History
The party was founded in December 2004 as an expansion of the short-lived Liberal Party (PL). Stefano de Luca, former MEP for Forza Italia and leader of the PL, was elected secretary at the founding congress.
In June 2007 the PLI reaffirmed its autonomy from the centre-right House of Freedoms coalition and de Luca was unanimously re-elected secretary. During the congress, some leading former Liberals joined the party: Carlo Scognamiglio (former President of the Senate, Forza Italia), Luigi Compagna (UDC) and Luciano Magnalbò (National Alliance). Since that time PLI is for the first time represented in a Regional Council by Antonietta Brancati, regional deputy of Lazio, previously member of Italy of Values. For the 2008 general election Liberals tried to form an electoral pact with the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, but finally chose to run as a stand-alone list.
In February 2009 the PLI held its fifth congress. Arturo Diaconale, supported by Angelo Caniglia and a group of Liberal Reformers (including Marco Taradash, Emilia Rossi, Carlo Monaco and Pietro Milio) and other newcomers, presented his candidacy for party secretary in opposition to de Luca, who was supported by the old guard and by Paolo Guzzanti, a dissenting member of Forza Italia and former Socialist. De Luca was re-elected party secretary with the support of 73% of the delegates, Guzzanti was appointed deputy secretary and Scognamiglio president.
In December 2010 Guzzanti left the party over personal problems with de Luca and became briefly engaged with the New Pole for Italy (NPI). In March 2011 the party was joined by two former secretaries of the late PLI, Alfredo Biondi and Renato Altissimo, and by a senator coming from The People of Freedom (PdL), Enrico Musso, who was soon appointed deputy secretary. Through Musso the party re-joined the NPI.
In November 2011 five disgruntled deputies of the PdL (Roberto Antonione, Giustina Destro, Fabio Gava, Giancarlo Pittelli, who later left, and Luciano Sardelli) joined the party through the Liberals for Italy. Another former member of the PdL, Angelo Santori, joined the LpI–PLI group in April 2012.
In March 2012, in the run-up of the sixth congress, three party bigwigs, Scognamiglio, Biondi and Altissimo, proposed Musso as new secretary and de Luca as president. The proposal was not well received by the party's old guard and, not only de Luca was barely re-elected secretary, but Scognamiglio was replaced as president by Enzo Palumbo.
In the May 2012 municipal election of Genoa, Musso garnerd 15.0% of the vote in the first round, at the head of a centrist list based on the NPI, and 40.3% in the run-off, losing to Marco Doria.
Read more about this topic: Italian Liberal Party (2004)
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