The Federation of the Left ( it, Federazione della Sinistra, FdS) was an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

political parties in Italy. The coalition was the evolution of 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 ...

History

At the start, in May 2009, the federation included four distinct groups: * Communist Refoundation Party (PRC, communist, leader:

Paolo Ferrero Paolo Ferrero (born 17 November 1960) is an Italian politician. He is a leading member of the Communist Refoundation Party (''Partito della Rifondazione Comunista''; PRC), and served as Minister of Social Solidarity from 2006 to 2008 as part of ...

) *

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 ...

(PdCI, communist, leader:

Oliviero Diliberto Oliviero Diliberto (born 13 October 1956 in Cagliari) is an Italian politician. He has been leader of the Party of Italian Communists. Early life Oliviero Diliberto was born in a family of public servants (his father Marco was employed as at ...

) *

Socialism 2000 Socialism 2000 ( it, Socialismo 2000) was a democratic socialist political association in Italy led by Cesare Salvi. History The group was launched in August 2000 as a left-wing faction within the Democrats of the Left (DS). Socialism 2000 was sinc ...

( democratic-socialist, leader:

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 ...

) * Labour–Solidarity (

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, leader:

Gian Paolo Patta Gian is a masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Gianni and is likewise used as a diminutive of Giovanni, the Italian form of John. In Italian, any name including Giovanni can be contracted to Gian, particularly in combination with oth ...

) In the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...

the list won 3.4% of the vote. Its strongholds were in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

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

(6.7%),

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

(6.2%),

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

(5.1%),

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

(4.5%),

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 ...

(4.3%) and

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

(4.2%). The support for FdS followed a similar pattern in the 2010 regional elections, despite losing votes to

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 ...

. The coalition held its first congress on 20–21 November 2010. In September 2012 Socialism 2000 and Labour–Solidarity were merged into the Labour Party. In November 2012 the FdS was ''de facto'' suspended as its two main constituents, the PRC and the PdCI, did not agree on how to participate to the 2013 general election, and the PdCI chose to take part to the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

organized by

Italy. Common Good Italia. Bene Comune (Italy. Common Good, IBC) was a centre-left political list and electoral alliance in Italy created to stand at the 2013 Italian general election. It ''de facto'' ended on 28 April 2013, with PD's new leader Enrico Letta forming ...

. In December 2012, la the PRC and the PdCI support list Ingroia "

Civil Revolution Civil Revolution ( it, Rivoluzione Civile, RC) was a left-wing coalition of political parties in Italy. The coalition was headed by Antonio Ingroia, a former anti-mafia prosecutor of Palermo from 1992 to 2012 and then director of a UN inves ...

" to create a fourth pole and a new hope.

Election results

European Parliament

Regional councils

Leadership

Spokesmen were

(2009–2010), Cesare Salvi (2010),

(2010–2011) and Massimo Rossi (2011–2012).

References

{{Political parties in Italy Defunct political party alliances in Italy History of the Communist Refoundation Party