The faction's members identified themselves as close supporters of Gianfranco Fini, former leader of MSI/AN and frequent critic of Silvio Berlusconi from his post of President of the Chamber of Deputies.
During the years, the former post-fascist leader had taken controversial stances on stem cell research, end of life issues, advance health care directive and immigration.
In fact most Finiani were southern conservatives who opposed Berlusconi's leadership, his firm alliance with the once-separatist Lega Nord, the party's economic policy and federal reform.
[14] On 20 April 52 MPs (39 deputies and 13 senators) signed a document in support of Fini and his theses, while other 74 ex-AN MPs, including Ignazio La Russa, Maurizio Gasparri, Altero Matteoli and Giorgia Meloni, plus the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno, signed an alternative document in which they reasserted their loyalty to the party and Berlusconi.
Fini, for his part, started attract to his faction some PdL members coming from various political backgrounds, from the former Radical Benedetto Della Vedova[17] to former Christian Democrats such as Giuseppe Pisanu.
[23] On 29 July 2010 the party executive released a document (voted by 33 members out of 37) in which Fini was described as "incompatible" with the political line of the PdL and unable to perform his job of President of the Chamber of Deputies in a neutral way.