Democratic Party (Italy)

Democratic Party Partito Democratico
Secretary	Pier Luigi Bersani
Deputy-Secretary	Enrico Letta
President	Rosy Bindi
Coordinator	Maurizio Migliavacca
Founded	14 October 2007
Merger of	Democrats of the Left, Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, minor parties
Headquarters	v. S. Andrea delle Fratte 16 00186 Rome
Youth wing	Young Democrats
Membership  (2009)	831,042[1]
Ideology	Social democracy, Christian left (minority)
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	with Italy of Values
International affiliation	none
European affiliation	none
European Parliament Group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Official colours	Red, White, Green
Chamber of Deputies	206 / 630
Senate	106 / 315
European Parliament	21 / 72
Website
http://www.partitodemocratico.it
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

Logo of The Olive Tree

The Democratic Party (Italian: Partito Democratico, PD) is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election.

The party was founded on 14 October 2007 as a merger of various left-wing and centrist parties which were part of The Union in the 2006 general election. Several parties merged into the Democratic Party, however its bulk was formed by the Democrats of the Left (heirs of the Italian Communist Party) and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. Within the party, an important role is played also by Christian leftists, who are the direct heirs of the late Christian Democracy party's left.

History

The Olive Tree

Main article: The Olive Tree (political coalition)

In the early 1990s, following Tangentopoli, the end of the so-called First Republic and the transformation of the Italian Communist Party into the Democratic Party of the Left, a process aimed at uniting left-wing and centre-left forcees into a single political entity started. In 1995–1996 Romano Prodi, formerly close to the left-wing of Christian Democracy, entered politics and founded The Olive Tree, a centre-left coalition including the former Communists, the Italian People's Party, the Federation of the Greens, Italian Renewal, the Italian Socialists and Democratic Union. The coalition, in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party, won the 1996 general election and Prodi was sworn in as Prime Minister.

Later steps transformed the Democratic Party of the Left into the Democrats of the Left in 1998, with the merging of other centre-left parties, and in 2002 centrists in the coalition to form Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. This was born by the merger of the Italian People's Party, The Democrats, launched by Romano Prodi in 1999 with a centre-left platform, and Italian Renewal. In the 2001 general election these three parties, alongside with UDEUR Populars, formed an electoral alliance under the leadership of Francesco Rutelli, then Prime Ministerial candidate for The Olive Tree coalition, and then transformed it into a single centrist party, without the participation of UDEUR Populars.

In the summer of 2003, Romano Prodi suggested that the centre-left forces participate in the 2004 European Parliament election with a common list. Whereas the UDEUR Populars and the far left parties refused the offer, four parties accepted it: the Democrats of the Left, Democracy is Freedom, the Italian Democratic Socialists and the European Republicans Movement. They launched a joint-list named "United in the Olive Tree" which ran in the election, scoring 31.1% nationally. The project was later abandoned in 2005 by the Italian Democratic Socialists, which preferred to run in an alliance, the Rose in the Fist, with the Italian Radicals. In the 2006 general election, the Olive Tree list ran only for the Chamber of Deputies, obtaining 31.3%.

Road to the new party

The 2006 election result, anticipated by the 2005 primary election in which over four million voters endorsed Prodi as prime-ministerial candidate, gave a push to the project of a unified centre-left party. Francesco Rutelli and Piero Fassino, party leaders of Democracy is Freedom and the Democrats of the Left, scheduled their parties' conventions for April 2007 in order to formally approve the merger.

The term Partito Democratico was first used in the Regional Council of Veneto, where the Democrats of the Left and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy form a joint parliamentary group called L'Ulivo – Partito Democratico Veneto (The Olive Tree – Venetian Democratic Party).^[2]

On 19 April 2007 the Democrats of the Left held their last party congress, since approximately 75% of party members voted in support of the creation of the Democratic Party as soon as possible, while the left-wing minority, led by Minister Fabio Mussi opposed to the project, obtained circa 15% of the support within the party. A third motion, presented by Gavino Angius and supportive of the Democratic Party only within the Party of European Socialists, obtained 10% of votes. During and following the Democrats of the Left national convention, both Mussi and Angius announced their intention not to join the Democratic Party and founded a new leftist party called Democratic Left more keen on uniting the Italian far left under a united banner. This ultimately led Angius to abandon the new party in favour of the creation of a much more moderate social-democratic party with the Italian Democratic Socialists, the Socialist Party.

