Democratic Left (Italy)

Democratic Left Sinistra Democratica
Coordinator	Claudio Fava
President	Fabio Mussi
Founded	5 May 2007
Dissolved	22-24 October 2010
Split from	Democrats of the Left
Merged into	Left Ecology Freedom
Headquarters	Via Palermo, 12 00184 Rome
Newspaper	Aprile per la Sinistra
Membership	unknown
Ideology	Democratic socialism, Green politics
National affiliation	The Left – The Rainbow (2008), Left Ecology Freedom (2009-2010)
International affiliation	none
European affiliation	none
European Parliament Group	Party of European Socialists (2007–2009)
Website
http://www.sinistra-democratica.it
Politics of italy Political parties Elections

Democratic Left (Italian: Sinistra Democratica, SD)^[1] was a democratic socialist political party in Italy.

It was founded on 5 May 2007 by splinters of the Democrats of the Left (DS) centred around Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius, who opposed the merger of the DS into the Democratic Party. According to its leading members at its foundation, Democratic Left was to be not a party, but a "movement" with the goal to unite the entire Italian left, from Communist Refoundation Party to the Italian Democratic Socialists.

On 22-24 October 2010, Democratic Left merged into Left Ecology Freedom when the latter was transformed from an alliance of left-wing parties into a united party.

History

Foundation

In April 2007 the Democrats of the Left (DS) held in Florence their last congress in order to ratify the move towards the foundation of the new Democratic Party, along with the centrists of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In opposition to Piero Fassino's resolution that proposed the congress to dissolve the party, two resolutions were tabled by supporters of the factions led by Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius (who formed Socialists and Europeans together with Mauro Zani): the first opposed in any form the foundation of the PD, whilst the second was favourable only in the event that the new party was to join the Party of European Socialists and thus represented a more "wait and see" attitude.^[2] These resolutions managed to garner around 25% of the vote.

Following the congress, a large majority of Mussi's followers, with a few notable exceptions such as Vincenzo Vita, left the DS. This was consistent with their declared position prior to the Florence congress.^[3] In contrast, Angius' sudden departure from DS after the congress was somewhat surprising and arguably inconsistent with the position adopted by the supporters of the Angius-Zani resolution prior to and during the congress itself.^[4][5] Consequently rather than follow Angius out of the party some of the most significant supporters of the motion, including Mauro Zani, Massimo Brutti and Sergio Gentili opted to stay inside DS.^[6]

Early splits

Since its foundation, SD was divided between supporters of Mussi, who proposed to strengthen the links of the party with the far left (Federation of the Greens, Party of Italian Communists and Communist Refoundation Party), and those around Angius, who were keener on an alliance with the Italian Democratic Socialists. In September Democracy and Socialism, led by Angius and Valdo Spini, joined the "Socialist Constituent Assembly" and committed themselves to the foundation of a social-democratic party in the tradition of the old Italian Socialist Party. Finally, in October 2007, Angius and his group left SD, which they considered to be too left-wing politically, to found the Socialist Party.

The party suffered another split in February 2008 when Famiano Crucianelli, Olga D'Antona, Paolo Nerozzi, Massimo Cialente and Gianfranco Pagliarulo (a former member of the Party of Italian Communists) abandoned SD in order to join the Democratic Party, through an association named Left for the Country.^[7][8]

Out of Parliament

In the 2008 general election The Left – The Rainbow, of which the Democratic Left was a part along with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and the Federation of the Greens, gained 3.1% of the vote and failed to win any seats in the Italian Parliament.

After the election, Oliviero Diliberto, leader of PdCI, considered the experience of a "united left" finished and proposed a "communist constituent assembly" and the PRC elected Paolo Ferrero, from the internal left-wing, as party secretary. Despite these events, Democratic Left proposed a "left-wing constituent assembly" as a bridge between the "European socialism" and "the alternative left".^[9][10]

In the run up to the 2009 European Parliament election SD planned to form a joint list with the Movement for the Left, the Federation of the Greens and Unite the Left in a sort of re-edition of The Left – The Rainbow.^[11] The list, with the additional participation of the Socialist Party, was named Left and Freedom and was launched on 16 March 2009.^[12] The list received just 3.1% of the national vote and failed to return any MEPs. The list was eventually renamed Left Ecology Freedom and was founded as a united political party on 22-24 October 2010.

Leadership

• Political Coordinator: Fabio Mussi (2007–2008), Claudio Fava (2008–present)
  • Executive Coordinator: Marco Fumagalli (2007-present)
• President of the National Council: Fabio Mussi (2008–present)
• President of the National Bureau: Pasqualina Napoletano (2008–present)

• Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Titti Di Salvo (2007–2008)
• Party Leader in the Senate: Cesare Salvi (2007–2008)
• Party Leader in the European Parliament: Claudio Fava (2007–present)

References

1. ^ The complete name of the party is "Democratic Left. For European Socialism" (Sinistra Democratica. Per il Socialismo Europeo).
2. ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/01/sezioni/politica/direzione-ds/direzioni-mozione/direzioni-mozione.html
3. ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/02/sezioni/politica/congresso-ds/intervento-mussi/intervento-mussi.html
4. ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/02/sezioni/politica/congresso-ds/veltroni-dalema-prodi/veltroni-dalema-prodi.html
5. ^ http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio-local/Fassino:-qui-inizia-una-nuova-storia/1579487
6. ^ http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2007/04_Aprile/24/angius_ds_strappo.shtml
7. ^ Una sinistra per il governo del Paese | RadioRadicale.it
8. ^ Aprileonline.info: Una Sinistra per il Paese
9. ^ http://www.sinistra-democratica.it/tutti-i-nostri-errori-il-primo-5-anni-fa
10. ^ http://www.claudiofava.it/index.php?mod=rassegnastampa&dett=802
11. ^ http://www.asca.it/news-PRC__SERVE_UNA_NUOVA_SINISTRA__VENDOLA_CONSUMA_LA_SCISSIONE_(IL_PUNTO)-804738-ORA-.html
12. ^ http://www.agi.it/ultime-notizie-page/200903161344-pol-rom1060-art.html

External links

• Official website