Free and Equal ( it, Liberi e Uguali, LeU) was a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
electoral list and
parliamentary group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council.
Parliamenta ...
in the
Chamber of Deputies and a sub-group in the
Senate, the two houses of the
Italian Parliament
The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...
. LeU was launched on 3 December 2017 as a federation of
political parties including
Article 1,
Italian Left
Italian Left ( it, Sinistra Italiana, SI) is a left-wing political party in Italy. SI was launched in November 2015 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (full name: Italian Left – Left Ecology Freedom), including Left Ecology ...
and
Possible. The leader of the alliance for the
2018 general election was
Pietro Grasso
Pietro Grasso (; born 1 January 1945), also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018.
Grasso became the Acting President of Italy on 14 January 2015, upon th ...
, former
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
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
The 2021 Italian government crisis was a political event in Italy that began in January 2021 and ended the following month. It includes the events that follow the announcement of Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva (IV) and former Prime Ministe ...
, LeU has a single minister,
Roberto Speranza
Roberto Speranza (born 4 January 1979) is an Italian politician of the Chamber of Deputies who served as national secretary of Article One. From 5 September 2019 until 22 October 2022, he has been serving as Minister of Health in the government ...
, in the
national unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
of Prime Minister
Mario Draghi
Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...
.
History
Background
Since the
2013 leadership election of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
(PD) in which
Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
(a centrist) was elected secretary, the party was riven by an internal struggle between Renzi's large majority (composed of ''
renziani
The ''Renziani'' was a liberal area within the Democratic Party (PD) composed of the followers of Matteo Renzi, party's former national secretary and former Prime Minister of Italy from February 2014 to December 2016. This area also took the nam ...
'', assorted centrists and moderate social democrats) and the left-wing factions which were very critical of Renzi, his
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
(2014–2016) and his proposed constitutional reform, which was finally voted down in a
constitutional referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
in December 2016.
After the splits of
Possible (Pos.) and
Future to the Left
Future to the Left ( it, Futuro a Sinistra) was a social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. Its leader was Stefano Fassina.
In June 2015 Fassina, a long-time critic of Matteo Renzi, leader o ...
(FaS),
Enrico Rossi (leader of the
Democratic Socialists
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
faction and
President of Tuscany
The president of Tuscany is the supreme authority of Tuscany.
Election
Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Tuscany, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', he is elected by popular vote every five years under universal suffrage: ...
) and
Roberto Speranza
Roberto Speranza (born 4 January 1979) is an Italian politician of the Chamber of Deputies who served as national secretary of Article One. From 5 September 2019 until 22 October 2022, he has been serving as Minister of Health in the government ...
(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
Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...
,
Pier Luigi Bersani and
Guglielmo Epifani
Guglielmo Epifani (24 March 1950 – 7 June 2021) was an Italian trade unionist and politician. From 2002 to 2010, he was the General Secretary of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), which was the biggest trade union in Europe. O ...
. Rossi and Speranza criticised Renzi on many of his policies and were initially joined by
Michele Emiliano
Michele Emiliano (born 23 July 1959) is an Italian politician and former judge. He is the incumbent president of Apulia Region since June 2015, and he previously served as mayor of Bari from 2004 to 2014. Emiliano has often been considered a popu ...
,
President of Apulia. 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
Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former Preside ...
(SEL), FaS and minor groups into
Italian Left
Italian Left ( it, Sinistra Italiana, SI) is a left-wing political party in Italy. SI was launched in November 2015 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (full name: Italian Left – Left Ecology Freedom), including Left Ecology ...
(SI).
Road to the new alliance
Soon after the foundation of the MDP,
Roberto Speranza
Roberto Speranza (born 4 January 1979) is an Italian politician of the Chamber of Deputies who served as national secretary of Article One. From 5 September 2019 until 22 October 2022, he has been serving as Minister of Health in the government ...
(MDP coordinator),
Nicola Fratoianni
Nicola Fratoianni (born 4 October 1972) is an Italian politician, member of the Chamber of Deputies and Secretary of Italian Left from 2017 to 2019 and again since 2021.
Biography
Fratoianni was born in Pisa to parents from Ururi, province of C ...
(SI secretary) and
Giuseppe Civati
Giuseppe "Pippo" Civati (born 4 August 1975) is an Italian politician and publisher, former leader of Possible (Italy), Possible and a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2018.
Biography Comunal and Reg ...
(Pos. secretary) discussed the opportunity of forming a left-wing coalition as an alternative to the
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
led by the PD, the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
and the
Five Star Movement (M5S).
In the
2017 Sicilian regional election
The 2017 Sicilian regional election for the renewal of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the election of the President of Sicily was held on 5 November 2017. Incumbent President Rosario Crocetta was not his party's candidate due to his low popu ...
, 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
Claudio Fava (born 15 April 1957) is an Italian politician and writer. He is the Coordinator of the National Secretariat of Sinistra Ecologia Libertà ( Left Ecology Freedom). He was until 2009 Member of the European Parliament for the Italian ...
for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
. Fava won 6.2% of the vote, the list 5.2% and only Fava was elected deputy in the
Regional Assembly.
