House of Freedoms

House of Freedoms
La Casa delle Libertà
Italian National Coalition
Leader	Silvio Berlusconi
Political ideology	Center-right
Website
See also	Politics of Italy

Casa delle Libertà (CDL; Italian for House of Freedoms), is a major Italian center-right political alliance led by national media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. It is composed of several political parties:

• Forza Italia
• National Alliance
• Lega Nord (Northern League)
• Movement for Autonomy
• Christian Democracy for the Autonomies
• New Italian Socialist Party
• Italian Republican Party
• Liberal Reformers

The Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, Italian Republican Party and New Italian Socialist Party were once part of the coalition but have since left

The alliance won the 1994 general elections under the name Polo delle Libertà, but the resulting government was short-lived, as the Northern League withdrew their support and went to opposition. Particularly unstable had been the relationship within the populist, separatist Lega Nord movement and the neo-fascist, pro-central government Alleanza Nazionale. As such, the first Berlusconi government lasted only nine months.

After a five-year left-wing government, Berlusconi managed to keep at bay some of the most uncompromising Lega Nord proposals and won the 2001 general election, this time with a view to create a stable government. It sought to undermine the proportionality rules of the Italian Additional Member System of elections by running many of its constituency candidates under a decoy list called Abolizione Scorporo, a title which explicitly stated its opposition to the counting rules; its tactic largely worked because it had more support than the leftist United in the Olive Tree (Uniti nell'Ulivo) alliance.

In 2003 House of Freedoms was routed in local elections by the Olive Tree alliance, and the League threatened to pull out of the House of Freedoms. In 2005, once again, House of Freedoms was severely routed in regional elections, losing six of eight Italian regions. This led to a crisis of the government, particularly after the UDC pulled its four ministers out. A few weeks later, a new government was formed on April 23, 2005 with the same six parties (FI, AN, LN, UDC, NPSI, PRI) and a minor Cabinet reshuffle (Berlusconi III Cabinet).

Inclusion of neo-fascist movements

In February 2006, two months ahead of the general elections of 2006, UDC secretary Lorenzo Cesa and others protested against the inclusion of neo-fascists such as Adriano Tilgher, Roberto Fiore, Alessandra Mussolini, Gaetano Saya and Pino Rauti in the alliance, branding them impresentabili (unsuitable).

It appeared for some time that these neo-fascist leading figures were going to receive a few almost-guaranteed seats in the Parliament on Forza Italia's ticket. [1], as claimed by political opposers, while Berlusconi definitely ruled out this possibility. [2]

Berlusconi confirmed negotiating with Alessandra Mussolini (Benito Mussolini's granddaughter), but claimed he would request her not to include people like Tilgher and Fiore. [3]. Mussolini had previously contended she would not accept any veto. Berlusconi had been photographed with Gaetano Saya's wife, who is also secretary of an extremist neo-fascist party that claims to have such an agreement with the House of Freedoms. [4]

Eventually, Mussolini declared that neither she nor other neo-fascists would be candidates, but her alliance of neo-fascist movements, Alternativa Sociale, would support the House of Freedoms. [5]

Results in the 2006 Senate election

	House of Freedoms (Casa delle Libertà)
Party		Votes		%			Seats		Areas contested
Election Symbol:	Party name:	Italy:	Abroad:	Italy:	Abroad:	Areas contested:	Italy:	Abroad:	Italy:	Abroad:
	Forza Italia	8,201,688	185,438	23.56	21.07	?	78	1
	National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale)	4,234,693		12.17		?	41
	Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e dei Democratici di Centro)	2,311,448	57,200	6.64	6.50	?	21	0
	Northern League - Movement for Autonomy (Lega Nord - Movimento per l'Autonomia)	1,531,939	18,455	4.40	2.10	?	13	0
	Tricolour Flame (Fiamma Tricolore)	219,707	8,433	0.63	0.96	?	0	0
	Social Alternative (Alternativa Sociale)	215,668		0.62		?	0
	Christian Democracy-New PSI (DC-Nuovo PSI)	190,724		0.55		?	0
	United Pensioners (Pensionati Uniti)	61,824		0.18		?	0
	Italian Republican Party (Partito Repubblicano Italiano)	45,133		0.13		?	0
	Environmental List-Ecological Democrats (Ambienta-Lista - Ecologisti Democratici)	37,656		0.11		?	0
	New Sicily (Nuova Sicilia)	33,437		0.10		?	0
	No Euro Movement (No Euro)	30,515		0.09		?	0
	Pact for Sicily (Patto per la Sicilia)	20,833		0.06		?	0
	Italian Liberal Party (Partito Liberale Italiano)	15,762		0.05		?	0
	Forza Italia-National Alliance (Forza Italia-Alleanza Nazionale)	11,505		0.03		?	0
	Christian Extended Pact (Patto Cristiano Esteso)	9,730		0.03		?	0
	Liberal Reformers (Riformatori Liberali)	7,668		0.02		?	0
	S.O.S. Italy (S.O.S. Italia)	4,963		0.01		?	0
	For Italy in the World (Per Italia nel Mondo)		63.474		7.11	7.11		0
	House of Freedoms (Casa delle Libertà)	175,137		0.50		?	2
Total:		17,359,754	333,000	49.87	37.84	?	155	1

Political parties in Italy (complete version, historical parties)
The Union	Democratic Party – Communist Refoundation Party – Democratic Left Minor: Party of Italian Communists – Italy of Values – Federation of the Greens – UDEUR Populars – Italian Democratic Socialists – Italian Radicals Micro: Liberal Democrats – Democratic Union – Italian Democratic Socialist Party – United Consumers Regional: South Tyrolean People's Party – Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party – Valdotanian Renewal
House of Freedoms	Forza Italia – National Alliance – Union of Christian and Centre Democrats – Lega Nord Minor: The Right – Christian Democracy for the Autonomies – Movement for Autonomy – Pensioners' Party – Tricolour Flame – Social Action Micro: Italian Republican Party – Liberal Reformers – New Italian Socialist Party – Italians in the World Regional: Veneto for the EPP – Sardinian Reformers – Sardinian People's Party – Sardinian Democratic Union – New Sicily
Others	Micro: Italian Associations in South America – Socialist Party Regional: Valdotanian Union – Edelweiss Aosta Valley – Autonomist Federation – Union for South Tyrol – The Libertarians – North-East Project – Sardinian Action Party Complete list
- List of political parties - Politics of Italy

Donate to Wikimedia