On 22 May 2007 the composition of the organising committee of the nascent party was announced. It featured 45 members, mainly politicians from the two major parties involved in the process, but included also external figures such as Marco Follini, Ottaviano Del Turco, Luciana Sbarbati, Renato Soru, Giuliano Amato, Gad Lerner and Tullia Zevi.^[3] On 18 June the committee met to decide the rules for the open election of the 2,400 members of the party's constituent assembly. Prodi announced each voter would choose between a number of lists, each of them associated with a candidate for secretary.

The parties which agreed to merge into the PD were eight:

• Democrats of the Left (social-democratic)
• Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (centrist).
• Southern Democratic Party (centrist);
• Sardinia Project (social-democratic);
• European Republicans Movement (social-liberal);
• Democratic Republicans (social-liberal);
• Middle-of-the-Road Italy (Christian democratic);
• Reformist Alliance (social-democratic).

Party foundation

Main article: Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2007

All candidates interested in running for the Democratic Party leadership must have presented at least 2,000 valid signatures not later than 30 July 2007 and be associated with one of the parties and associations forming the PD.

On the 30 July deadline, a total of ten candidates officially registered their candidacy: Walter Veltroni, Rosy Bindi, Enrico Letta, Furio Colombo, Marco Pannella, Antonio Di Pietro, Mario Adinolfi, Pier Giorgio Gawronski, Jacopo G. Schettini, Lucio Cangini and Amerigo Rutigliano. Of these, Pannella and Di Pietro were stopped because of their involvement in external parties (the Italian Radicals and Italy of Values respectively), whereas Cangini and Rutigliano did not manage to present the necessary 2,000 valid signatures for the 9pm deadline, and Colombo's candidacy was instead made into hiatus in order to give him 48 additional hours to integrate the required documentation; Colombo later decided to retire his candidacy citing his impossibility to fit with all the requirements.^[4] All rejected candidates had the chance against the decision in 48 hours' time,^[5] with Pannella and Rutigliano being the only two candidates to appeal against it.^[6] Both were rejected on 3 August.^[7]

On 14 October 2007 Veltroni was elected leader with circa 75% of the national votes in an open primary attended by over three million voters.^[8] Veltroni was officially crowned as first Democratic Party secretary during the founding constituting assembly held in Milan on 28 October 2007.^[9]

On 21 November, the new logo was unveiled; it depicts the party acronym (PD) with colours reminiscent of the Italian tricolour flag (green, white and red) and featuring also the olive branch, historical symbol of the Olive Tree. In the words of Ermete Realacci, green represents the ecologist and social-liberal cultures, white is for the Catholic solidarity and red for the socialist and social-democratic traditions.^[10] The “green-white-red” idea coined by Jacopo G. Schettini during his campaign.

Walter Veltroni

Walter Veltroni campaigning for the 2008 general election

After the premature fall of Prodi II Cabinet in January 2008, the party decided to run in the next election alone or at the head of a less diverse coalition. The party proposed to the Radicals and the Socialist Party to join its lists, but only the Radicals accepted, and formed an alliance with Italy of Values (IdV), set to join the PD after the election. The party included many notable candidates and new faces in its lists and Walter Veltroni, who tried to present the PD as the party of the renewal in contrast both with Silvio Berlusconi and the previous centre-left government, ran an intense and modern campaign, which led him to visit all provinces of Italy, but that was not enough.

In the 2008 general election the PD–IdV coalition won 37.5% of the vote and was defeated by the centre-right coalition, composed of The People of Freedom, Lega Nord and the Movement for Autonomy (46.8%). The PD was able to absorb some votes from the parties of the far left (as also IdV did), but lost some voters to the Union of the Centre (UdC), ending up with 33.2% of the vote, 217 deputies and 119 senators. After the election Veltroni, who was anyway gratified by the result, formed a shadow cabinet, including most party leading figures. IdV, excited by its 4.4% which made it the fourth largest party in Parliament, refused to join both the Democratic groups in Parliament and the shadow cabinet.

