Democrats of the Left

The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of the PDS with several minor parties. A member of The Olive Tree coalition, the DS was successively led by Massimo D'Alema, Walter Veltroni, and Piero Fassino, and merged with Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and a number of minor centre-left parties to form the Democratic Party in October 2007. History At its 20th congress in 1991, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) was transformed into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), responding to the Revolutions of 1989 in eastern Europe by re-orienting the party towards the European democratic socialist tradition. Under the leadership of Massimo D'Alema, the PDS merged with some minor centre-left movements (Labour Federation, Social Christians, Republican Left, Movement of Unitarian Communists, Reformists for Europe, and Democratic Federation) on 13 February 1998. The DS' symbol lacked the hammer and sickle, which was present in the PDS' one and was instead replaced by the red rose of European social democracy as used by the Party of European Socialists (PES). Massimo D'Alema became Prime Minister of Italy in October 1998, the first former Communist to hold the post. D'Alema was replaced as the leader of DS by Walter Veltroni. During the party's first national congress in January 2000, Veltroni received the support of the 79.9% of delegates, while the left wing of the party, at the time led by three women (Anna Finocchiaro, Fulvia Bandoli, and Pasqualina Napoletano), had the support of 20.1% of delegates. Leadership of Piero Fassino During the party's second national congress in November 2001, Piero Fassino, a mainstream social democrat, was elected secretary with 61.8% of party members' votes. In the event, Giovanni Berlinguer, endorsed by left-wingers, democratic socialists, and the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) trade union, gained 34.1%, while Enrico Morando, from the liberal right-wing, got 4.1%. Contextually, D'Alema was elected president. During the third national congress in February 2005, Fassino was re-elected with 79.0% of the vote. While no one stood against Fassino, left-wing candidates ran for congressional delegates: the DS Left – returning to win motion/list won 14.6% of the vote; DS Left for Socialism, 4.0%; and the Ecologist Left, 2.4%.