Democratic Union for Consumers ( it, Unione Democratica per i Consumatori, UDpC) was a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

Italian political party. The party supports consumer protection and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

rights.

History

UD was founded on 11 September 2007 by two dissenting members of

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties within ...

(DL) who were opposed to the foundation of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD).

Willer Bordon Willer Bordon (16 January 1949 – 14 July 2015) was an Italian academic, businessman and politician who served in different cabinet posts at the end of the 1990s and 2000s. Early life Bordon was born in Muggia, Province of Trieste, on 16 Januar ...

(leader of the new party) and Roberto Manzione, and two leading consumer rights leaders, Elio Lanutti and Bruno De Vita, leader of

United Consumers The United Consumers (''Consumatori Uniti'') was a political party in Italy led by Bruno De Vita. In the 2006 general election the party was affiliated to The Union, the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi. The United Consumers contested t ...

, were integrated in the new party. Bordon and Manzione were both members of the most ''Ulivista'' faction in DL, that one led by

Arturo Parisi Arturo Parisi (born 13 September 1940) is an Italian politician, leader of the Ulivist faction of the Democratic Party and a four-time member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. He was also minister of defence in the cabinet of Prime Minister ...

and decided to leave DL because in their opinion, PD was born as a bureaucratic union of apparatuses between DL and the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

and they were the "true Democrats". Bordon had been a strong supporter of the idea of a "Democratic Party" since 1992, when he left the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...

to form Democratic Alliance, forerunner of the first Democratic Union, The Democrats and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, respectively. All four parties were committed in uniting the whole Italian centre-left into a single party and Bordon was a keen supporter of this. On 27 November 2007 UD formed a joint group in the Senate with Liberal Democrats of

Lamberto Dini Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...

.ALICE Notizie
/ref> The convergence between the two small parties, which retained their autonomy, is based on some key points (a plurality voting system, more powers for the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, fiscal conservatism, tax cuts and

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

reform) and was open to all the senators. Both Bordon and Manzione, as also Dini and D'Amico, have a long record of dissenting votes from the majority. The group was predicted as likely to have much influence in the Senate, where the centre-left had only a narrow majority of two votes and where Liberal Democrats were the fourth force of the coalition, after the Democratic Party, the Communist Refoundation Party and Democratic Left. For technical reasons, the two parties formed separate groups in the Senate in order to have more speaking time, whilst coordinating almost every position together and formed a joint group until the Liberal Democrats decided to withdraw support from

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

's government and to join

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

. In the 2008 general election, Democratic Union for Consumers failed to gain enough votes to enter Parliament. On 30 December 2017, the secretary Bruno de Vita died, and the party has effectively ceased its activities.

Leadership

* President:

(2007–2015) * Coordinator: Roberto Manzione (2007–present)

References

External links

Official website
{{Italian political parties Centrist parties in Italy Political parties established in 2007 2007 establishments in Italy Political parties established in 2017 Political parties disestablished in 2017 Defunct political parties in Italy