The name is not usually translated into English: forza is the second-person singular imperative of forzare, in this case translating to 'compel' or 'press', and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Italy" or "Go, Italy!". was used as a sport slogan, and was also the slogan of Christian Democracy in the 1987 Italian general election. Giovanni Baccarin, Che fine ha fatto la DC?, Gregoriana, Padova 2000). See also . (English: Forward Italy, FI) is a centre-right political party in Italy, whose ideology includes elements of liberal conservatism, Christian democracy, liberalism and populism. FI is a member of the European People's Party. Silvio Berlusconi (former Prime Minister of Italy, 1994–1995, 2001–2006, and 2008–2011) was the party's leader and president until his death in 2023. The party has since been led by Antonio Tajani (former President of the European Parliament, 2017–2019), who had been vice president and coordinator and now functions as secretary. Other leading members include Elisabetta Casellati (former President of the Senate, 2018–2022).
The party branched out of the People of Freedom (PdL) in 2013, and is a revival of the original (FI), founded in 1994 and disbanded in 2009, when it was merged with National Alliance (AN) and several minor parties to form the PdL. FI is a smaller party than the early PdL, which suffered three significant splits: Future and Freedom in 2010, Brothers of Italy in 2012, and the New Centre-Right in 2013. In the 2018 general election FI was overtaken by the League as the largest party of the centre-right coalition, and in the 2022 general election it became the third largest in the coalition, as Brothers of Italy (FdI) became the new dominant party of the coalition.
After participating in the national unity government led by Mario Draghi, FI joined the government majority of the Meloni Cabinet in October 2022 with five ministers; these ministers include Tajani as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister.
History Background and foundation The new FI, announced in June 2013, was launched on 18 September and the PdL was formally dissolved into the party on 16 November. The day before a group of dissidents (mainly Christian democrats), led by Berlusconi's former protégé Angelino Alfano, had broken away by announcing the foundation of the alternative New Centre-Right (NCD). Another group of PdL members, led by former mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno, had left the party earlier to form Italy First and would later join Brothers of Italy (FdI). According to Berlusconi, the PdL would become a coalition of centre-right parties, including the new FI, Lega Nord (LN), the NCD, the FdI, etc.
Among the supporters of the return to FI, the so-called "hawks" and self-proclaimed "loyalists", a leading role was played by Raffaele Fitto, who, despite the common Christian-democratic background, was a long-time rival of Alfano. Loyalists included Antonio Martino, Renato Brunetta, Denis Verdini, Mariastella Gelmini, Mara Carfagna, Daniela Santanchè, Niccolò Ghedini and Daniele Capezzone, while Maurizio Gasparri, Altero Matteoli and Paolo Romani tried to mediate, but finally joined the new FI. The symbol of FI made its return in the 2013 Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol provincial elections, although in a regional fashion such as "Forza Trentino", or "Forza Alto Adige" (in list with Lega Nord Alto Adige – Südtirol).
On 27 November, the Senate approved Berlusconi's expulsion, following the leader's conviction for tax evasion in August, when Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of imprisonment, the last three being automatically pardoned. The day before FI had joined the opposition to Enrico Letta's government, which was still supported by Alfano's NCD instead. The latter voted against Berlusconi's expulsion, but since then completely parted ways from FI.
Internal struggles and Toti's rise As of the end of December 2013, Berlusconi was set to appoint two vice presidents: Antonio Tajani (European Commissioner and vice president of the European People's Party) and Giovanni Toti (former editor of Studio Aperto and TG4, two news programs of Berlusconi's Mediaset). As a result of the resentment by the party's old guard, notably including Fitto, on the alleged appointment of Toti also as coordinator-at-large, Berlusconi appointed him merely "political counselor" to the party.
In the 2014 European Parliament election, FI obtained 16.8% of the vote and had 13 MEPs elected, including Toti in the North-West, Elisabetta Gardini in the North-East, Tajani (who had first been elected to the European Parliament in 1994) in the Centre, and most notably Fitto (who garnered more than 180,000 votes in his native Apulia alone) in the South. As a result, Fitto, the strongest backer of Berlusconi's leadership in late 2013, became his main internal challenger by mid 2014. After months of bickering with Berlusconi over the "Nazareno Pact" with Matteo Renzi, leader of the Democratic Party and Prime Minister, in February 2015, Fitto launched his own faction, named "Rebuilders". Fitto's supporters included Capezzone, Maurizio Bianconi, Rocco Palese, Saverio Romano, Cinzia Bonfrisco, Augusto Minzolini and most Apulian MPs. In September 2014, FI was admitted into the European People's Party (EPP), inheriting the PdL's membership.
