The Workers' Communist Party (
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
: ''Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori'', PCL) is a
communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
in
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 ...
. It was created in 2006 by the
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
breakaway wing of the
Communist Refoundation Party led by
Marco Ferrando. The PCL is the Italian section of
.
History
The foundation of the Italian Communist Workers' Party (PCL) as a new political entity was the result of a split within the
Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) when the PCR joined the
second government headed by
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 Prim ...
. The movement, known as Common Project since its inception, had taken a stance further to the left within the party as it opposed the political alliance with
The Olive Tree, an association of center-left parties, being extremely critical of past centre-left governments, in particular the
first Prodi government
The first Prodi government was the 53rd government of Italy. It held office from 18 May 1996 until 21 October 1998.
Formation
On 21 April 1996, the Olive Tree won 1996 general election in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), ...
with
Massimo D'Alema
Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...
and
Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001.
Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...
. The "Common Project" movement was also opposed to the politics of the then Secretary of the PRC Fausto Bertinotti. The group refused to be part of the new government, maintaining that such participation would be disastrous. Moreover, following the exclusion of their leader
Marco Ferrando from the electoral list of the PRC for the elections to the Senate in the 2006, his followers pushed for a split in the party to maintain a communist opposition to the new government.
The birth of the movement was seen as a response to the emergence of two new left-wing political parties: 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), the fusion of 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
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 ...
; and
The Left – The Rainbow
The Left – The Rainbow ( it, La Sinistra – L'Arcobaleno, SA), frequently referred as Rainbow Left ( it, Sinistra Arcobaleno), was a left-wing federation of parties in Italy that participated in the 2008 general election.
History
The federat ...
, an organization that grouped together 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 ...
, 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 the
Greens, along with the PRC. The backers of the PCL believed that the future PD would be
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 the l ...
and
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and close to the interests of banks and corporations. Regarding the Rainbow Left, they considered this coalition fundamentally
social democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
and too close to the administration with only a pretension of revolutionary idealism and radicalism. The constitution of the PCL was implemented on 18 June 2006 at the Barberini movie theatre in Rome. Agreement was reached regarding a new symbol and a coordination at the national level. From this date onward, member were free to join the new party and promote political activism.
Adherence to the new party comes from activists and communist leaders, members of the PRC, from the leftist trade unions, the
Italian General Confederation of Labour
The Italian General Confederation of Labour (; CGIL) is a national trade union based in Italy. It was formed by agreement between socialists, communists, and Christian democrats in the "Pact of Rome" of June 1944. In 1950, socialists and Christi ...
(from the group of 28 April Network) and other trade organizations (RdB, CUB, COBAS, Sin COBAS and SLAI COBAS). Further support come from the
anti-globalization movement
The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalis ...
s, groups
opposing imperialism and those in favor of overthrowing the government in Israel (in particular the Palestine Forum) or protesting against the war. Representatives of the civil rights and sexual liberation (especially in Rome) movements also manifest their interest.
In autumn 2006, the PCL together with other peace organizations and anti-imperialist participants in the protest against the military missions in Afghanistan and Lebanon (30 September) and in the national demonstration of anti-Israeli activity with Palestinian people, sponsored by the Palestine Forum. On 17 November, the PCL participates in the general strike called by trade unions against the government.
On 14 April 2007, the first meeting of the movement was held, which according to its managers had about 1,300 members (530 participants in meetings) in the congress.
In late 2007, members were elected to the National Coordination and the new National Executive bodies to organize the PCL constitutive congress in January 2008.
At the
2008 elections, the Workers' Communist Party got 208,000 votes, or 0.6%.
In 2009, it was joined by the Alternative Proletarian Communist Organization, born from a split in the
Communist Alternative Party
The Communist Alternative Party (''Partito di Alternativa Comunista'', PdAC) is a communist political party in Italy. Its leader and founder is Francesco Ricci.
History
In April 2006 some members of Communist Project, a trotskyist faction wit ...
.
There was some possibility that it would be the only party using the label Communist standing in the
2013 Italian general election
The 2013 Italian general election was held on 24 and 25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 17th Italian Parliament. The centre-left alliance ...
. However, the PCL decided to run under their official name in which they gained slightly less than 90,000 votes.
For the
2018 elections, the PCL and Left, Class and Revolution presented a list named
For a Revolutionary Left.
Party relations
The PCL was affiliated to the
, a Trotskyist political international. The party has a very conflicting relationship with the
Communist Alternative Party
The Communist Alternative Party (''Partito di Alternativa Comunista'', PdAC) is a communist political party in Italy. Its leader and founder is Francesco Ricci.
History
In April 2006 some members of Communist Project, a trotskyist faction wit ...
(PdAC), another Trotskyist political organization in Italy.
The PCL was involved in the re-launch of the International Trotskyist Opposition at a conference in late 2022.
Electoral results
Italian Parliament
European Parliament
Regional Councils
Symbols
File:PCL Logo.jpg, 2006–2009
File:Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori simbolo.jpg, 2009–present
References
External links
Official website
{{Italian political parties
Communist parties in Italy
Political parties established in 2006
Trotskyist organisations in Italy
Far-left politics in Italy
Coordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International