The
Italian Democratic Socialists (
Socialisti Democratici Italiani, SDI) were a small
social-democraticSocial democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
political party in Italy. Led by
Enrico BoselliEnrico Boselli is an Italian politician. He is currently Vice President of Alliance for Italy, and is the former leader of the Italian Democratic Socialists and the modern-day Italian Socialist Party....
, the party was the direct continuation of the
Italian SocialistsThe Italian Socialists were a minor social-democratic political party in Italy active in Italy from 1994 to 1998....
, the legal successor of the historical
Italian Socialist PartyThe Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
(PSI). On 5 October 2007 the SDI merged with other descendants of the PSI to form the modern-day Italian Socialist Party.
Early years
The SDI was founded in 1998 by the merger of the
Italian SocialistsThe Italian Socialists were a minor social-democratic political party in Italy active in Italy from 1994 to 1998....
(
Enrico BoselliEnrico Boselli is an Italian politician. He is currently Vice President of Alliance for Italy, and is the former leader of the Italian Democratic Socialists and the modern-day Italian Socialist Party....
,
Roberto VillettiRoberto Villetti is an Italian politician.A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party , he was vice-secretary of the Italian Socialists from 1994 to 1998...
and
Ottaviano Del TurcoOttaviano Del Turco is an Italian politician. After a career in trade unionism in the Italian General Confederation of Labour Del Turco rose to the top of Bettino Craxi's Italian Socialist Party before it was swept away in the Tangentopoli scandals of 1992-94.Del Turco was the president of the...
), the
Italian Democratic Socialist PartyThe Italian Democratic Socialist Party is a minor social-democratic political party in Italy. Mimmo Magistro is the party leader. The PSDI, before the 1990s decline in votes and members, had been an important force in Italian politics, being the longest serving partner in government for Christian...
(Gian Franco Schietroma and Giorgio Carta), a portion of the
Labour FederationThe Labour Federation was a social-democratic party in Italy.It was founded in 1994 by former members of the Italian Socialist Party and was in close alliance with the Democratic Party of the Left , with which it merged in 1998 to form the Democrats of the Left...
, a portion of the
Socialist PartyThe Socialist Party was a tiny social-democratic party in Italy.It was founded in 1996 by former members of the Italian Socialist Party close to Bettino Craxi, as Gianni De Michelis, Ugo Intini, Fabrizio Cicchitto, Margherita Boniver, Bobo Craxi and Donato Robilotta, some of which had been members...
(
Ugo IntiniUgo Intini is an Italian politician.A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party and close aide of Bettino Craxi, he founded the Socialist Party in 1996 and joined the Italian Democratic Socialists in 1998....
) and the
Socialist LeagueThe Socialist League was a tiny social-democratic party in Italy.Its leading members included Claudio Martelli and Bobo Craxi. In 1998 they joined the Italian Socialists and other Socialist components to form the Italian Democratic Socialists, of which Martelli was elected deputy leader in 1999.In...
(
Claudio MartelliClaudio Martelli is an Italian politician, and the right-hand man of Bettino Craxi, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983–1987.-Biography:Martelli was born at Gessate, in the province of Milan....
and Bobo Craxi).
In its first appearance on the national stage, the
1999 European Parliament electionThe European Parliament election of 1999 in Italy was the election of the delegation from Italy to the European Parliament in 1999.-References:...
, the SDI won 2.2% of the votes and two
MEPsA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. For the
2001 general electionA national general election was held in Italy on May 13, 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The 14th Parliament of the Italian republic was chosen....
the party formed an unusual alliance with the
Federation of the GreensThe Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...
(the so-called
SunflowerThe Sunflower was an electoral alliance of two Italian centre-left parties for the 2001 Italian general election, namely:* Federation of the Greens * Italian Democratic Socialists...
, that was disbanded soon after the election, due to political divergences and ultimately to the disappointing result they had together: 2.2% of the vote, while the combined result of the two parties in 1999 was 4.0%. In the
2004 European Parliament electionElections to the European Parliament were held in Italy on 12 and 13 June 2004. Italy's highly fragmented party system made it hard to identify an overall trend, but the results were generally seen as a defeat for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a victory for the centre-left opposition...
, two SDI
Member of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
were elected on the The Olive Tree ticket.
