The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. Founded in February 1991 as the

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...

evolution of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

, the party was the largest in the

Alliance of Progressives The Alliance of Progressives ( it, Alleanza dei Progressisti) was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The allianc ...

and The Olive Tree coalitions. In February 1998, the party merged with minor parties to form

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 ...

History

The PDS evolved from the

(PCI), the largest

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 Engel ...

in the

Western Bloc The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, the Capitalist Bloc, the American Bloc, and the NATO Bloc, was a coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War of 1947–1991. It was spearheaded by ...

for most of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. Since 1948, it had been the second-largest party in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The PCI moved away from communist orthodoxy in the late 1960s, when it opposed the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

. In the 1970s, it was one of the first parties to embrace

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rel ...

. By the late 1980s, the PCI had ties with social-democratic and democratic-socialist parties, and it was increasingly apparent that it was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party. With this in mind, in 1991 the PCI dissolved itself and refounded itself as the PDS, reforming its ideology to adopt acceptance of

multi-party democracy In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

and the

mixed economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...

. Its first leader was

Achille Occhetto Achille Leone Occhetto (; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian political figure. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the ...

, the final party secretary of the PCI. Although Ochetto had proclaimed the end of Communism, the new party's logo consisted of an oak tree sprouting from the previous symbol of the PCI in a

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...

at the tree's roots. This logo was adopted not only to allow the PDS to trade on the PCI's roots, but to keep any potential splinter party from immediately adopting the old PCI symbol. This did not prevent hard-liners leaving the party and launching 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 repla ...

(PRC). In 1993 the PDS was admitted into both the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...

and

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

. In the same year the party's

MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, it ...

moved from the European United Left to the Party of European Socialists Group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. In 1996, the PDS explored the possibility of adopting the

fist and rose The fist and rose, sometimes called the rose in the fist, is an emblem used or formerly used by a number of socialist and social democratic parties around the world. It depicts a rose, symbolizing the promises of better life under a socialist g ...

emblem of the Socialist International, but was prevented to do it by the

Transnational Radical Party The Transnational Radical Party (TRP), whose official name is Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), is a political association of citizens, members of parliament and members of government of various national and political ...

, which had obtained the right to use it in Italy in the 1970s. In the 1992 general election, the PDS reached second place with 107 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 64 in the Senate. The PDS had briefly entered the

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born ...

on 29 April 1993, holding three ministries. However, both the PDS and

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. Th ...

quickly withdrew from the cabinet on 4 May 1993 in protest against the Chamber's refusal to begin prosecution of former Prime Minister

Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...

.https://www.italiaoggi.it/archivio/pds-e-verdi-abbandonano-ciampi-fuori-i-ministri-206452 The party's transformation from the PCI to the PDS happened with the background of ''

Tangentopoli ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italia ...

'' and the end of the so-called First Republic, when the dominant

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and four other establishment parties collapsed and were replaced by new political formations during 1992–1994. In the following 1994 general election, Occhetto was the leader of the

, a left-wing coalition of which the PDS was the largest single party. However, he lost to the

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-destra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy, active—under several forms and names—since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed his Forza Italia party. Despite ...

, organised during the election as the

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Gover ...

and

Pole of Good Government The Pole of Good Government ( it, Polo del Buon Governo) was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Free ...

jointly led by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

, who became

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 is ...

for the first time. In the aftermath of the election,

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 ...

was elected new party secretary. In the 1996 general election, after the collapse of Berlusconi's coalition, the PDS was the largest component of the centre-left coalition, winning the election under the banner of The Olive Tree led 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 Pr ...

. It became the largest single party in the legislature, with 146 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 102 in the Senate. The

Prodi I Cabinet 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), ...

included 16 PDS ministers and 10 PDS junior ministers–the first time that (former) Communists had taken part in government in half a century.

Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He serve ...

, a leading member of the PDS, served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, while another leading member,

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

, became

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. In 1997 D'Alema called for the party to become a full-fledged European

party. In accordance with this call, the PDS merged in 1998 with the Labour Federation (splinters of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 189 ...

), the

Social Christians The Social Christians ( it, Cristiano Sociali) are a Christian social-democratic faction within the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy. Before that, they were a party (1993–1998) and a faction of the Democrats of the Left (1998–2007 ...

(including also several former

), the Republican Left (splinters of the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...

), the Unitarian Communists (splinters of the

), the Reformists for Europe (mostly former Socialists) and the Democratic Federation (a

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

n party formed by former Socialists,

Democratic Socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and Republicans) to form

(DS). On that occasion, the party decided to replace 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 industr ...

of its logo with the red

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

of European social democracy.

Popular support

The electoral results of PDS in general (

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 Res ...

) and

elections from 1992 to 1996 are shown in the chart below.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Leadership

*Secretary:

(1991–1994),

(1994–1998) **Coordinator:

(1991–1993), Davide Visani (1993–1994), Mauro Zani (1994–1996), Marco Minniti (1996–1998) **Organizational Secretary:

Piero Fassino Piero Franco Rodolfo Fassino (born 7 October 1949) is an Italian politician with the Democratic Party. He was Mayor of Turin from 2011 until 2016 and is a former national secretary of the Democrats of the Left party.

(1991–1992), Mauro Zani (1992–1994), Marco Minniti (1994–1996),

Pietro Folena Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Ca ...

(1996–1998) *President:

Stefano Rodotà Stefano Rodotà (30 May 1933 – 23 June 2017) was an Italian jurist and politician. Early life Born in 1933 in Cosenza, to a middle-class family of San Benedetto Ullano, he attended Liceo classico Bernardino Telesio in his hometown and later ...

(1991–1992), Giglia Tedesco Tatò (1993–1998) *Party Leader in the

(1992–1994),

Luigi Berlinguer Luigi Berlinguer (; born 25 July 1932) is an Italian politician who served in the government of Italy as minister of education from 1996 to 2000. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life and education Berlinguer was born in Sassari on ...

(1994–1996),

Fabio Mussi Fabio Mussi (born 22 January 1948) is an Italian politician, formerly Minister of University and Research in the Prodi II Cabinet. A former member of the Italian Communist Party and then Democrats of the Left, he became a lead founding member o ...

(1996–1998) *Party Leader 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 ...

: Giuseppe Chiarante (1992–1994),

Cesare Salvi Cesare Salvi (born 9 June 1948) is an Italian politician who served as minister of labor and social security. Early life Salvi was born in Lecce on 9 June 1948. Career Salvi was the spokesperson for the secretary of the Democrats of the Left (D ...

(1994–1998) *Party Leader in the

Renzo Imbeni Renzo Imbeni (12 October 1944 – 22 February 2005) was an Italian politician, Mayor of Bologna from 1983 to 1993. Biography Imbeni graduated in Economics at the University of Bologna and in 1972 he was elected Secretary of the Italian Commu ...

(1994–1998)