Prime Minister of Italy 72-year-old Silvio Berlusconi led the new center-right party “People of Freedom” (NS), which became the largest in Italy. He was elected Chairman of the National Assembly at the founding congress that ended yesterday in Rome. The new political force was created on the basis of Berlusconi's former Forza Italia party and two right-wing parties - the National Alliance (NA) and the Northern League. Until now, all three parties formed the ruling coalition, which won early parliamentary elections in April 2008. “We are a party of free people, united by a belief in common values,” Berlusconi said at the closing ceremony of the congress in the presence of 6,000 delegates. He stated the desire of the National Assembly “in the spirit of patriotism to open a new page of a new period, which will be decisive for Italy to gain weight in Europe and the world.” The National Assembly is designed to strengthen Italian representation in the conservative group of the European Parliament, elections to which will be held in June.
In 2001, the coalition formed by Silvio Berlusconi with the similar name “House of Freedom” won the elections in Italy. Since then, Berlusconi's main ally has been the National Alliance, created in 1995 after the split of the Italian Social Movement, the successor to the fascist party of Benito Mussolini. The leader of the alliance, Gianfranco Fini, has distanced himself from fascist ideas in recent years, turning the alliance into a moderate conservative party; he now holds the post of speaker of the lower house of the Italian parliament.
