Party of Italian Communists Partito dei Comunisti Italiani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leaders | Armando Cossutta Oliviero Diliberto Cesare Procaccini |
| Founder | Armando Cossutta |
| Founded | 11 October 1998 |
| Dissolved | 11 December 2014 |
| Split from | Communist Refoundation Party |
| Succeeded by | Communist Party of Italy |
| Headquarters | Piazza Augusto Imperatore 32,Rome |
| Newspaper | La Rinascita della Sinistra |
| Youth wing | Youth Federation of Italian Communists |
| Membership(2012) | 12,500[1] |
| Ideology | Communism |
| Political position | Left-wing tofar-left |
| National affiliation | The Olive Tree (1998–2004) The Union (2004–2008) The Left – The Rainbow (2008) Anticapitalist and Communist List (2009) Federation of the Left (2009–2012) Civil Revolution (2013) The Other Europe (2014) |
| European affiliation | Party of the European Left (observer) |
| European Parliament group | GUE/NGL (1998–2009) |
| International affiliation | IMCWP |
| Colors | Red |
| Party flag | |
 | |
TheParty of Italian Communists (Italian:Partito dei Comunisti Italiani,PdCI) was acommunist party inItaly[2] established in October 1998 by splinters from theCommunist Refoundation Party (PRC). The split was led byArmando Cossutta, founder and early leader of the PRC,[3] who opposedFausto Bertinotti's leadership and, especially, his decision to withdraw support fromRomano Prodi'sfirst cabinet. In December 2014, the party was transformed into theCommunist Party of Italy (PCd'I), which would later evolve into the new version of theItalian Communist Party (PCI).
In October 1998, the PRC was divided between those who wanted to stop supportingRomano Prodi'sfirst government, led by PRC secretaryFausto Bertinotti; and those who wanted to continue the alliance, led by PRC president Cossutta. The central committee endorsed Bertinotti's line, but Cossutta and his followers decided to support Prodi nonetheless. The votes ofcossuttiani were not enough and the government lost a confidence vote in Parliament. The dissidents, who controlled the majority of deputies and senators, split and formed a rival communist outfit, the PdCI, which immediately joined thefirst cabinet led byMassimo D'Alema, leader of theDemocrats of the Left and first post-communist to hold the job ofPrime Minister of Italy. Under D'Alema, PdCI'sOliviero Diliberto served asMinister of Justice.
Despite the split of most of PRC's parliamentary representation, the PRC remained more popular than the PdCI with voters, both in the1999 European Parliament election (4.3% to 2.0%) and the2001 general election (5.0% to 1.7%).
Diliberto, who had been elected secretary in 2000, led the PdCI to continue its participation in thecentre-left coalition (known at the time asThe Olive Tree) at the2001 general election, which registered a victory bySilvio Berlusconi'scentre-rightHouse of Freedoms coalition. The PdCI obtained 1.7% of the vote and a handful of deputies and senators.
In the2006 general election, the party was a member of the winningThe Union coalition and won 2.4% of the vote and 16 deputies[3] while theTogether with the Union electoral list consisting of the PdCI, theFederation of the Greens andUnited Consumers won 11 senators.[4] Subsequently, the PdCI entered Prodi'ssecond government, which would last until January 2008.
In the meantime, Diliberto had become the undisputed leader of the party and since 2005 clashes between him and Cossutta became frequent. In 2006, the latter resigned from president and was replaced byAntonino Cuffaro. In 2007, Cossutta left the party altogether.
For the2008 general election, the PdCI formed a joint list namedRainbow Left (SA) along with the PRC, the Greens andDemocratic Left under Bertinotti's leadership. SA obtained a mere 3.1% (compared to 10.2% won by the constituent parties individually two years before) and no seats. In 2008, Diliberto was re-elected secretary and proposed to the PRC a re-unification of the two parties through a "communist constituent assembly".[5]
In the run-up of the2009 European Parliament election, the PdCI formed along with the PRC and minor groups theAnticapitalist and Communist List.[6] The list got 3.4% of the vote and noMEPs. In April 2009, the list was transformed into theFederation of the Left,[7][8] which would be disbanded by the end of 2012[9] and officially dissolved in 2015.[10] In the2013 general election, the PdCI ran withinCivil Revolution along with the PRC, the Greens,Italy of Values and minor groups, gaining 2.2% of the vote and no seats.[11] The PdCI did not contest the2014 European Parliament election, withdrawing its early support forThe Other Europe electoral list.
Before and after the 2009 European election, the PdCI lost its right- and left-wings, respectively. In February,Unite the Left, led byKatia Bellillo (a former minister) andUmberto Guidoni (an incumbent MEP), left the party in order to participate in the election with the Left and Freedom list and would eventually merge intoLeft Ecology Freedom. In June,Marco Rizzo (the other incumbent MEP and former Diliberto's number two) was expelled[12] and would later form the hard-lineCommunist Party.
In July 2013, Diliberto stepped down from secretary after thirteen years and was replaced byCesare Procaccini, a 65-year-old former metalworker fromMarche.[1]
In December 2014, the PdCI was transformed intoCommunist Party of Italy, taking the name of the lateCommunist Party of Italy.[13]
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 620,859 | 1.7 | 10 / 630 | – | |
| 2006 | 884,127 | 2.3 | 16 / 630 |  6 | |
| 2008 | intoSA | – | 0 / 630 |  16 | |
| 2013 | intoRC | – | 0 / 630 | – | |
| Senate of the Republic | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | intoUlivo | – | 2 / 315 | – | |
| 2006 | intoThe Union | – | 5 / 315 | 3 | |
| 2008 | intoSA | – | 0 / 315 | 5 | |
| 2013 | intoRC | – | 0 / 315 | – | |
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 622,261 (12th) | 2.0 | 2 / 87 | – | |
| 2004 | 787,613 (8th) | 2.4 | 2 / 78 | – | |
| 2009 | 1,038,247 (6th)[a] | 3.4 | 0 / 72 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Did not run | – | 0 / 73 | – | |
Media related toPartito dei Comunisti Italiani at Wikimedia Commons