The early months after the election were a difficult time for the PD and Veltroni, whose leadership was weakened by the growing influence of internal factions, because of the popularity of Berlusconi and the dramatic rise of IdV in opinion polls.^[11] IdV became a strong competitor of the PD and the relations between the two parties became tense. In the 2008 Abruzzo regional election the PD was forced to support IdV candidate Carlo Costantini.^[12] In October 2008 Veltroni, who distanced from Di Pietro many times, declared that "on some issues he [Di Pietro] is distant from the democratic language of the centre-left".^[13] On 25 October the Democratic Party held its first national rally at Circo Massimo, Rome, to protest against Silvio Berlusconi's policies. According to the organising committee, over 2.5 million people attended the rally.^[14]

Dario Franceschini

Dario Franceschini

In February 2009, after a crushing defeat in the Sardinian regional election, Walter Veltroni resigned as party secretary and was replaced by his deputy Dario Franceschini on an interim basis to guide the party toward the selection of a new stable leader.^[15][16][16] Franceschini was elected interim secretary by the national assembly of the party 1,047 votes out of 1,258. His only opponent Arturo Parisi won just 92 votes.^[15][16]

The 2009 European Parliament election was considered an important test for the PD. Prior to the election, the Democratic Party considered offering hospitality to the Socialist Party and the Greens in its lists, and proposed a similar pact to Democratic Left.^[17] However, the Socialists, the Greens and Democratic Left decided instead to contest the election together as Left and Freedom, which failed to achieve the 4% threshold required to return any MEPs, but damaged PD's electoral chances. The Democratic Party itself gained 26.1% of votes, returning 21 MEPs.

Following the election it was confirmed that a national convention was to be held in October and that it would be followed by a primary election, in compliance with the party rules. By July three candidates announced their bid: Pier Luigi Bersani, Ignazio Marino and Dario Franceschini.

Pier Luigi Bersani

Main article: Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2009

Pier Luigi Bersani

On 8 October 2009 the party's electoral commission released the results of the vote among party members. In the local congresses a 56.4% of party members got out and vote. Bersani was by far the most voted candidate with 55.1% of the vote, largely ahead of Franceschini (37.0%) and Marino (7.9%).^[18] On 25 October 2009 Bersani was elected new secretary of the party in a open primary that saw the participation of three million people by receiving about 53% of the vote. Franceschini got 34% and Marino 13%. On 7 November, during the first meeting of the new national assembly, Bersani was declared secretary, Rosy Bindi was elected party president (with Marina Sereni and Ivan Scalfarotto vice-presidents), Enrico Letta deputy-secretary and Antonio Misiani treasurer.^[19][20]

In reaction to the election of Bersani, perceived by some centrists as an old-style social democrat, Francesco Rutelli, a long-time critic of the party's course, left in order to form a new centrist party, named Alliance for Italy (ApI), along with Linda Lanzillotta, Gianni Vernetti and other liberal and centrist Democrats. The new outfit was tipped to eventually join forces with the Union of the Centre (UdC) at the centre of the Italian political spectrum.^[21] Since March 2009, and especially after Bersani's victory, 12 deputies, ^[22] 13 senators^[23], one MEP and many regional/local councillors^[24] left the party in order to join UDC, ApI and other minor parties: they included many Rutelliani and most Theo-Dems.

At the big round of regional elections of 2010 the PD lost four regions to the centre-right (Piedmont, Lazio, Campania and Calabria), while maintaining its traditional hold on six regions (Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria and Basilicata) plus Apulia, a traditionally conservative region where, due to divisions within the centre-right, Nichi Vendola (Left Ecology Freedom) was re-elected with the PD's support.

On 16 September 2011 Bersani was invited by Antonio Di Pietro's Italy of Values (IdV) to take part to its annual late summer convention in Vasto, Abruzzo. Bersani, who had been previously accused by Di Pietro of avoiding him in order to court the centre-right UdC,^[25] proposed the formation of a "New Olive Tree" coalition comprising the PD, IdV and Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom (SEL).^[26] The three party leaders agreed in what was soon the "pact of Vasto".^[27][28]

Ideology

The Democratic Party is a big tent centre-left party, strongly influenced by the ideas of social democracy and the Christian left. The common roots of the founding components of the party reside in the Italian resistance movement, the writing of Italian Constitution and the Historic compromise, all three events which saw the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party (the two major forerunners of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and the Democrats of the Left, respectively) cooperate. The United States Democratic Party and American liberalism are also an important source of inspiration.^[29][30][31]

The party stresses national and social cohesion, green issues, social progressivism, progressive taxation and Europeanism. In this respect the party's precursors strongly supported the need of balancing budgets in order to comply to Maastricht criteria. Under the leadership of Veltroni, the party took a strong stance in favour of constitutional reform and of a new electoral law, on the road toward a two-party system.

