Democratic Left (Italy)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Democratic Left
Coordinator	Claudio Fava
Founded	5 May 2007
Headquarters	Via Palermo, 12 00184 Rome
Newspaper	Aprile per la Sinistra
Membership	unknown
Ideology	Democratic socialism, Green politics
Coalition	The Left – The Rainbow
International	none
European party	none
European Parliament Group	Socialist Group in the European Parliament
Website	http://www.sinistra-democratica.it

Democratic Left (Sinistra Democratica, SD), officially Democratic Left. For European Socialism (Sinistra Democratica. Per il Socialismo Europeo) is a democratic socialist Italian political party.

It was founded on 5 May 2007 by former members of the Democrats of the Left centred around Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius, who left DS after its April congress in Florence had agreed to dissolve the party and to establish the Democratic Party, together with the centrists of Democracy is Freedom – Daisy. 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 8-9 December 2007, Democratic Left participated in the foundation of The Left – The Rainbow, which was later organized as a list for the 2008 general election.

Contents 1 History 2 Leadership 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

In 2007, the Democrats of the Left held in Florence their last congress in order to ratify the move towards the foundation of the new Democratic Party. In opposition to Piero Fassino's resolution in favour of the dissolvement of 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 to the PD, the second favourable only in the event that the new party was to join the Party of European Socialists and thus more willing to wait upon events. 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^[1]. In contrast, Angius' rapid 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.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}. Consequently rather than follow Angius out of the party some of the most significant supporters of the motion, including Mauro Zani himself, Massimo Brutti and Sergio Gentili opted to stay inside DS reserving their position until developments on the Left and within the PD become clearer^[7].

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 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 modern Socialist Party.

In the 2008 general election The Left – The Rainbow, of which the Democratic Left was a part, gained 3.1% of the vote and failed to win any seats in the Italian Parliament.

[edit] Leadership

• Political Coordinator: Fabio Mussi (2007–2008), Claudio Fava (2008–...)
  • Executive Coordinator: Marco Fumagalli (2007-...)

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website

v • d • e Political parties in Italy (in 2007, historical parties) Major The People of Freedom – Democratic Party Medium Lega Nord – Union of Christian and Centre Democrats – Italy of Values – Communist Refoundation Party Minor Italian Radicals – Movement for Autonomy – Italian Republican Party – White Rose – Liberal Democrats – Democratic Left – Socialist Party – Federation of the Greens – Party of Italian Communists – The Right – Tricolour Flame – New Force – Workers' Communist Party – Associative Movement Italians Abroad Regional Valdotanian Union – Edelweiss Aosta Valley – Autonomist Federation – Valdotanian Renewal – Lively Aosta Valley – Moderates for Piedmont – South Tyrolean People's Party – The Libertarians – Union for South Tyrol – Daisy Civic List – Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party – North-East Project – Veneto for the EPP – UDEUR Populars – Democratic Populars – United Populars – Sardinian Reformers – Sardinian People's Party – Sardinian Democratic Union – Sardinian Action Party List of political parties in Italy - Politics of Italy