- Democratic Party of the Left
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Democratic Party of the Left
Partito Democratico della Sinistra
Secretary (1991–1994) Achille Occhetto Secretary (1994–1998) Massimo D'Alema Founded 3 February 1991 Dissolved 13 February 1998 Preceded by Italian Communist Party Succeeded by Democrats of the Left Newspaper L'Unità Membership max: 989,708 (1991)
min: 613,412 (1998)[1]Ideology Democratic socialism National affiliation Alliance of Progressives (1994),
The Olive Tree (1995-1998)International affiliation Socialist International European affiliation Party of European Socialists European Parliament Group Party of European Socialists Politics of Italy
Political parties
ElectionsThe Democratic Party of the Left (Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a post-communist, democratic socialist political party in Italy.
History
It was founded in 1991 as the evolution of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in a democratic-socialist direction. Its first leader was Achille Occhetto, the final secretary of the PCI.
The logo of the PDS consisted mainly of an oak tree that retained, in a roundel at the tree's roots, the previous symbol of the PCI: this was done both to indicate the party's roots, but did not prevent hardliners leaving the party and launching the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC). Thus the logo was also adopted in order to prevent the PRC from making usage of the symbol immediately after the split between the two parties.
In the 1994 general election Occhetto was the leader of the Alliance of Progressives but he lost to Silvio Berlusconi. In the election's aftermath, Massimo D'Alema was elected new party secretary. In the 1996 general election, after the collapse of Berlusconi's coalition, the PDS was part of the winning coalition, The Olive Tree, led by Romano Prodi. In the Prodi I Cabinet, a leading member of the PDS, Giorgio Napolitano, became Minister of the Interior.
In 1997 D'Alema called for the party to become more of a European social-democratic party, and in 1998 was transformed in Democrats of the Left, after the merger with Labour Federation, Social Christians, Republican Left, Unitarian Communists, Reformists for Europe and Democratic Federation. On this occasion, the party decided to replace the hammer and sickle of its emblem with the carnation of European social democracy.
Leadership
- Secretary: Achille Occhetto (1991–1994), Massimo D'Alema (1994–1998)
- Coordinator: Massimo D'Alema (1991–1993), Davide Visani (1993–1994), Mauro Zani (1994–1996), Marco Minniti (1996–1998)
- Organizational Secretary: Piero Fassino (1991–1992), Mauro Zani (1992–1994), Marco Minniti (1994–1996), Pietro Folena (1996–1998)
- Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Massimo D'Alema (1992–1994), Luigi Berlinguer (1994–1996), Fabio Mussi (1996–1998)
- Party Leader in the Senate: Giuseppe Chiarante (1992–1994), Cesare Salvi (1994–1998)
- Party Leader in the European Parliament: Renzo Imbeni (1994–1998)
References
Categories:- Political parties established in 1991
- Political parties in Italy
- Democratic socialist parties
- Secretary: Achille Occhetto (1991–1994), Massimo D'Alema (1994–1998)
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