Left and Freedom
Encyclopedia
Left Ecology Freedom is a socialist
political party in Italy, originally founded as a left-wing
coalition of parties. Its leader is Nichi Vendola
.
SL/SEL was formed in the run up to the 2009 European Parliament election
in order to overcome the 4% threshold introduced by the new electoral law in February 2009. Until June 2009, SL was represented in the European Parliament
by 13 MEPs
(4 Democratic Left, 4 Socialist Party, 2 Greens, 2 Movement for the Left and 1 Unite the Left), but failed to pass the 4% threshold in 2009, and thus lost all these seats. Despite the result, the leaders of the alliance decided that the coalition was due to be merged into a single party.
In October 2009, during a party congress, the Greens elected a new party leader, Angelo Bonelli, and voted to opt-out from the process. However, Francescato and her faction decided to keep supporting SL as Ecologists with Left Ecology Freedom
and leave the Greens. SL was also weakened by the split occurred within PS, when the United Socialists
, who were opposed to the integration of PS into SL, walked out. Finally in November SL was hit by the sudden opt-out of the whole PS, that did not agree with the idea of forming a unified party and wanted to retain its autonomy.
Since November 2009 SEL was thus composed of MpS, SD, UlS, the Ecologists and Socialism and Left
, a small minority of PS that wanted to continue the experience of SL. In December SEL was officially launched as a party and Vendola was elected its spokesperson.
SEL, often in list with the Socialists, gained fairly good results in the 2010 regional elections
, especially in Central
and Southern Italy. In Apulia
Vendola was re-elected President of the Region and trailed SEL to 9.7%, its best electoral result.
The party was officially founded in a congress in Florence
on 22–24 October 2010.
On 30 May 2011 Giuliano Pisapia
, an independent close to SEL, was elected Mayor of Milan
.
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
political party in Italy, originally founded as a left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
coalition of parties. Its leader is Nichi Vendola
Nichi Vendola
Nicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about...
.
History
At the time of formation SL included:- Movement for the LeftMovement for the LeftMovement for the Left was a socialist and communist political party in Italy, emerged by a split from the Communist Refoundation Party...
(MpS, socialistSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
/communistCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, leader: Nichi VendolaNichi VendolaNicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about...
) - Socialist Party (PS, social-democraticSocial democracySocial 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...
, leader: Riccardo NenciniRiccardo NenciniRiccardo Nencini is an Italian politician.Nencini was born at Barberino di Mugello, in the province of Florence. He is the son of Gastone Nencini, a famous cyclist...
) - Federation of the GreensFederation 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:...
(FV, greenGreen politicsGreen politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
, leader: Grazia Francescato) - Democratic LeftDemocratic Left (Italy)Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party in Italy.It was founded on 5 May 2007 by splinters of the Democrats of the Left centred around Fabio Mussi and Gavino Angius, who opposed the merger of the DS into the Democratic Party...
(SD, democratic socialistDemocratic socialismDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
, leader: Claudio FavaClaudio FavaGiovanni Claudio Fava is an Italian politician .He is currently the Coordinator of the National Secretariat of Sinistra Ecologia Libertà .He was until 2009 Member of the European Parliament for the Italian Islands with the Democratic Left , part of the Socialist Group and is vice-chair of the...
) - Unite the LeftUnite the LeftUnite the Left is the minority faction within the Party of Italian Communists , a political party in Italy. Its leaders include former minister Katia Belillo and MEP Umberto Guidoni....
(UlS, socialistSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
/communistCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, leaders: Umberto GuidoniUmberto GuidoniUmberto Guidoni is an Italian politician and a former ESA astronaut. He is a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions...
, Katia Bellillo)
SL/SEL was formed in the run up to the 2009 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Italy)
European elections to elect 72 members of the European Parliament representing Italy were held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on December 18, 2008...
in order to overcome the 4% threshold introduced by the new electoral law in February 2009. Until June 2009, SL was represented in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
by 13 MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A 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,...
(4 Democratic Left, 4 Socialist Party, 2 Greens, 2 Movement for the Left and 1 Unite the Left), but failed to pass the 4% threshold in 2009, and thus lost all these seats. Despite the result, the leaders of the alliance decided that the coalition was due to be merged into a single party.
In October 2009, during a party congress, the Greens elected a new party leader, Angelo Bonelli, and voted to opt-out from the process. However, Francescato and her faction decided to keep supporting SL as Ecologists with Left Ecology Freedom
Ecologists (Italy)
Ecologists is a small green and eco-socialist association in Italy.It was founded in November 2009 by those members of the Federation of the Greens who wanted to continue the experience of Left and Freedom , a left-wing coalition that was abandoned by the Greens in October, and took part to the...
and leave the Greens. SL was also weakened by the split occurred within PS, when the United Socialists
United Socialists (Italy)
The United Socialists is a social-democratic political party in Italy. Its leaders are Bobo Craxi and Saverio Zavettieri....
, who were opposed to the integration of PS into SL, walked out. Finally in November SL was hit by the sudden opt-out of the whole PS, that did not agree with the idea of forming a unified party and wanted to retain its autonomy.
Since November 2009 SEL was thus composed of MpS, SD, UlS, the Ecologists and Socialism and Left
Socialism and Left
Socialism and Left is a small democratic-socialist political party in Italy.In November 2009 the Socialist Party abandoned Left and Freedom , a coalition of left-wing parties formed in the run-up of the 2009 European Parliament election...
, a small minority of PS that wanted to continue the experience of SL. In December SEL was officially launched as a party and Vendola was elected its spokesperson.
SEL, often in list with the Socialists, gained fairly good results in the 2010 regional elections
Italian regional elections, 2010
A big round of regional elections in Italy took place on 28–29 March in 13 regions out of 20, including nine of the ten largest ones: Lombardy, Campania, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Apulia, Tuscany and Calabria...
, especially in Central
Central Italy
Central Italy is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics , a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency...
and Southern Italy. In Apulia
Apulian regional election, 2010
The Apulian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010.The outgoing President Nichi Vendola of Left Ecology Freedom was elected for a second-consecutive term, after having won the a primary election in which he beat a Democrat and having benefited from the split of the centre-right,...
Vendola was re-elected President of the Region and trailed SEL to 9.7%, its best electoral result.
The party was officially founded in a congress in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
on 22–24 October 2010.
On 30 May 2011 Giuliano Pisapia
Giuliano Pisapia
Giuliano Pisapia is an Italian lawyer and politician, twice member of the Parliament and Mayor of Milan since 1 June 2011...
, an independent close to SEL, was elected Mayor of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Leadership
- President: Nichi VendolaNichi VendolaNicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about...
(2009–present) - Coordinator: Claudio FavaClaudio FavaGiovanni Claudio Fava is an Italian politician .He is currently the Coordinator of the National Secretariat of Sinistra Ecologia Libertà .He was until 2009 Member of the European Parliament for the Italian Islands with the Democratic Left , part of the Socialist Group and is vice-chair of the...
(2009–present)