| Democratic Left Sinistra Democratica |
|
|---|---|
 Italian National Party |
|
| Leader | Fabio Mussi |
| Founded | May 5, 2007 |
| Headquarters | Via Palermo, 12 00184 Roma |
| Coalition | The Union |
| Political ideology | Democratic socialism, Green politics |
| International affiliation | none |
| European affiliation | none |
| European Parliament Group | Party of European Socialists |
| Official newspaper | Aprile per la Sinistra |
| Website | www.sinistra-democratica.it |
| See also | Politics of Italy |
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 (DS) centred around Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius who left DS after its conference in Florence in April had agreed to dissolve the party and , together with the centrist party Democracy is Freedom – Daisy (Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita), establish a new party, the Democratic Party. Notable among the Italian politicians who have joined the movement are a minister (Mussi), 4 MEPs (Giovanni Berlinguer, Claudio Fava, Pasqualina Napoletano and Giulietto Chiesa), 12 Senators and 21 Deputies.The parliamentarians who have adhered to the group have established themselves as a discrete group within the Italian Parliament while remaining supporters of the governing centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi. According to its leading members, Democratic Left is not a party, but a movement with the goal to unite the entire Italian left, from Communist Refoundation Party to the Italian Democratic Socialists.
Contents |
History
In 2007, the Democrats of the Left held in Florence a convention to ratify the move towards the foundation of the new Democratic Party. In opposition to Piero Fassino's resolution in favour of the move, 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 joins the Party of European Socialists and more willing to wait upon events. These resolutions managed to garner around 25% of the vote. As has been noted above Mussi and Angius have reached their current position from rather different starting points and this has affected the number of people they have been able to take with them out of DS. Following the conference, 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 conference [1]. In contrast, Angius' rapid departure from DS after the conference was somewhat surprising and arguably inconsistent with the position adopted by the supporters of the Angius-Zani motion prior to and during the conference [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 proposes 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, keener on an alliance with the Italian Democratic Socialists. In September this group joined the Socialist Constituent Assembly, which is committed to the foundation of a social-democratic party in the tradition of the old Italian Socialist Party. Finally in October Angius and his group left SD, as they considered it to be too far to the left politically.
Leadership
- Political Coordinator: Fabio Mussi (2007–...)
- 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–...)
References
- ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/02/sezioni/politica/congresso-ds/intervento-mussi/intervento-mussi.html
- ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/01/sezioni/politica/direzione-ds/direzioni-mozione/direzioni-mozione.html
- ^ http://www.socialistieuropei.it/files/Principali%2520differenze.doc+mozione+3+angius&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk&ie=UTF-8
- ^ http://www.repubblica.it/2007/02/sezioni/politica/congresso-ds/veltroni-dalema-prodi/veltroni-dalema-prodi.html
- ^ http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio-local/Fassino:-qui-inizia-una-nuova-storia/1579487
- ^ http://www.unita.it/view.asp?IDcontent=63490
- ^ http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2007/04_Aprile/24/angius_ds_strappo.shtml
(
