The Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party is a centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

, Christian-democratic

Christian Democracy

Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

 political party in San Marino

San Marino

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...

.

PDCS is an observer member of the European People's Party

European People's Party

The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

 (EPP). Its Italian counterpart was the late Christian Democracy

Christian Democracy (Italy)

Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....

, while today the party, whose internal left-wing faction left in 2006 to form the Centre Democrats

Centre Democrats (San Marino)

The Centre Democrats are a social christian political party in San Marino. Its Italian counterpart is The Daisy.It emerged in 2007 as a left-wing split from the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party...

 and which was joined by the social democrats of Arengo and Freedom

Arengo and Freedom

Arengo and Freedom is a liberal and social liberal political party in San Marino.It was founded in September 2008 by two splinters from the Party of Socialists and Democrats, Fabio Berardi and Nadia Ottaviani, both members of the Grand and General Council, who considered the party to be too...

, is the equivalent of Forza Italia

Forza Italia

Forza 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....

 or its successor The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

. It is led by Giovanni Lonfernini, a former Captain-Regent.

In the 2006 general election PDCS won the 32.9% of the vote and 21 out of 60 seats in the Grand and General Council

Grand and General Council

The Grand and General Council is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term.The electoral law was based on proportional representation from 1945 to 2007. Since then, it is based on the electoral system of Italian municipalities...

. The party stood in opposition to the 2006-2008 governing political coalition of Party of Socialists and Democrats

Party of Socialists and Democrats

The Party of Socialists and Democrats is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in San Marino. It is a member of the Socialist International and its current-day Italian counterpart is the Democratic Party....

, Popular Alliance and United Left

United Left (San Marino)

United Left is a left-wing political coalition in San Marino.It was founded in 2006 by the Sammarinese Communist Refoundation, formed by those who did not agree with the transformation of the Sammarinese Communist Party into the Sammarinese Democratic Progressive Party in 1992, and the Left Party,...

.

For the 2008 general election

Sammarinese parliamentary election, 2008

A snap general election was held in San Marino on 9 November 2008. Elections were called after the collapse of the centre-left majority which had won the previous 2006 election....

 the party was part of the Pact for San Marino

Pact for San Marino

Pact for San Marino is a right-wing coalition of parties for the 2008 general election in San Marino.It is composed of four lists for a total of eight parties:*Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party , including also:...

 coalition and gave hospitality in its list to some candidates of the Euro-Populars for San Marino

Euro-Populars for San Marino

The Euro-Populars for San Marino are a christian-democratic political party in San Marino.It emerged in September 2007 as a split from the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party . It held 5 seats out of 60 in the Grand and General Council prior to the elections from its time as part of the PDCS...

 and Arengo and Freedom

Arengo and Freedom

Arengo and Freedom is a liberal and social liberal political party in San Marino.It was founded in September 2008 by two splinters from the Party of Socialists and Democrats, Fabio Berardi and Nadia Ottaviani, both members of the Grand and General Council, who considered the party to be too...

, The electoral coalition won 35 seats out of 60 in the Grand and General Council

Grand and General Council

The Grand and General Council is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term.The electoral law was based on proportional representation from 1945 to 2007. Since then, it is based on the electoral system of Italian municipalities...

 in the Sammarinese parliamentary election, 2008

Sammarinese parliamentary election, 2008

A snap general election was held in San Marino on 9 November 2008. Elections were called after the collapse of the centre-left majority which had won the previous 2006 election....

 gaining 54.22% of the national vote and a governmental majority of 5 and has become the new government of San Marino

San Marino

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...

 and as a result the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party which itself gained 22 seats (a few of which went to Euro-Populars for San Marino and Arengo and Freedom) out of the 35 the coalition gained and 31.90% of the national vote, as part of the coalition, is now part of the official new government with Ernesto Benedettini

Ernesto Benedettini

Ernesto Benedettini is a politician of San Marino. He was Captain Regent of San Marino for the term from 1 October 2008 to April 2009 together with Assunta Meloni...

 becoming one of the two Joint Captains Regent of San Marino.