Great Autonomies and Freedom Grandi Autonomie e Libertà | |
|---|---|
| Chamber | Senate |
| Foundation | 20 March 2013 |
| Dissolution | 23 March 2018 |
| Ideology | Regionalism Christian democracy |
| Political position | Centre-right(majority) |
Great Autonomies and Freedom (Italian:Grandi Autonomie e Libertà,GAL) was a miscellaneous and highly heterogeneous, mainlycentre-right,regionalist andChristian-democratic,parliamentary group active in theItalian Senate.[1]
The group was formed in March 2013 by senators elected withThe People of Freedom (PdL) andLega Nord (LN) to counterbalance theFor the Autonomies group, acentre-left outfit allied with theDemocratic Party (PD).[2][3] Only three senators were members of the group for five years:Mario Ferrara,Giovanni Mauro andGiulio Tremonti (the first two elected with the PdL in representation ofGreat South; the latter elected with the LN and member of the group since May 2013).[1]
In the following years, the group changed its scope, as several of its members started to support theRenzi Cabinet, and, almost completely, its composition: the LN members returned to their home group, most PdL and, later,Forza Italia (FI) members switched to other parties and groups (in July 2015, in particular, five senators left to join a fully pro-Renzi group, theLiberal Popular Alliance, ALA), and senators of different ideological and electoral backgrounds joined, including, for some time, members of theFederation of the Greens andItaly of Values (IdV), both left-leaning.
In May 2017 the group was joined by seven senators ofDirection Italy (DI) and left by five senators, including the four senators ofIdentity and Action (IdeA),[1] who launched the alternativeFederation of Freedom (FdL) group.[4][5][6] In December the group was finally left by the seven DI senators, who were founding members ofUs with Italy (NcI), and joined by four senators of theUnion of the Centre (UdC).[1][7] IdeA and the UdC were partners in theChamber of Deputies.[8]
As a result, after several changes in its composition (see below) and naming, as of December 2017 the group's full name wasGreat Autonomies and Freedom – Union of Christian and Centre Democrats.[1] In its final composition, the group was overwhelmingly opposed toGentiloni Cabinet.
| Party | Main ideology | MPs 2013 | MPs 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great South | Regionalism | 3 | 2 | |
| The People of Freedom | Liberal conservatism | 3 | – | |
| Lega Nord | Regionalism | 2 | – | |
| Party of Sicilians | Regionalism | 2 | – | |
| Union of the Centre | Christian democracy | – | 4 | |
| Forza Italia | Liberal conservatism | – | 1 | |
| Other parties, non-party independents | – | 7 | ||
| Total | 10 | 14 | ||