The Rose in the Fist
In 2001
Claudio MartelliClaudio Martelli is an Italian politician, and the right-hand man of Bettino Craxi, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983–1987.-Biography:Martelli was born at Gessate, in the province of Milan....
and Bobo Craxi left the party in order to form with
Gianni De MichelisGiovanni De Michelis is an Italian politician.-Biography:De Michelis was born in Venice.His political experience started with the Italian Socialist Party, where he was elected to the municipal council of Venice. He got elected for the first time to the Italian Parliament in 1976 and was elected...
the New Italian Socialist Party (NPSI), that joined the centre-right
House of FreedomsThe House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...
coalition, while Giorgio Carta left in 2004 to re-found the
Italian Democratic Socialist PartyThe Italian Democratic Socialist Party is a minor social-democratic political party in Italy. Mimmo Magistro is the party leader. The PSDI, before the 1990s decline in votes and members, had been an important force in Italian politics, being the longest serving partner in government for Christian...
.
In 2005 SDI entered in alliance with the
Italian RadicalsItalian Radicals is an Italian political party which describes itself as a liberale, liberista e libertario political movement .It was...
, a
libertarianLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
party, forming the
Rose in the FistThe Rose in the Fist was a coalition of parties in Italy.The RnP was composed of the social-democratic Italian Democratic Socialists , the libertarian Italian Radicals and some independent members gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist was a coalition of...
(RnP) electoral list. In 2006
Socialist UnitySocialist Unity Socialist Unity was formed by the Italian Socialist Workers' Party |Popular Democratic Front]] in the 1948 election.Socialist Unity reached 7% of the vote for the Italian Chamber of Deputies, gaining 33 seats...
of Claudio Signorile joined the SDI, while some members of NPSI, as Donato Robilotta, founded the
Reformist SocialistsThe Reformist Socialists were a tiny social-democratic political party in Italy, now acting as a faction within The People of Freedom....
and joined directly the Rose in the Fist.
In the
2006 general electionIn the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...
the RnP list won only 2.6% of the vote, much less than the combination of the two parties before the alliance (Radicals alone took 2.3% in the
2004 European Parliament electionElections to the European Parliament were held in Italy on 12 and 13 June 2004. Italy's highly fragmented party system made it hard to identify an overall trend, but the results were generally seen as a defeat for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a victory for the centre-left opposition...
), as the Radicals lost voters in their strongholds in the North to
Forza ItaliaForza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
, while the Socialists lost ground in the South to the The Olive Tree parties (see electoral results of the Rose in the Fist).
The Socialist Party
In April 2007, during a party convention,
Enrico BoselliEnrico Boselli is an Italian politician. He is currently Vice President of Alliance for Italy, and is the former leader of the Italian Democratic Socialists and the modern-day Italian Socialist Party....
launched the proposal of a "Socialist Constituent Assembly", open to all the Italian social-democrats and especially to the remnants of the old PSI, while
Ottaviano Del TurcoOttaviano Del Turco is an Italian politician. After a career in trade unionism in the Italian General Confederation of Labour Del Turco rose to the top of Bettino Craxi's Italian Socialist Party before it was swept away in the Tangentopoli scandals of 1992-94.Del Turco was the president of the...
supported the entry of the SDI in the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
(PD). Boselli was re-elected secretary of the party with 784 votes out of 787 and only 3 abstentions.
In May 2007 Del Turco and his supporters left the SDI and formed the
Reformist AllianceThe Reformist Alliance was an Italian political party founded by Ottaviano Del Turco in April 2007 as a split from the Italian Democratic Socialists over the SDI's decision not to become a part of the Democratic Party...
, as their political vehicle in order to join the PD. In the meantime several groups, including a large portion of the New Italian Socialist Party, The Italian Socialists,
Democracy and SocialismDemocracy and Socialism is a social-democratic political association in Italy. During the years it has been a faction within the Democrats of the Left, the Socialist Party and finally the Democratic Party, where it is now...
and the
Association for the Rose in the FistThe Association for the Rose in the Fist was a social-democratic association in Italy.It was the so-called "third component" of the Rose in the Fist , composed mainly of the Italian Democratic Socialists and the Italian Radicals...
, decided to join forces with the SDI. This is what happened on 5 October 2007, when they were merged into a united Socialist Party, renamed the Italian Socialist Party on 7 October 2009 to recall the historical party of the same name.
Leadership
- Secretary: Enrico Boselli
Enrico Boselli is an Italian politician. He is currently Vice President of Alliance for Italy, and is the former leader of the Italian Democratic Socialists and the modern-day Italian Socialist Party....
(1998–2008)
- Deputy-Secretary: Roberto Villetti
Roberto Villetti is an Italian politician.A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party , he was vice-secretary of the Italian Socialists from 1994 to 1998...
(1998–2008), Claudio MartelliClaudio Martelli is an Italian politician, and the right-hand man of Bettino Craxi, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983–1987.-Biography:Martelli was born at Gessate, in the province of Milan....
(1999–2001), Gian Franco Schietroma (2001–2002)