International affiliation

The foundation of the Democratic Party was called into question by various cases of infighting among the prospective members of the new party. The discussion on which European political party to join was divided between the former Democrats of the Left being generally in favour of the Party of European Socialists (PES), and most former members of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy in favour of the European Democratic Party, a component of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

After the party's formation, the new party's MEPs continued to sit with the PES and ALDE groups to which their former parties had been elected during the 2004 European Parliament election. Following the conclusion of the 2009 European Parliament election, the party chose to unite for the new term within a single European parliamentary group, formed with the PES, to be known as the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.^[32]

Factions

Although not officially recognised, the Democratic Party has several internal factions, most of whom trace the previous allegiances of party members. As the factions form different alliances depending on the issues, some party members have multiple factional allegiances.

2007 leadership election

Main article: Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2007

After the election, which saw the victory of Walter Veltroni, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Walter Veltroni (75.8%)

Three national lists supported the candidacy of Veltroni. The bulk of the former Democrats of the Left (Veltroniani, Dalemiani, Fassiniani), the Rutelliani of Francesco Rutelli (including the Theo-Dem), The Populars of Franco Marini, Liberal PD, the Social Christians and smaller groups (Middle-of-the-Road Italy, European Republicans Movement, Reformist Alliance and the Reformists for Europe) formed a joint-list named "Democrats with Veltroni" (43.7%). The Democratic Ecologists of Ermete Realacci, together with Giovanna Melandri and Cesare Damiano, formed "Environment, Innovation and Labour" (8.1%). The Democrats, Laicists, Socialists, Say Left and the Labourites – Liberal Socialists presented a list named "To the Left" (7.7%). Local lists in support of Veltroni got 16.4%.

Minorities led by Rosy Bindi (12.9%) and Enrico Letta (11.0%)

The Ulivists, whose members were staunch supporters of Romano Prodi, divided in two camps. The largest one, including the faction's main leader Arturo Parisi, endorsed Rosy Bindi, while a smaller one, including Paolo De Castro, endorsed Enrico Letta, as Paolo De Castro. Bindi benefited also from the support of Agazio Loiero's Southern Democratic Party, while Letta was endorsed by Lorenzo Dellai's Daisy Civic List, Renato Soru's Sardinia Project and Gianni Pittella's social democrats.

2009 leadership election

Main article: Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election, 2009

After the election, which saw the victory of Pier Luigi Bersani, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Pier Luigi Bersani (53.2%)

• Bersaniani and Dalemiani: the social-democratic groups around Bersani and Massimo D'Alema (who wants the PD to be a traditional centre-left party in the European social-democratic tradition); D'Alema organized his faction as Reformists and Democrats, welcoming also some Lettiani and some Populars.
• Lettiani: the centrist group around Enrico Letta, known also as 360 Association; its members are keen supporters of an alliance with the Union of the Centre, similarly to what also D'Alema proposes.
• To the Left: the social-democratic and democratic-socialist internal left led by Livia Turco;
• Democrats Really: the group around Rosy Bindi and composed mainly of the left-wing members of the late Italian People's Party.
• Social Christians: a Christian social-democratic group, that was a founding component of the Democrats of the Left.
• Democracy and Socialism: a social-democratic group of splinters from the Socialist Party led by Gavino Angius.

Democratic Area, minority led by Dario Franceschini (34.3%)

• Veltroniani: followers of Walter Veltroni, basically social democrats coming from the Democrats of the Left who support the so-called "majoritarian vocation" of the party, the selection of party candidates and leaders through primaries and a two-party system.
• Populars/Fourth Phase: heirs of the Christian left tradition of the Italian People's Party and of the left wing of the late Christian Democracy.
• Rutelliani: centrists and liberals gathered around Francesco Rutelli, known also as Free Democrats; most of them left after Bersani's victory to form the Alliance for Italy, while a minority (Paolo Gentiloni, Ermete Realacci, etc.) chose to stay.
• Simply Democrats: a list promoted by a diverse group of leading Democrats (Debora Serracchiani, Rita Borsellino, Sergio Cofferati, David Sassoli and Francesca Barracciu) who were committed to renewal in party leadership and cleanliness of party elects.
• Liberal PD: the liberal (mostly social-liberal) faction of the PD led by Valerio Zanone; its members have been close to Veltroni and Rutelli.
• Democratic Ecologists: the green faction of the PD led by Ermete Realacci; its members have been close to Veltroni and Rutelli.
• Theo-Dems: a tiny Christian-democratic group representing the right-wing of the party on ethical issues, albeit being progressive on economic issues; most Theo-Dems, including their leader Paola Binetti, left the PD in 2009–2010 in order to join the Union of the Centre or Alliance for Italy, while others, led by Luigi Bobba, chose to stay.

