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Free and Equal
Liberi e Uguali
LeaderPietro Grasso[a]
Founded3 December 2017 (2017-12-03)
Dissolved13 October 2022 (2022-10-13)
IdeologySocial democracy[1]
Democratic socialism[2][3][4]
Political positionLeft-wing
Website
liberieuguali.it
  1. ^ Leader of the coalition in the 2018 Italian election.

Free and Equal (Italian: Liberi e Uguali, LeU) was a left-wing electoral list and parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies and a sub-group in the Senate, the two houses of the Italian Parliament. LeU was launched on 3 December 2017 as a federation of political parties including Article 1, Italian Left and Possible. The leader of the alliance for the 2018 general election was Pietro Grasso, former President of the Senate and former anti-Mafia prosecutor. The three founding parties left the alliance in late 2018, but LeU continued to exist in Parliament. Following the 2021 Italian government crisis, LeU had a single minister, Roberto Speranza, in the national unity government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

History[edit]

Background[edit]

Since the 2013 leadership election of the Democratic Party (PD), in which Matteo Renzi (a centrist) was elected secretary, the party was riven by an internal struggle between Renzi's large majority (composed of renziani, assorted centrists and moderate social democrats) and the left-wing factions which were very critical of Renzi, his government (2014–2016) and his proposed constitutional reform, which was finally voted down in a constitutional referendum in December 2016.

After the splits of Possible (Pos.) and Future to the Left (FaS), Enrico Rossi (leader of the Democratic Socialists faction and President of Tuscany) and Roberto Speranza (leader of Reformist Area and former PD leader in the Chamber of Deputies) became the leaders of the PD's internal left. They were backed by former DS and PD leaders Massimo D'Alema, Pier Luigi Bersani and Guglielmo Epifani. Rossi and Speranza criticised Renzi on many of his policies and were initially joined by Michele Emiliano, President of Apulia.[5][6] In February 2017, the dissidents (except Emiliano, who stayed in the PD and would unsuccessfully challenge Renzi in the upcoming 2017 leadership election), and a group of SI splinters led by Arturo Scotto (a former DS member too) launched the Article 1 – Democratic and Progressive Movement (MDP), a month after the merger of Left Ecology Freedom (SEL), FaS and minor groups into Italian Left (SI).[7][8][9]

Road to the new alliance[edit]

Soon after the foundation of the MDP, Roberto Speranza (MDP coordinator), Nicola Fratoianni (SI secretary) and Giuseppe Civati (Pos. secretary) discussed the opportunity of forming a left-wing coalition as an alternative to the centre-left led by the PD, the centre-right and the Five Star Movement (M5S).[10]

In the 2017 Sicilian regional election, the three left-wing parties, along with the Communist Refoundation Party, other parties and groups, ran in a joint list named One Hundred Steps for Sicily with Claudio Fava for President. Fava won 6.2% of the vote, the list 5.2% and only Fava was elected deputy in the Regional Assembly.[11]

During a convention in Rome on 3 December 2017, the MDP–SI–Pos alliance was officially established as Free and Equal (LeU) and Pietro Grasso, President of the Senate and former anti-Mafia prosecutor, was appointed leader and candidate for Prime Minister in the 2018 general election.[12][13][14][15] A few weeks later, also Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies (who had been elected as an independent of SEL in 2013), joined LeU.[16][17][18] Another high-profile adherent was Rossella Muroni, who had been the president of Legambiente up to then.[19] In January, LeU was joined also by the Greens of South Tyrol.[20][21]

2018 general election and dissolution[edit]

In January 2018, shortly before the election, some internal conflict started, with Grasso accused to be uncharismatic and uninfluential on alliance politics.[22]

In March, LeU obtained 3.4% of the vote in the general election, well below expectations[23][24] and opinion polls, electing 14 deputies and 4 senators.[25][26]

In May, LeU launched a constituent assembly in Rome with the participation of the MDP, SI and Possible, which agreed on the creation of a party with a single structure and an internal voting system on political issues.[27] In June, the national committee of LeU fixed the founding congress for December.[28] The following day, Beatrice Brignone, who had replaced Civati as secretary of Possible, announced the departure of her party from the alliance.[29]

More internal conflicts broke out between the two remaining parties (MDP and SI) during the summer, especially about political affiliations for the upcoming 2019 European Parliament election and possible alliance with the PD.[30] Between October and December, LeU was successively abandoned by SI[31][32] and the MDP (focused on the formation of a new "red-green" party)[33][34][35] as well as by high-profile members like Boldrini[36] and Muroni.

