Liberals for Italy
Liberals for Italy – PLI (Liberali per l'Italia – PLI) was a liberal sub-group within the Mixed Group in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
The sub-group was formed on 12 November 2011 by five disgruntled members of Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party: Roberto Antonione, Giustina Destro, Giancarlo Pittelli, Luciano Sardelli and the exponent of the Italian Liberal Party Fabio Gava.[1][2] Already on 14 October 2011 Destro and Gava had not participated in the vote of confidence to the Berlusconi government, placing themseves de facto outside the PdL.[3]
In March 2012 Pittelli, the only former Christian Democrat of the group, left in order to join Great South.[4]
In April 2012 another former Christian Democrat, later member of the PdL, Angelo Santori, joined the group.
In December 2012 the Liberals for Italy–PLI joined forces with Free Italy, another splinter group from the PdL, and formed a 10-strong section within the Mixed Group.
In the 2013 general election, the Italian Liberal Party ran with the wording "Liberal for Italy", while Gava was elected to the Senate among the ranks of the coalition of Mario Monti.