Italian Democratic Socialist Party

The Socialist- Democratic Party of Italy ( Italian: Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano, PSDI ) is an Italian Social Democratic Party, which existed as a historical party from 1952-1998 and was founded in 2004 as PSDI Socialdemocrazia new. With only 0.2 % of the vote in the parliamentary elections in 2006 but today it plays any role and is not to be confused with the Socialisti Democratici Italiani (SDI ). How this she was until 2008 a part of the center-left coalition L' Unione to Romano Prodi, but joined after its disbandment of the Unione di Centro ( UDC ) to.

The precursor: PSLI and PSU 1947-1952

After the Christian Democrat Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi had renounced his action alliance with the Socialists and Communists, split - after a historical meeting on January 18, 1947 in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome - the reformist right wing to Giuseppe Saragat of the Italian Socialist Party (until then PSIUP, then PSI ), in order to be Partito Socialista dei Lavoratori Italiani ( PSLI ) continue to participate in the Italian government. This cost the tribe party half of its members of parliament and prevented the formation of a left-wing, pro-Soviet People's Front government ( from PSI and PCI), as the PSLI with other anti-communist party splits united to the electoral alliance Unità Socialista, which in the parliamentary elections on April 18, 1948 7.1 received % of the votes and thus the survival of De Gasperi assured center-left government.

Between 1948 and 1950 the new party, however, a series of internal discord was exposed, which led to numerous party outlets and in December 1949 led to the formation of the rival Partito Socialista Unitario (PSU ) under Giuseppe Romita result. Due to the increasing shrinkage members ( around 1950 was one of the party just under 50,000 members) threatened the PSLI into insignificance to sink. His followers were - in allusion to the party symbol as piselli - especially of the successfully reorganized left opponents: mocks (Eng. " peas "). It was not until the introduction of a unification of PSLI and PSU secured the existence of the moderate left: On 1 May 1951 the two parties entered into the Partito Socialista - Sezione Italiana dell'Internazionale Socialista (PS- SIIS ) together, the most at the Seventh Party Congress January 7, 1952, the final designation Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano ( PSDI ) and took Saragat to his party leader ( Segretario ) chose.

Of the Piselli to Pentapartito: The role of the party in the postwar period

For many years, the PSDI could claim as the second strongest force in the registers kept by the Christian Democrat coalition governments the political center ( from DC, PSDI, PRI and PLI). In particular, his great role model Giuseppe Saragat, several times held the office of Deputy Prime Minister and 1964-1971 Italian President was made ​​for a continuous influence of the party on the Italian Government policy - not least through the social democratic dominated union UIL ( Unione Italiana del Lavoro ).

At the beginning of the 1960s, the PSDI played an important intermediary role in the convergence of Christian Democrats and Socialists and allowed the entry of the PSI in the center-left government of Aldo Moro on December 4, 1963. Subsequently, it came on 30 October 1966 reunification of the PSDI, be the election result in 1963 by 4.5% to over 6% had been able to improve, with the socialist party for mother Partito Socialista Unificato. Since the merger in the elections in 1968 but did not pay (15 % versus 20-21 %, together in 1963 ), the paths of the two parties separated again from 5 July 1969. According to this separation, the party was temporarily the name Partito Socialista Unitario before their previous name ( PSDI ) took back in February 1971.

After the rise of the Communists to leading left People's Party ( over 30% ) and the choice Bettino Craxi chairman of the Socialists it came in the middle of the 1970s to a renewed approach of the PSI to the government parties. For the first time in June 1981 was formed as the first government Giovanni Spadolini a five-party coalition ( the so-called Pentapartito ), whereby the PSDI lost influence and importance over the course of seven governments of this constellation until 1991.

The collapse of 1989-1998

First signs of disintegration appeared in 1989 in the formation of the party flow Unità e Democrazia Socialista ( " Socialist Unity and Democracy" ) by Pietro Longo and Pier Luigi Romita. You should prepare the connection of the party in a guided Craxi Unity Party, which are based on the Social Democratic sister parties in Europe and should also record the reformist groups converted to PDS Communists. This effort failed, however, and ended with the rise of this movement in the PSI in October 1989.

