The House of Freedoms ( it, Casa delle Libertà, CdL) was a major
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 ...
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
and
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, led by
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 ...
.
History
The CdL was the successor of the
Pole of Freedoms
The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Govern ...
/
Pole of Good Government
The Pole of Good Government ( it, Polo del Buon Governo) was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Freedo ...
and the
Pole for Freedoms
The Pole for Freedoms ( it, Polo per le Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, which was active from 1996 to 2000. It included Forza Italia (FI), the National Alliance (AN), Union of the Centre (UdC), Christian De ...
. The former two-headed coalition had won the
1994 general election and formed the
Berlusconi I Cabinet
The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the Italian Republic.
It was the first right-wing and non-Christian Democrats government since World War II.
Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994.
History
In order to win the March ...
, which fell in December 1994, when the LN, whose relations with AN were quite tense, withdrew its support. The latter coalition, which did not include the LN, lost the
1996 general election to
The Olive Tree, 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 ...
coalition led by
Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
.
In the run-up of the
2001 general election, after a six-year spell in opposition, which Berlusconi called "the crossing of the desert", he managed to re-unite the coalition under the "House of Freedoms" banner. According to its leader, the alliance was a "broad democratic arch, composed of the democratic right, namely AN, the great democratic centre, namely Forza Italia, CCD and CDU, and the democratic left represented by the League, the New PSI, the PRI and, at least I hope so,
Cossiga".
The CdL won the 2001 general election by a landslide and, consequently, the
Berlusconi II Cabinet
The second Berlusconi government was the 57th government of the Italian Republic and the first government of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until 23 April 2005, a total of 1,412 ...
was formed. In government, FI, whose strongholds included
Lombardy as well as
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, and the LN, which was active only in the Centre-North, formed the so-called "axis of the North", through the special relationship between three Lombards leaders, Berlusconi,
Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 20 ...
and
Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...
; on the other side of the coalition, AN and 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 party emerged from the merger of the CCD and the CDU in late 2002, became the natural representatives of Southern interests.
In 2003 the CdL was routed in local elections by The Olive Tree and the LN threatened to pull out. Also the
2004 European Parliament election
The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...
were disappointing for FI and the coalition as a whole, even though AN, the UDC and the LN did better than five years before. As a result, Berlusconi and FI were weaker within the CdL.
In 2005 the coalition lost heavily in
regional elections, losing six of the eight
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
it controlled. The defeat was particularly damaging in the South, while the only two regions which the coalition managed to keep, Lombardy and
Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 = ...
, were in the North, where the LN was decisive . This led to a government crisis, particularly after the UDC pulled its ministers out. A few days later, the
Berlusconi III Cabinet
The third Berlusconi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 23 April 2005 to 17 May 2006. It was the 58th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the second cabinet of the XIV Legislature.
Formation
House of Freedoms did not ...
was formed with minor changes from the previous cabinet.
In the
2006 general election the CdL, which had opened its ranks to a number of minor parties, lost to
The Union coalition, led by
Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
.
In the run-up of the
2008 general election (caused by the break-up of The Olive Tree) FI, AN and minor parties joined forces and formed
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), which would become a single party in early 2009. The PdL, allied with the LN in the Centre-North and the
Movement for Autonomy
The Movement for Autonomy ( it, Movimento per l'Autonomia, MpA) is a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The MpA, whose founder and leader is Raffaele Lombardo, demands economic development, greater autono ...
(MpA) in the Centre-South, won the election and the centre-right was thus returned to the national government through the
Berlusconi IV Cabinet.
The alliance has since been generically referred to as the
centre-right coalition.
Composition
From 2000 to 2006
It was initially composed of the following
political parties:
From 2006 to 2008
Composition during the 2006 general election:
Electoral results
Italian Parliament
Symbols
File:Logo Casa delle Liberta.png, 2001–2008
File:Casa delle Libertà.svg, Electoral logo
References
{{Authority control
Defunct political party alliances in Italy
Silvio Berlusconi