 40.3% in the run-off, losing to Marco Doria. In November 2012, a group of deputies ( Isabella Bertolini, Gaetano Pecorella, Giorgio Stracquadanio (who had left earlier), Franco Stradella and Roberto Tortoli) broke away from the PdL and formed Free Italy (IL). According to Bertolini, the reason for the split was the attitude of the PdL toward
Mario Monti Mario Monti (; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian politician, economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a Technocratic government (Italy), technocratic government in the wake of the European sov ...
's
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
, as the party approved all government measures but at the same time bitterly contested them in public communication. In December 2012 the LpI–PLI joined forces with IL and formed a 10-strong sub-group. In the 2013 general election, the PLI ran with the wording "Liberals for Italy", getting 0.1% of the vote. In June 2013 Guzzanti re-joined the PLI and was soon elected at the head of the party's national council. In February 2014 several disillusioned members or former members of the party, including Altissimo, Biondi, Musso and Scognamiglio, plus
Edoardo Croci Edoardo Croci (born 15 November 1961, Milan) is an Italian environmentalist and politician. Ecopass As Milan city Councilor for Mobility, Transport and the Environment, he introduced an innovative urban road pricing toll, related to fine dust emi ...
,
Giuliano Urbani Giuliano Urbani (born 9 June 1937) is an Italian academic and politician. He was the minister of cultural heritage from 2001 to 2005. Early life Urbani was born in Perugia, Umbria, on 9 June 1937. Career and activities Urbani is an academic by ...
and Alessandro Ortis, launched The Liberals as an alternative to the PLI, but the new group acted more as think tank than an actual party. In the run-up of 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 PLI joined the
European Choice European Choice (, SE) was a pro-European and primarily liberal electoral alliance of political parties in Italy formed to contest the 2014 European election on a platform influenced heavily by the Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt. History The lis ...
(SE) list, led by
Civic Choice Civic Choice (; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his political agenda. In t ...
(SC). This decision, strongly supported by De Luca, prompted Guzzanti to leave the party and stand as candidate for the newly-reformed
Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...
(FI), and eventually De Luca to step down as secretary. In October 2014, during a party congress, the PLI elected a new leadership, notably including Giancarlo Morandi as secretary, De Luca president and Daniele Toto, a former deputy of the PdL and
Future and Freedom Future and Freedom (), whose full name was Future and Freedom for Italy (''Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia'', abbreviated to FLI), was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, comprising both liberal conservatism, liberal an ...
(FLI), coordinator. The day after the congress, the PLI mourned the death of Carla Martino, long-time president of the party, later honorary president and sister of FI's leading liberal
Antonio Martino Antonio Martino (22 December 1942 – 5 March 2022) was an Italian politician. A founding member of Forza Italia, he served as the minister of foreign affairs in 1994 and minister of defense from 2001 to 2006. Life and career Born in Messina ...
. In November Ivan Catalano, a dissident deputy of the
Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( , M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily d ...
(M5S), joined the PLI, marking its return to Parliament. A few months later, in March 2015, Catalano was expelled from the party for having joined the parliamentary group of SC.