In January 2019, SI returned into LeU's fold and joined forces with LeU individual members, led by Francesco Laforgia and deputy Luca Pastorino (dissident members of MDP and Possible, respectively), who had formed an association named #Per i molti (For the many), which was later transformed into ÈViva party.[37][38][39] In April the two groups, along with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) and minor parties, formed The Left, a joint list inspired by the Party of the European Left (PEL).[40][41][42][43] Contextually, the MDP, which was renamed simply "Article One" (Art.1), decided to run with the PD, while Possible joined the FdV-led Green Europe (EV).

Government participation[edit]

In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting the Giuseppe Conte's first government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence by the League.[44] During the following government crisis, the national board of the PD officially opened to the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the M5S,[45] based on pro-Europeanism, green economy, sustainable development, fight against economic inequality and a new immigration policy.[46] The party also accepted that Conte might continue at the head of a new government,[47] and on 29 August President Mattarella formally invested Conte to do so.[48] The LeU groups had previously already announced their possible support to Conte's second government,[49] which was finally unveiled in September with the appointment of Speranza as Minister of Health.[50]

Following Conte's resignation in January 2021 and the resulting government crisis, LeU joined Mario Draghi's national unity government, with Speranza keeping his ministerial role. The new government provoked shifts within the group. Italian Left chose not to support Draghi,[51] was deserted by one deputy (Erasmo Palazzotto, who voted in favour and left the party)[52] and one senator (Loredana De Petris, who voted in favour, but remained a member) and was joined by two formerly independent senators (Paola Nugnes, who had been elected with the Five Star Movement (M5S) and later alighed with the Communist Refoundation Party) and Elena Fattori (another former Five Star).[53] Additionally, Rossella Muroni (Green Italia) left the group in order to establish a sub-group of the Federation of the Greens within the Mixed Group instead.[54][55][56][57] In July, Devis Dori, another splinter from the M5S, briefly joined LeU in the Chamber,[58] as, in February 2022, he would join EV instead.[59] In March 2022, also Palazzotto left LeU,[60] leaving it with ten deputies.

Composition[edit]

Founding member parties[edit]

Party Main ideology Leader
Democratic and Progressive Movement (MDP) Social democracy Roberto Speranza
Italian Left (SI) Democratic socialism Nicola Fratoianni
Possible (Pos) Progressivism Giuseppe Civati

Other participating parties[edit]

Party Main ideology Leader/s
Greens of South Tyrol (VGV) Green politics Brigitte Foppa and Hans Heiss
Sicilian Socialist Party (PSS) Democratic socialism Antonio Matasso

Parliamentary groups[edit]

Party Main ideology Deputies Senators Total MPs
Article One (Art.1)[a] Social democracy 7 1 8
èViva[b] Eco-socialism 1 1 2
Italian Left (SI)[c] Democratic socialism 1 0 1
Fatherland and Constitution (PeC)[d] Left-wing nationalism 1 0 1
Independents[e] 0 4 5
Totals 10 6 16
  1. ^ Deputies Pier Luigi Bersani, Federico Conte, Rina De Lorenzo, Federico Fornaro, Roberto Speranza, Nicola Stumpo and Maria Flavia Timbro; Senator Vasco Errani.
  2. ^ Deputy Luca Pastorino; Senator Francesco Laforgia.
  3. ^ Deputy Nicola Fratoianni.
  4. ^ Deputy Stefano Fassina.
  5. ^ Senators Maurizio Buccarella, Loredana De Petris, Pietro Grasso and Sandro Ruotolo.

