The Liberal Populars (''Popolari Liberali'') were a short-lived

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

(2008–2009), which currently functions as an internal faction of

Identity and Action Identity and Action ( it, Identità e Azione, 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 In ...

(IdeA).

History

Originally a faction within the

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, 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. Lore ...

(UDC), the PL were launched in February 2007 and named that way in October. Its leaders were

Carlo Giovanardi Carlo Amedeo Giovanardi (born 15 January 1950, in Modena) is an Italian politician, former member of the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate, and leader of the social conservatism, socially conservative wing of the New Centre-Right party. ...

and Emerenzio Barbieri, who wanted closer ties with

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

's Forza Italia and the other parties of the House of Freedoms coalition, including Lega Nord. In April Giovanardi's bid to become secretary of the UDC had been supported by the 13.8% of the vote during a party congress. When, on 18 November 2007, Berlusconi proposed the formation of

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

(PdL) party, Giovanardi suddenly hinted that he could leave UDC and join the new party. That finally happened on 4 February 2008, citing that the 72% of UDC voters would be interested in voting the PdL. UDC members who followed Giovanardi included

Vito Bonsignore Vito Bonsignore (born 3 July 1943 in Bronte, Catania, Sicily) is an Politics of Italy, Italian politician. Biography Bonsignore graduated in economics and commerce in Messina, he was manager of the Turin-Alessandria-Piacenza (SATAP) Autostrade pe ...

, Tomaso Zanoletti,

Luigi Compagna is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's ma ...

, Giuseppe Galati, Francesco Lucchese, Alfredo Meocci and

Francesco Massi Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...

. The PL were joined also by

Riccardo Conti Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader". It may refer to: People A–L *Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker *Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) ...

, a former UDC member who was then in Middle Italy. In early April PL announced an alliance, within the PdL, with Gianfranco Rotondi's

Christian Democracy for the Autonomies Christian Democracy for the Autonomies ( it, Democrazia Cristiana per le Autonomie, DCA) was a minor Christian-democratic political party in Italy. History DCA was founded on 25 October 2004 by a split from the Union of Christian and Centre Dem ...

. In the 2008 general election the party got two deputies and two senators elected in the PdL's lists. After the election, Giovanardi was appointed Undersecretary in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. On 29 March 2009 the party was merged into the PdL, during the first PdL's congress, and was converted into a faction. On 15 November 2013 the PL left the PdL in order to join the newly formed

New Centre-Right New Centre-Right ( it, Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's transformation into Forza Ita ...

(NCD) party. On 26 November 2015 the PL left the NCD. A month later the party joined

(IdeA).

References

External links

Official website
{{New Centre-Right factions Defunct political parties in Italy Political party factions in Italy Political parties established in 2008 Catholic political parties Christian democratic parties in Italy