The Left – The Rainbow ( it, La Sinistra – L'Arcobaleno, SA), frequently referred as Rainbow Left ( it, Sinistra Arcobaleno), was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

federation of parties in Italy that participated in the 2008 general election.

History

The federation was officially launched on 8–9 December 2007 with the goal of uniting Italian communist, socialist and ecologist parties in a united bloc, somewhat similar to what the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

forces have done with 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 ...

and before that The Olive Tree. The four parties tended to disagree on a number of issues, including the support for the

Prodi II Cabinet The second Prodi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the only cabinet of the XV Legislatur ...

, the symbol and the name of the federation, with the Greens wanting the word "ecologist" and the Italian Communists the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

to be included, but in the end they formed a joint list for the 2008 general election. In the election The Left – The Rainbow gained a disastrous 3.1% of the vote (down from 10.2%, combined result of the three parties in 2006 general election) and failed to gain any seats in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

. Shortly after, the

Party of Italian Communists The Party of Italian Communists ( it, Partito dei Comunisti Italiani, PdCI) was a communist party in Italy established in October 1998 by splinters from the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC). The split was led by Armando Cossutta, founder and e ...

announced it would leave the federation, and the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replac ...

did the same soon after. These groups went on to launch the

Anticapitalist and Communist List The Anticapitalist and Communist List ( it, Lista Comunista e Anticapitalista) was a communist coalition of political parties in Italy, formed in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament election in order to overcome the 4% threshold introduced b ...

, which later became the

Federation of the Left The Federation of the Left ( it, Federazione della Sinistra, FdS) was an electoral alliance of communist political parties in Italy. The coalition was the evolution of the Anticapitalist and Communist List. History At the start, in May 2009, th ...

. Meanwhile, the Greens and Democratic Left, together with the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

Movement for the Left Movement for the Left ( it, Movimento per la Sinistra, MpS) was a socialist political party in Italy. It emerged as a split from the Communist Refoundation Party and later merged into Left Ecology Freedom. Its leader was Nichi Vendola. History ...

and

Unite the Left Unite the Left (''Unire la Sinistra'') was a minority faction within the Party of Italian Communists (PdCI), a political party in Italy. Its leaders included former minister Katia Bellillo and MEP Umberto Guidoni. The faction was formed before the ...

, formed

Left Ecology Freedom Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party. The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President ...

Composition

The federation, defined by its members as the ''sinistra radicale''Bertinotti, beato oppositore Corriere della Sera
/ref> (which can be translated in English as both "radical left" and " far left"), was composed of four parties:

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Left The Rainbow 2007 establishments in Italy 2008 disestablishments in Italy Communist organisations in Italy Defunct political party alliances in Italy History of the Communist Refoundation Party Political parties disestablished in 2008 Political parties established in 2007