2015 regional elections and splits In the run-up of the 2015 regional elections, the party was riven in internal disputes and was divided mainly in three groups: Berlusconi's loyalists, Fitto's "Rebuilders" and nostalgics of the "Nazareno Pact". The latter were led by Verdini and some of them, notably including Bondi, were openly pro-Renzi. Bondi, a former Berlusconi loyalist, and his partner Manuela Repetti left the party in March, while other disgruntled Verdiniani propped up the government from time to time. Berlusconi chose Toti as candidate for president in Liguria, confirmed incumbent Stefano Caldoro as the party's standard-bearer in Campania and renewed their support of LN's Luca Zaia in Veneto. However, Berlusconi and Fitto did not find an agreement on the composition of the slates in Apulia, where the two wings of the party fielded opposing candidates for president, and similar problems arose in Tuscany, Verdini's (and Renzi's) home region and stronghold.
Two weeks before the elections, Fitto left FI and the European People's Party group in the European Parliament to join the European Conservatives and Reformists and start his own party, the Conservatives and Reformists (CR). By mid July, when CR was formally established as a party, nine deputies, ten senators and another MEP had left FI to follow Fitto. In the elections, the party lost many votes, mainly to the LN, and gained more than 10% only in three regions out seven (including Apulia, where the party's candidate did worse than Fitto's one, while, in Veneto, a former stronghold, FI barely reached 6%), but, thanks to the LN's strong showing, Toti was elected President of Liguria. Another split occurred in late July, when Verdini led his group out of the party and launched the Liberal Popular Alliance (ALA).
Toward a new centre-right coalition
In the 2016 Milan municipal election, FI found a strong candidate for mayor in Stefano Parisi, a former director-general of Confindustria and CEO of Fastweb, who pulled the party to 20.2% (virtually double than the LN's score), but narrowly lost to his Democratic opponent in the run-off, Giuseppe Sala. After the election, FI was basically divided in two camps: one led by Parisi, who did not officially joined the party and proposed a more traditional centre-right "liberal-popular" path, and the other led by Toti, who had formed a strong partnership with Roberto Maroni and Luca Zaia, the LN's presidents of Lombardy and Veneto, and was supportive of a full-scale alliance with LN and, possibly, of its leader Matteo Salvini's bid to become the leader of the centre-right coalition. In November, when it was clear that Parisi would not come to terms with Salvini, Berlusconi disowned Parisi, who responded by launching his own Energies for Italy (EpI) party.
Since then, the party has strengthened its position in parliament, thanks to an influx of MPs from other parties, including several returning after years of dissent. In August 2016, the party was re-joined by two senators, including Renato Schifani from the NCD and another from the ALA. In November came Mario Mauro and his Populars for Italy (PpI). Since June 2017, the party was joined by three deputies and one senator from Popular Alternative (AP, ex-NCD), one deputy and one senator from the Mixed Group (ex-Five Star Movement, M5S), one deputy from Direction Italy (DI, ex-CR), one from Solidary Democracy (Demo.S), one from Act! (F!, ex-LN) and two senators from the ALA. Particularly, Enrico Costa left AP and resigned from minister of Regional Affairs in Paolo Gentiloni's centre-left government, aiming at forming a "liberal centre" with FI. In the context of a more united centre-right, Costa might form the "fourth leg" of the coalition, after the LN, FI and the FdI, by uniting other AP splinters, DI, F!, Identity and Action (IdeA), the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), the Union of the Centre (UdC), and the Pensioners' Party (PP), all variously affiliated with FI and the centre-right. Not all FI members were happy with all that; in fact, two senators and one deputy, Daniela Santanchè, switched to the FdI. In January 2017, Antonio Tajani was elected President of the European Parliament, the first Italian since Emilio Colombo (1977–1979).
2018 general and 2019 EP elections In the 2018 general election, FI obtained 14.0% of the vote and was overtaken by the LN for the first time as the largest party of the centre-right. After the election, long-time FI senator Elisabetta Casellati, was appointed President of the Senate, with centre-right's and M5S' support. After months of negotiations, the centre-right fragmented as the LN chose to team up with the M5S and formed a yellow-green government, also dubbed as Government of Change, under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. In July, Berlusconi appointed Tajani, the party's candidate for prime minister in the 2018 general election, vice president and Adriano Galliani coordinator of departments, in an effort to restructure the party, which was shrinking in opinion polls.
Berlusconi ran in the 2019 European Parliament election as FI's top candidate in all Italian constituencies, except for central Italy. In the election, FI received only 8.8% of the vote, its worst result ever. Berlusconi joined the European Parliament as the oldest member of the assembly. In June, Berlusconi appointed Toti and Carfagna national coordinators, with the goal of reforming and relaunching the party. However, after a few weeks, Toti left the party in opposition to Berlusconi and launched Cambiamo!. One of the main reasons for the split was Toti's support of an alliance with the League and the Brothers of Italy (FdI) at national-level, about which Berlusconi was reticent and Carfagna against.
Draghi's national unity government
In January 2021, Conte's second government fell after losing support from Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party. Subsequently, President Mattarella appointed Mario Draghi to form a cabinet, which won support from FI, the League, the PD and the M5S. FI was given three ministers in the new government: Renato Brunetta at Public Administration, Mariastella Gelmini at Regional Affairs and Mara Carfagna at the South.