From centre to centre-right

In the 2016 municipal election in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
the PLI, which supported
Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...
of
Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...
(FdI) for mayor, obtained 0.9% of the vote. In December 2016 Cinzia Bonfrisco (ex-
PSI Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ or ψ), the twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviat ...
/ FI/ PdL/ FI/ CoR) joined the PLI, giving it representation in the Senate. In May 2017 the party's congress re-elected Morandi and De Luca as secretary and president, respectively. Additionally, Scognamiglio and Basini were appointed honorary presidents. Scognamiglio's election marked the return into the party of most of The Liberals, while Basini's the return of the "Liberal Right" or "National-Liberal" faction. Also in May, Bonfrisco was a founding member, along with
Identity and Action Identity and Action (, IDeA) is a conservative political party in Italy, whose membership stretches from Christian democracy to liberal conservatism. The party's leader is Gaetano Quagliariello, a former minister for Institutional Reforms. Hist ...
(IdeA), of the moderate centre-right
Federation of Freedom Federation of Freedom (, FdL) was a centre-right parliamentary group in the Italian Senate. The group was formed in May 2017 by five defectors from the Great Autonomies and Freedom (GAL) group, including four of Identity and Action (IdeA) and o ...
(FdL) group. In the run-up of the 2018 general election the PLI officially joined the
centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed the party. It has mostly competed with the centre-left c ...
, through an electoral agreement with
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). The LN, rebranded simply as "Lega", obtained 17.4% of the vote and two Liberals were elected from its slates: Basini to the Chamber and Bonfrisco to the Senate, both from
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
. Also De Luca stood as a candidate (he headed Lega's list in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
), but was not elected. Soon as in 2009 the PLI's alignment with the Lega was no longer fully clear, but Basini continued to sit within the party's group in the Chamber and Bonfrisco was elected to the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
in the
2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...
. The PLI's congress was supposed to be held in late 2019, but was later postponed. In March 2020 the congress was finally held. Secretary Morandi left the party a few days before the assembly was convened in Rome. After the congress, the new leadership still included De Luca as president and Scognamiglio as honorary president, while those members who had been more involved in the alliance with the Lega, notably including the other incumbent honorary president, senator Basini, were no longer mentioned in the party's website. Morandi was replaced by a three-person secretariat, composed of Nicola Fortuna,
Claudio Gentile Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...
and
Roberto Sorcinelli Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...
. Basini and Bonfrisco revived the DLI as an associate party of the LN and then of
Lega per Salvini Premier Lega (), whose official name is Lega per Salvini Premier (, LSP or LpSP), is a right-wing populist political party in Italy, led by Matteo Salvini. The LSP is the informal successor of Lega Nord (, LN). The LSP was established in December 20 ...
(LSP). In July 2022 the party's council removed president De Luca and co-secretary Fortuna, who supported an electoral pact with
Action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
, in order to pursue an alliance with the centre-right. De Luca was replaced by Francesco Pasquali, while Sorcinelli became the party's sole secretary. De Luca deemed the conuncil's convocation and deliberation as illegitimate and his associate Giulia Pantaleo, leader of the Italian Liberal Youth, tried to register the symbol of the PLI on De Luca's behalf: the request was rejected in favour of Sorcinelli's PLI. In the 2022 general election the PLI supported FI, but former prosecutor
Carlo Nordio Carlo Nordio (born 6 February 1947) is an Italian politician, former magistrate and prosecutor, who is serving as Italian Minister of Justice since 22 October 2022, in Giorgia Meloni's government. In the 2022 Italian presidential election he was ...
, a leading member of the party, was a successful candidate for the
Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...
(FdI) in
Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
. A few days before the election, during a party congress, Sorcinelli and Pasquali were confirmed as secretary and president, respectively. In June 2023 Guzzanti returned to the party and was appointed deputy secretary.


Leadership

*Secretary: Stefano De Luca (1997–2014), Giancarlo Morandi (2014–2020), Nicola Fortuna (2020–2022),
Claudio Gentile Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...
(2020–2022),
Roberto Sorcinelli Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...
(2020–present) **Deputy Secretary: Luigi Compagna (1997–2004), Attilio Bastianini (2000–2004), Savino Melillo (2000–2004), Salvatore Grillo (2007–2008),
Paolo Guzzanti Paolo Guzzanti (born 1 August 1940) is an Italian journalist and politician. Early life Born in Rome, Guzzanti is the nephew of Elio Guzzanti and father to actors Corrado, Sabina, and Caterina. As a journalist, he worked for '' Avanti!'', '' ...
(2009–2010), Enrico Musso (2011–2012), Simone Santucci (2016), Giuseppe Zecchillo (2022–2023),
Paolo Guzzanti Paolo Guzzanti (born 1 August 1940) is an Italian journalist and politician. Early life Born in Rome, Guzzanti is the nephew of Elio Guzzanti and father to actors Corrado, Sabina, and Caterina. As a journalist, he worked for '' Avanti!'', '' ...
(2023–present) **Coordinator: Angelo Caniglia (2008–2009), Roberto Petrassi (2009–2010), Mario Caputi (2010–2012), Edoardo De Blasio (2013–2014), Daniele Toto (2014–2015), Massimo Rodighiero (2022–present) **Treasurer: Savino Melillo (2007–2008),
Maurizio Irti Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''. List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music * Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945), ...
(2010–2012), Giancarlo Morandi (2012–2014), Claudio Vitali (2014–2020), Francesco Pasquali (2020–present) *President: Egidio Sterpa (1997–2000), Carla Martino (2000–2009),
Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Se ...
(2009–2012), Enzo Palumbo (2012–2014), Stefano De Luca (2014–2022), Francesco Pasquali (2022–present) *President of the National Council: Giuseppe Basini (2004–2008),
Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Se ...
(2008–2009), Enzo Palumbo (2009–2012), Renata Jannuzzi (2012–2013),
Paolo Guzzanti Paolo Guzzanti (born 1 August 1940) is an Italian journalist and politician. Early life Born in Rome, Guzzanti is the nephew of Elio Guzzanti and father to actors Corrado, Sabina, and Caterina. As a journalist, he worked for '' Avanti!'', '' ...
(2013–2014), Antonio Pileggi (2014–2018), Giuseppe Basini (2018–2020), Antonio Vox (2020), Diego Di Pierro (2022–present) *Honorary President: Gianfranco Ciaurro (1997–2000), Carla Martino (2009–2014), Giuseppe Basini (2017–2020),
Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Se ...
(2017–2022)


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Liberal Party (Current) Classical liberal parties Conservative liberal parties Liberal parties in Italy 1997 establishments in Italy Political parties established in 1997