Election results[edit]

Italian Parliament[edit]

Election Leader Chamber of Deputies Senate of the Republic
Votes % Seats Position Votes % Seats Position
2018 Pietro Grasso 1,114,799 3.39
14 / 630
 6th 991,159 3.28
4 / 315
 6th

Regional Councils[edit]

Region Election year Votes % Seats +/−
Piedmont 2019 46,570 (7th)[a] 2.42
1 / 51
Increase 1
Friuli Venezia Giulia 2018 11,748 (10th) 2.78
1 / 49
Increase 1
Lombardy 2018 111,296 (7th) 2.12
0 / 80
–
South Tyrol 2018 19,391 (4th)[b] 6.86
3 / 35
–
Trentino 2018 3,560 (15th) 1.40
0 / 35
–
Emilia-Romagna 2020 81,419 (6th)[c] 3.77
2 / 50
–
Umbria 2019 6,727 (9th)[d] 1.61
0 / 21
–
Lazio 2018 88,416 (8th) 3.48
1 / 50
Increase 1
Abruzzo 2019 16,614 (9th) 2.77
0 / 31
–
Molise 2018 4,784 (10th) 3.39
0 / 21
–
Sicily 2017 100,583 (9th) 5.23
1 / 70
Increase 1
Sardinia 2019 27,077 (9th) 3.79
2 / 60
Increase 2
  1. ^ In a joint list with FdV.
  2. ^ As the Greens.
  3. ^ As Brave Emilia-Romagna.
  4. ^ As Green Civic Left with PRC.

Symbols[edit]

