Democratic Left Sinistra Democratica | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinator | Claudio Fava |
| President | Fabio Mussi |
| Founded | 5 May 2007; 18 years ago (2007-05-05) |
| Dissolved | 22–24 October 2010; 15 years ago (2010-10-24) |
| Split from | Democrats of the Left |
| Merged into | Left Ecology Freedom |
| Headquarters | Via Palermo, 12 00184Rome |
| Newspaper | Aprile per la Sinistra |
| Membership | unknown |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism[1] Green politics |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| National affiliation | Rainbow Left (2008) Left Ecology Freedom (2009-10) |
| European Parliament group | Party of European Socialists (2007–09) |
| Website | |
| www | |
Democratic Left (Italian:Sinistra Democratica,SD), whose complete name wasDemocratic Left. For European Socialism (Sinistra Democratica. Per il Socialismo Europeo), was ademocratic-socialistpolitical party in Italy.
SD was founded on 5 May 2007 by splinters of theDemocrats of the Left (DS) led byFabio Mussi andGavino Angius, who opposed the merger of the DS withDemocracy is Freedom – The Daisy to form theDemocratic Party.[2] According to its leading members at its foundation, SD was to be not a party but a movement, with the goal to unite the entire Italian left fromCommunist Refoundation Party to theItalian Democratic Socialists.
On 22–24 October 2010, SD was merged intoLeft Ecology Freedom.
In April 2007 theDemocrats of the Left (DL) held inFlorence their last congress in order to ratify the move towards the foundation of theDemocratic Party, along with thecentrists ofDemocracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In opposition toPiero Fassino's majority resolution, two resolutions were tabled by supporters of the factions led byFabio Mussi andGavino Angius (who formedSocialists and Europeans together withMauro 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 theParty of European Socialists and thus represented a more "wait and see" attitude.[3] 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 asVincenzo Vita, left the DS. This was consistent with their declared position prior to the Florence congress.[4] 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.[5][6] Consequently, rather than follow Angius out of the party some of the most significant supporters of the motion, including Zani,Massimo Brutti andSergio Gentili opted to stay inside the DS.[7] On 16 May 2007 the new party's parliamentary groups had 22 deputies and 12 senators.[2]
Following its foundation, SD was divided between supporters of Mussi, who wanted strong relations with the so-called "far-left parties" (Federation of the Greens,Party of Italian Communists andCommunist Refoundation Party), and those around Angius, who were keener on an alliance with the more centristItalian Democratic Socialists. In SeptemberDemocracy and Socialism, led by Angius andValdo Spini, joined the "Socialist Constituent Assembly" and committed themselves to the foundation of asocial-democratic party in the tradition of the historicalItalian Socialist Party. Finally, in October 2007, Angius and his group left SD to found theSocialist Party.
The SD party suffered another split in February 2008 whenFamiano Crucianelli,Olga D'Antona,Paolo Nerozzi,Massimo Cialente andGianfranco Pagliarulo (a former member of the Party of Italian Communists) abandoned SD in order to join the Democratic Party, through an association namedLeft for the Country.[8][9]
In the2008 general electionThe 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 theItalian Parliament.
After the election,Oliviero Diliberto, leader of PdCI, who considered the experience of a "united left" ended, proposed a "communist constituent assembly" and the PRC electedPaolo 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".[10][11] In the run up to the2009 European Parliament election SD planned to form a joint list with theMovement for the Left, theFederation of the Greens andUnite the Left in a sort of re-edition of The Left – The Rainbow.[12] The list, with the additional participation of theSocialist Party, was namedLeft and Freedom and was launched on 16 March 2009.[13] The list received just 3.1% of the national vote and failed to return any MEPs. The list was eventually renamedLeft Ecology Freedom, and was founded as a united political party on 22–24 October 2010.