The decisive death blow to the party 's involvement of some of its most senior representative in the bribery scandal Tangentopoli the early 1990s. In the early summer of 1992, both her ​​former Chairman Pietro Longo, as well as the leading roman local politician Lamberto Mancini were transferred and detained by the police in the adoption of high bribes. This hurt the PSDI sustainable: He went as one of the first political parties lost voters, and in the context of shaken by the scandal entire party system at the end of the first republic of the party apparatus fell prey to an almost unmanageable decay process. From a large part of no more candidates as an independent list PSDI merged with the penultimate party leader Enrico Ferri the Craxi -related Socialdemocrazia per le Libertà on which later ( in the lead up to the parliamentary elections of 1994, the various factions of the party scattered in all political camps 1995) was to become the right-wing camp at Silvio Berlusconi; another part opted for the centrist option of the Patto per l' Italia by Giuliano Amato, including the last party chairman Gian Franco Schietroma; and the smallest part joined the National Alliance left dei Progressisti.

Due to their 0.7 % in the European elections in 1994 the party could just bring even one representative, namely its chairman Enrico Ferri, the European Parliament. However, when these cooperated with the provincial election in Massa-Carrara with the right wing, he has attracted further turmoil within the PSDI and left the party with his followers in January 1995, after his replacement by Gian Franco Schietroma. The remaining in the party groups disintegrated in recent years to 1998 continued: Many joined the Christian Democratic flows on, most of which 2002 in the party La Margherita - aufgingen Democrazia è Libertà, while others Berlusconi's Forza Italia joined and a final core to Schietroma - formed the basis for the re-establishment of Socialisti Democratici Italiani (SDI ) on May 10, 1998 - along with three other social democratic factions.

The re-founding in 2004

The end of 2003 led one of the SDI seceding grouping by Giorgio Carta a re-foundation of the PSDI below its historical name. It was at the XXV. Congress in Rome from 9 - 11th January 2004 completed, and Carta was elected party chairman. The strongest party is represented in the southern Italian regions of Calabria and Basilicata, where they could achieve their best results in the parliamentary elections of 2006 (0.8% in Calabria ). In the nation's 0.2 % of the votes they represent with Giorgio Carta but only one representative in the House of Representatives and the Senate no. In the coalition government of Romano Prodi, they have no significant meaning.

After internal party disputes from November 2006 to June 2007 was determined at the Party Congress in October 2007 Mimmo Magistro the new Chairman. One terminal of the party to the Partito Socialista (PS ), which was created in October 2007 as a fusion socially liberal and social democratic parties of Italy, has been considered, but found no majority in the party supporters.

In view of the general elections 2008, the PSDI (as well as the PS) to reach an agreement with the Partito Democratico an electoral alliance and joined the then start-up initiative of the centrist party collection Unione di Centro on.

Party chairman, 1947-1998 / since 2004

  • Giuseppe Saragat ( 1947-48 )
  • Alberto Simonini (1948 )
  • Ugo Guido Mondolfo (1949 )
  • Ludovico D' Aragona (1949 )
  • Giuseppe Saragat ( 1949-52 )
  • Ezio Vigorelli (1952 )
  • Giuseppe Romita (1952 )
  • Giuseppe Saragat ( 1952-54 )
  • Gian Matteo Matteotti ( 1954-57 )
  • Giuseppe Saragat ( 1957-64 )
  • Mario Tanassi ( 1964-66 )
  • Mario Tanassi, deputy chairman of the party organization PSI - PSDI Unificati or Partito Socialista Unificato ( 1966-69 )
  • Mauro Ferri ( 1969-72 )
  • Mario Tanassi (1972 )
  • Flavio Orlandi ( 1972-75 )
  • Mario Tanassi ( 1975-76 )
  • Giuseppe Saragat (1976 )
  • Pier Luigi Romita ( 1976-78 )
  • Pietro Longo ( 1978-85 )
  • Franco Nicolazzi ( 1985-88 )
  • Antonio Cariglia ( 1988-92 )
  • Carlo Vizzini ( 1992-93)
  • Enrico Ferri ( 1993-94 )
  • Gian Franco Schietroma ( 1994-98 ); after dissolution of the historical party
  • Giorgio Carta (2004-2007)
  • Mimmo Magistro (since 2007)
Italian Democratic Socialists Union of the Centre (2008) Reformism United Socialist Party (Italy, 1922–30) Christian Democracy (Italy) Italian Republican Party Italian Labour Union History of Italy Alliance of Progressives Italian Socialist Party (2007) Italian general election, 2008 Democratic Party (Italy)
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