During a convention in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
on 3 December 2017, the MDP–SI–Pos alliance was officially established as Free and Equal (LeU) and
Pietro Grasso
Pietro Grasso (; born 1 January 1945), also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018.
Grasso became the Acting President of Italy on 14 January 2015, upon th ...
,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
Senate and former anti-Mafia prosecutor, was appointed leader and candidate for Prime Minister in the
2018 general election. A few weeks later, also
Laura Boldrini
Laura Boldrini, (; born 28 April 1961) is an Italian politician and former United Nations official, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Previously she served as Spokesperson to the United Nations High Commissioner for ...
,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
Chamber of Deputies (who had been elected as an independent of SEL in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
), joined LeU. Another high-profile adherent was
Rossella Muroni, who had been the president of
Legambiente
Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the '70s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand-a ...
up to then. In January, LeU was joined also by the
Greens of
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province
, image_skyline = ...
.
2018 general election and dissolution
In January 2018, shortly before the election, some internal conflict started, with Grasso accused to be uncharismatic and uninfluential on alliance politics.
In March, LeU obtained 3.4% of the vote in the
general election, well below expectations and
opinion polls
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
, electing 14 deputies and 4 senators.
In May, LeU launched a
constituent assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
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. In June, the national committee of LeU fixed the founding congress for December. The following day,
Beatrice Brignone
Beatrice Brignone (born 31 January 1978) is an Italian politician, current leader of Possible and a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2015 to 2018.
Biography
Graduated in Law at the University of Bologna, Brignone began her politi ...
, who had replaced Civati as secretary of Possible, announced the departure of her party from the alliance.
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
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
and possible alliance with the PD. Between October and December, LeU was successively abandoned by SI and the MDP (focused on the formation of a new "red-green" party) as well as by high-profile members like Boldrini 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
Luca Pastorino (born 30 September 1971) is an Italian politician, member of "È Viva" with Francesco Laforgia and member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 2013.
Biography
Graduated in Business Economics at the University of Genoa, Pastor ...
(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. 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
The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. ...
(PEL). 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
Green Europe ( it, Europa Verde, EV), officially Green Europe – Greens (''Europa Verde – Verdi''), is a green political party in Italy. Its leaders are Angelo Bonelli, long-time leader of the former Federation of the Greens, and Eleonora Evi, ...
(EV).
Government participation
In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting the
Giuseppe Conte
Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...
's
first government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence by the
League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
. During the following
government crisis
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, the national board of the PD officially opened to the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the M5S, based on
pro-Europeanism
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...
,
green economy
A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politi ...
,
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
, fight against
economic inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...
and a new immigration policy. The party also accepted that Conte might continue at the head of a new government, and on 29 August President Mattarella formally invested Conte to do so. The LeU groups had previously already announced their possible support to Conte's
second government, which was finally unveiled in September with the appointment of Speranza as
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
.
Following Conte's resignation in January 2021 and the resulting
government crisis
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, LeU joined
Mario Draghi
Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...
's national unity
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, with Speranza keeping his ministerial role. The new government provoked shifts within the group.
Italian Left
Italian Left ( it, Sinistra Italiana, SI) is a left-wing political party in Italy. SI was launched in November 2015 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (full name: Italian Left – Left Ecology Freedom), including Left Ecology ...
chose not to support Draghi, was deserted by one deputy (
Erasmo Palazzotto, who voted in favour and left the party) and one senator (
Loredana De Petris
Loredana De Petris (born 24 November 1957) is an Italian politician and senator for four legislatures.
Biography From Proletarian Democracy to the Greens
De Petris began her political career in the 1980s joining Proletarian Democracy and has ...
, who voted in favour, but remained a member) and was joined by two formerly independent senators (
Paola Nugnes
Paola is a female given name, the Italian form of the name Paula. Notable people with the name include:
People In arts and entertainment
*Paola Del Medico (born 1950), Swiss singer
*Paola e Chiara, pop music duo consisting of two sisters born i ...
, 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). Additionally,
Rossella Muroni (
Green Italia
Green Italia is a green political party in Italy.
The party was founded in June 2013 by a heterogeneous group of politicians, notably including Monica Frassoni (co-spokesperson of the European Green Party and former independent MEP of the Federa ...
) left the group in order to establish a sub-group of the
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens.
T ...
within the
Mixed Group
The mixed group ( it, Gruppo Misto, GM) is a parliamentary group active in both houses of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The groups comprise all the deputies and the senators, respectively, who are not members of ...
instead. In July,
Devis Dori, another splinter from the M5S, briefly joined LeU in the Chamber, as, in February 2022, he would join EV instead. In March 2022, also Palazzotto left LeU,
leaving it with only ten deputies.
Composition
Founding member parties
Other participating parties
Parliamentary groups
Election results
Italian Parliament
Regional Councils
Symbols
LeU-it-logo.svg, 2017–2018
Free and Equal (Italy) logo.svg, 2018–2022
References
{{Italian political parties
2017 establishments in Italy
Defunct political party alliances in Italy
Democratic socialist parties in Europe
Left-wing politics in Italy
Parliamentary groups in Italy
Political parties established in 2017
Political parties disestablished in 2022
Progressive parties
Social democratic parties in Italy