The Rose in the Fist ( it, Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) was a

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...

of parties in Italy. The RnP was composed of the

Italian Democratic Socialists The Italian Democratic Socialists ( it, Socialisti Democratici Italiani, SDI) were a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Soci ...

(SDI; a social-democratic party led by Enrico Boselli and

Roberto Villetti Roberto Villetti (24 August 1944 – 14 September 2019) was an Italian politician. A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), he was vice-secretary of the Italian Socialists (SI) from 1994 to 1998. Since 1998 he is vice-secretary of ...

), the

Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals ( it, Radicali Italiani, RI) is a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. Founded on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as their first secretary, the party describes itself as "''liberale'', ''liberista'' nd''lib ...

(RI; a liberal-libertarian party led by Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino) and some independent members gathered in the

Association for the Rose in the Fist The Association for the Rose in the Fist ( it, Associazione per la Rosa bel Pugno) was a social-democratic political association in Italy. It was the so-called "third component" of the Rose in the Fist (RnP), a political alliance composed mainly o ...

(including

Lanfranco Turci Lanfranco Turci (born 2 December 1940 in Campogalliano Campogalliano ( Carpigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 8.804 inhabitants in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about ...

Salvatore Buglio Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dream ...

, and

Biagio De Giovanni Biagio is an Italian male given name. It may also refer to: People * Biagio (archbishop), Archbishop of Torres * Biagio Antonacci, Italian singer-songwriter * Biagio Betti, Italian painter * Biagio Black, American painter * Biagio Brugi, Italian ...

). RnP was part of the centre-left coalition

The Union The Union may refer to: Politics * The Union (Germany) or CDU/CSU, the partnership of the German political parties the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union * The Union (Italy), a former coalition of political parties in Ital ...

, and was one of the main supporters of

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

, abortion and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

in Italian politics.

History

The federation was constituted in September 2005, during a convention held in

Fiuggi Fiuggi ( Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio in central Italy. The town of Fiuggi became famous for its Acqua di Fiuggi (Fiuggi Water) which flows from its natural ...

, based on the political principles of

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

(excluding foreign policy, where the Radicals have an

Atlanticist Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, the ...

, pro-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

stance), Tony Blair and

Loris Fortuna Loris Fortuna (22 January 1924 – 5 December 1985) was an Italian left-wing politician. Biography Born in Breno, province of Brescia, he was a partisan during World War II, and initially joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI), leaving i ...

. In November, its official definition was finally announced. Its symbol was the fist and rose, the emblem of the Socialist International and many socialist and social democratic parties around the world. It had been the historical logo of the Radical Party during the 1970s and the 1980s. The Radical component of the alliance created some friction with the more Catholic-inspired components of The Union, such as Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and the

UDEUR Populars The Union of Democrats for Europe ( it, Unione Democratici per l'Europa, UDEUR), also known as UDEUR Populars (''Popolari UDEUR''), was a minor centrist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Clemente Mastella, minister of Labou ...

. The Socialist component was made up mostly of veterans of the Italian Socialist Party. There was also the so-called "third component", composed mainly by former Democrats of the Left, such as

and

, gathered in the

. In the Prodi II Cabinet the RnP was represented by Radical Emma Bonino, who served as Minister of European Affairs and International Trade. The alliance was disbanded in December 2007, upon which the SDI merged with the Association for the Rose in the Fist and other minor movements to form the current-day Italian Socialist Party.

Composition

It was composed of the following

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

Popular support

The federation presented its own lists for the 2006 general election, obtaining 2.6% of votes, and winning 18 seats (9 for SDI, 7 for the Radicals, one for

and one for

) in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

and no seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. This was not an encouraging result, indeed a bad one, considering that the Radicals alone scored 2.3% both at the 2001 general election and at the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

, while the Socialists had an electoral force of 2–3% in regional and local elections. In particular, it seems that the Radicals lost votes to

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

in their Northern strongholds (as Piedmont,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Veneto and

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

), while the Socialists did the same in favour of The Olive Tree coalition in their Southern strongholds (as

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, Campania,

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

and

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

). The table below shows how the two parties were not able to secure the favour of their usual voters, so that the Rose in the Fist scored less than Radicals alone in the North and the Socialists alone in the South.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

External links

Official website

References

{{Historical Italian political parties Radical parties in Italy Political parties established in 2005 Political parties disestablished in 2007 Defunct political party alliances in Italy 2005 establishments in Italy 2007 disestablishments in Italy