Democratic Left (Italian: Sinistra Democratica, SD), whose complete name was Democratic Left. For European Socialism (Sinistra Democratica. Per il Socialismo Europeo), was a democratic-socialistpolitical party in Italy.
Following the congress, a large majority of Mussi's followers, with a few notable exceptions such as Vincenzo Vita, left the DS. This was consistent with their declared position prior to the Florence congress.[4] In contrast, Angius' sudden departure from DS after the congress was somewhat surprising and arguably inconsistent with the position adopted by the supporters of the Angius-Zani resolution prior to and during the congress itself.[5][6] Consequently, rather than follow Angius out of the party some of the most significant supporters of the motion, including Zani, Massimo Brutti and Sergio Gentili opted to stay inside the DS.[7] On 16 May 2007 the new party's parliamentary groups had 22 deputies and 12 senators.[2]
In the 2008 general electionThe Left – The Rainbow, of which the Democratic Left was a part along with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and the Federation of the Greens, gained 3.1% of the vote and failed to win any seats in the Italian Parliament.
After the election, Oliviero Diliberto, leader of PdCI, who considered the experience of a "united left" ended, proposed a "communist constituent assembly" and the PRC elected Paolo Ferrero, from the internal left-wing, as party secretary. Despite these events, Democratic Left proposed a "left-wing constituent assembly" as a bridge between the "European socialism" and "the alternative left".[10][11] In the run up to the 2009 European Parliament election SD planned to form a joint list with the Movement for the Left, the Federation of the Greens and Unite the Left in a sort of re-edition of The Left – The Rainbow.[12] The list, with the additional participation of the Socialist Party, was named Left and Freedom and was launched on 16 March 2009.[13] The list received just 3.1% of the national vote and failed to return any MEPs. The list was eventually renamed Left Ecology Freedom, and was founded as a united political party on 22–24 October 2010.
