The Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party ( it, Partito Democratico Cristiano Sammarinese, PDCS) is a

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

political party in San Marino. The PDCS is an observer member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

(EPP), having joined the EPP in 1993. Its Italian counterpart was the now-dissolved

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

. Its internal left-wing faction left in 2006 to form the Centre Democrats and was joined by the social democrats of

Arengo and Freedom Arengo and Freedom ( it, Arengo e Libertà, AL) was 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 ...

. 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 The Grand and General Council ( it, Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. History From the fifth century San Marino was ruled by an assembly composed by all t ...

. The party stood in opposition to the 2006-2008 governing political coalition of

Party of Socialists and Democrats The Party of Socialists and Democrats ( it, Partito dei Socialisti e dei Democratici, PSD) is a social-democratic and democratic socialist political party in San Marino. It is a member of the Socialist International, and observer member of the P ...

, Popular Alliance and United Left. For the 2008 general election the party was part of the

Pact for San Marino Pact for San Marino ( it, Patto per San Marino) was a centrist coalition of parties for the 2008 general election in San Marino. It was composed of four lists for a total of eight parties: {, class=wikitable style=text-align:left , - !colspan=2 ...

coalition and gave hospitality in its list to some candidates of the

Euro-Populars for San Marino The Euro-Populars for San Marino ( it, Europopolari per San Marino, EPS) was a Christian democratic political party in San Marino. It emerged in September 2007 as a split from the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party (PDCS). It held 5 seats out ...

and

. The electoral coalition won 35 seats out of 60 in the

in the

Sammarinese parliamentary election, 2008 Snap general elections were held in San Marino on 9 November 2008. They were called after the collapse of the centre-left government which had won the previous 2006 elections. In June 2008, due to disagreements within the coalition partners, the ...

gaining 54.22% of the national vote and a governmental majority of 5, becoming the new government of

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. 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 and gained 31.90% of the national vote.

Ernesto Benedettini Ernesto Benedettini (born 5 March 1948) 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. In March 2009, Meloni and Benedettini joined in the celebratio ...

became one of the two Joint Captains Regent of San Marino. A political crisis in 2011 dissolved the old majority, and the PDCS formed a government of national unity with the

, whose predecessors worked with the PDCS for decades, so restoring a political formula which led

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, during the second half of the 20th century. The new alliance,

San Marino Common Good San Marino Common Good ( it, San Marino Bene Comune) is a centrist political and electoral alliance in San Marino, formed to contest the 2012 general election. It comprisesSammarinese election of 2012, PDCS obtaining 21 seats together with their electoral running-mates,

We Sammarinese We Sammarineses ( it, Noi Sammarinesi, NS) is a conservative-liberal political party in San Marino. In the 2006 general election NS won 2.5% and 1 out of 60 seats and stood in opposition to the 2006-2008 governing coalition of the Party of Soci ...

References

External links

Official website
1948 establishments in San Marino Catholic political parties Centrist parties in Europe Christian democratic parties in Europe European People's Party Political parties established in 1948 Political parties in San Marino {{SanMarino-stub