  • 2017–2018
    2017–2018
  • 2018–2022
    2018–2022

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cambia nome, ma è sempre socialdemocrazia".
  2. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Italy". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Iniziativa sul socialismo organizzata da LEU".
  4. ^ "Leu: Rossi, nostro compito è costruire partito ispirato a socialismo". Adnkronos. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  5. ^ "La contro-assemblea di Emiliano, Rossi e Speranza: "Insieme sabato a Roma". La minoranza andrà da Renzi domenica". 15 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Pd, la minoranza sfida Renzi. Guerini ribatte: "Ultimatum non ricevibili"". 18 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Sinistra Italiana nasce scissa, Fratoianni verso l'incoronazione da leader: "Con Renzi porte chiuse".
  8. ^ "Sinistra Italiana, a Rimini il battesimo del nuovo partito".
  9. ^ "La sinistra dalla questione morale a quella nominale".
  10. ^ "RICOMINCIO DA TRE". 11 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Dal comitato di Fava: "Soddisfazione per il superamento della soglia di sbarramento del 5%"". CataniaToday.
  12. ^ "Liberi e uguali, Grasso: 'Ecco la nuova sinistra' - Politica". 3 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Sinistra, Grasso lancia 'Liberi e uguali': "Pd mi ha offerto incarichi ma i calcoli non fanno per me"". 3 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Pietro Grasso sarà il leader della sinistra - Il Post". 3 December 2017.
  15. ^ "il manifesto". ilmanifesto.it. 3 December 2017.
  16. ^ Politica, Redazione (22 December 2017). "Boldrini al fianco di Grasso in Liberi e Uguali: "Saremo il nuovo centrosinistra" Video".
  17. ^ "Boldrini annuncia la sua candidatura con "Liberi e uguali": "E' il momento di scegliere la strada"". 22 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Il partito dei presidenti". 22 December 2017.
  19. ^ "LeU: Rossella Muroni lascia Legambiente per affiancare Grasso".
  20. ^ "Bolzano. I Verdi dell'Alto Adige Südtirol correranno con LeU, ecco gli otto candidati".
  21. ^ "In Alto Adige i Verdi hanno deciso di entrare in Liberi e Uguali".
  22. ^ "Altro che libero e uguale: Grasso è già all'angolo. E D'Alema e Bersani fanno le liste". Linkiesta. 10 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Grasso lancia la "Cosa rossa". D'Alema: "Puntiamo al 10%""". www.iltempo.it.
  24. ^ LeU, D'Alema: "Puntiamo a risultato a due cifre, niente inciuci". Agi.it. 21 January 2018.
  25. ^ "Eligendo: Camera". elezioni.interno.gov.it (in Italian). 4 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Eligendo: Senato". elezioni.interno.gov.it (in Italian). 4 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  27. ^ Cangemi, Annalisa (15 May 2018). "LeU verso l'assemblea nazionale il 26 maggio. Mdp: "Facciamo un partito unico"". Fanpage.it.
  28. ^ affaritaliani.it, ed. (13 June 2018). "Leu: congresso fondativo entro 15 dicembre".
  29. ^ "Sinistra, Brignone: Possibile fuori da partito unico, buon lavoro a costituente Leu". Possibile. 14 June 2018.
  30. ^ Preziosi, Daniela (12 August 2018). il Manifesto (ed.). "L'estate dello scontento di Leu".
  31. ^ "'Goodbye LeU': Sinistra Italiana scarica Mdp e guarda a De Magistris".
  32. ^ "Leu, esperienza finita. Mdp e Sinistra italiana si lasciano. Speranza: "Ora una sinistra di governo".
  33. ^ "Una forza rosso-verde per garantire l'alternativa alla nuova destra".
  34. ^ "Mdp si fa rosso-verde, il 16 dicembre a Roma".
  35. ^ "Mdp esce da Liberi e Uguali. Le scissioni, la sinistra e la meccanica quantistica".
  36. ^ "Boldrini rompe con Leu: «Progetto senza futuro», la replica: «Trattati come autobus elettorale»".
  37. ^ "Liberi e Uguali si riunisce alla Casa del Popolo di San Bartolo a Cintoia"
  38. ^ "Costituita associazione per nascita partito di sinistra".
  39. ^ "Sinistra, a 100 giorni dalle Europee si provano a definire liste e alleanze".
  40. ^ "Il manifesto – Acerbo: "Basta rifugiarsi nel Pd, ora Sinistra italiana stia con noi"".
  41. ^ "Europee, vince "La Sinistra": scelto online il nome degli eredi della lista Tsipras". Repubblica.it. 3 April 2019.
  42. ^ "La sinistra» ora in cerca di donne per le europee". 4 April 2019.
  43. ^ "Europee, Laforgia-Pastorino: "Adesione alla lista La Sinistra"". 6 April 2019.
  44. ^ Horowitz, Jason (20 August 2019). "Italy's Government Collapses, Turning Chaos Into Crisis". The New York Times.
  45. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (20 August 2019). "Italian PM resigns with attack on 'opportunist' Salvini". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  46. ^ "Governo, Zingaretti: "I 5 punti per trattare con il M5S. No accordicchi, governo di svolta"". Repubblica.it. 21 August 2019.
  47. ^ "Conte wins crucial support for new Italian govt coalition". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019.
  48. ^ "Il Presidente Mattarella ha conferito l'incarico al Prof. Conte di formare il Governo". Quirinale (in Italian). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  49. ^ "Grasso, possibile intesa M5s-Pd-Leu - Ultima Ora". Agenzia ANSA. 19 August 2019.
  50. ^ Roberto Speranza nuovo ministro della salute
  51. ^ "Governo Draghi, assemblea di Sinistra Italiana: voto contro la fiducia. Ma De Petris e Palazzotto non condividono: "Noi siamo per il sì"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  52. ^ "Erasmo Palazzotto lascia Sinistra italiana: "E' un errore politico non votare la fiducia a Draghi"". 17 February 2021.
  53. ^ "Senato, le ex-grilline Paola Nugnes ed Elena Fattori aderiscono a Sinistra Italiana" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  54. ^ "Rossella Muroni: "Lascio Leu e rifondo i Verdi in Parlamento"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  55. ^ "Camera, Muroni lascia Leu e passa al Misto per far rinascere i Verdi - Ambiente & Energia". 3 March 2021.
  56. ^ "Muroni, Fioramonti e Fusacchia riportano i Verdi in Parlamento. Bonelli: "Cediamo il simbolo, altri deputati in arrivo"". 3 March 2021.
  57. ^ "Muroni "Leu non ha fatto il salto. Lascio e rifondo i Verdi in Parlamento"". 3 March 2021.
  58. ^ "M5S, altro addio alla Camera: deputato Dori passa a Leu". Adnkronos (in Italian). 10 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  59. ^ "Il deputato bergamasco Dori lascia Leu per Europa Verde". 17 February 2022.
  60. ^ "Palazzotto: "Lascio Leu e entro nel Pd, no all'equidistanza, sì alla diplomazia"". 12 March 2022.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_Equal_(Italy)