Protagonist Right (''Destra Protagonista'') was a
national-conservative
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
faction within
National Alliance, a
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 ...
.
The faction was founded in July 1999 by the followers of
Giuseppe Tatarella, one of the party's charismatic leader who had died in February of that year. The faction was very close to
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 ...
, leader of
Forza Italia and the
People of Freedom/
House of Freedoms coalition, and it was somewhat critical to
Gianfranco Fini, leader of National Alliance, instead. Its main members included
Ignazio La Russa
Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa (born 18 July 1947) is an Italian politician who is serving as President of the Senate of the Republic since 13 October 2022. He is the first politician with a neo-fascist background to hold the position of Presid ...
,
Maurizio Gasparri
Maurizio Gasparri (Rome, 18 July 1956) is an Italian politician.
Gasparri was member of the Italian Social Movement and National Alliance. During the course of his career he has served as Minister of Communications (2001 to 2005 in the Ber ...
,
Mario Landolfi
Mario Landolfi (born 6 June 1959) is an Italian politician, served as a member of the parliament and minister of communications.
Early life
Landolfi was born in Mondragone, the province of Caserta, on 6 June 1959.
Career
Landolfi was a council ...
,
Salvatore Tatarella and
Italo Bocchino
Italo Bocchino (born 6 July 1967) is an Italian politician and journalist.
Biography
Bocchino was born in Naples, and in his youth, he was a member of the Italian Social Movement (a post-fascist formation) and worked as a spokesman for the mem ...
.
Protagonist Right was the party's largest faction and in the 2002 congress had more than 40% of the delegates.
Since National Alliance's merger into
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 ...
, most members of the faction conclusively distanced from Fini and became some of the staunchest supporters of Berlusconi. Only a minority, led by Bocchino and Tatarella, joined
Generation Italy Generation Italy (''Generazione Italia'', GI) or ''Finiani'' was an association connected to Future and Freedom (FLI), a political party in Italy, and earlier to The People of Freedom (PdL).
Although most of its members came from the conservative ...
and finally followed Fini out of the party into
Future and Freedom
Future and Freedom ( it, Futuro e Libertà), whose full name was Future and Freedom for Italy (''Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia'', abbreviated to FLI), was a political party in Italy, comprising both liberal and national conservative elements.
F ...
. Within The People of Freedom, Gasparri launched
Protagonist Italy as a successor of the old faction, while La Russa started to strengthen its power base especially in the North through
Our Right.
In 2012 La Russa left The People of Freedom to form
Brothers of Italy
Brothers of Italy ( it, Fratelli d'Italia, FdI) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Italy. It is led by Giorgia Meloni, the incumbent Prime Minister of Italy and the first woman to serve in the position. Acco ...
, a minor right-wing ally of The People of Freedom from the outside.
References
{{National Alliance factions
National Alliance (Italy) factions