Minority led by Ignazio Marino (12.5%)

• un-affiliated social liberals, social democrats and supporters of a broad alliance including Italy of Values, the Radicals and the parties to the left of the PD; after the election, most of them joined Marino in an association named Change Italy.
• Democrats in Network: a social-democratic faction of former Veltroniani led by Goffredo Bettini.

Non-aligned factions

• Ulivists: followers of Romano Prodi who want the party to be stuck in the tradition of The Olive Tree; the group, which includes both Christian left exponents and social democrats is led by Arturo Parisi. Most Ulivists supported Bersani, while Parisi endorsed Franceschini.

2010–2011 developments

During the summer of 2010, Dario Franceschini, leader of Democratic Area (the single largest minority faction), and Piero Fassino re-approached with Pier Luigi Bersani and joined the party majority.^[33] As a response, Walter Veltroni formed Democratic Movement to defend the "original spirit" of the PD.^[33][34] In doing this he was supported by 75 deputies: 33 Veltroniani, 35 Populars close to Giuseppe Fioroni and 7 former Rutelliani led by Paolo Gentiloni.^[35][36][37] During a meeting of the party's national board, held on 23 September, Franceschiniani and Fassiniani voted a motion proposed by Bersani, while most Veltroniani abstained from the vote: the resolution passed by a landslide.^[38] Some pundits hinted that the Bersani-Franceschini pact was envisioned in order both to marginalise Veltroni and to reduce the influence of Massimo D'Alema, the party bigwig behind Bersani, whose 2009 bid was supported primarily by Dalemiani. Veltroni and D'Alema had been long-time rivals within the centre-left.^[39]

As of September 2010 the party's majority was composed of those who supported Bersani since the beginning (divided in five main factions: Bersaniani, Dalemiani, Lettiani, Bindiani and the party's left-wing) and Democratic Area of Franceschini and Fassino, who tended to be autonomous though. Then, there were two minority coalitions: Veltroni's Democratic Movement (Veltroniani, Fioroni's Populars, ex-Rutelliani, Democratic Ecologists and a majority of Liberal PD members) and Change Italy of Ignazio Marino. Strangely enough, Arturo Parisi, leader of the group formerly known as Ulivists, backed Veltroni.^[40]

According to Corriere della Sera, in November 2011 the party was divided mainly in three ideological camps battling for its soul:

• a socialist left: its members (mostly young supporters of Bersani, as Stefano Fassina and Matteo Orfini), might rally behind Enrico Rossi, if Bersani were to step down;
• a social-democratic centre: it includes Bersani's core supporters (Bersaniani, Dalemiani, Bindiani); its members might eventually support Nicola Zingaretti instead;
• a "new right": Matteo Renzi's Big Bang; Renzi, who proposes an overtly liberal political line, is openly critical of Bersani and might be endorsed by Veltroniani, ex-Rutelliani, Populars and, possibly, Lettiani and large chunks of Democratic Area.^[41][42]

Associate parties

Two small parties act as associate parties of the PD and in fact their MPs are members of the Democratic groups in the Chamber and the Senate: the Italian Radicals and the Moderates for Piedmont. A third party, the European Republicans Movement left the PD in 2010.

Popular support

The electoral results of the Democratic Party in the 10 most populated Regions of Italy are shown in the table below. As PD was founded in 2007, the electoral results from 1994 to 2006 refer to the combined result of the two main percursor parties, the Democrats of the Left and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (and its preursors, 1994–2001), or to the joint-list called The Olive Tree.

	1994 general	1995 regional	1996 general	1999 European	2000 regional	2001 general	2004 European	2005 regional	2006 general	2008 general	2009 European	2010 regional
Piedmont	29.8	31.4	26.6	25.0	25.6	31.0	29.0	30.5	31.4	32.4	24.7	23.2
Lombardy	28.0	25.9	25.5	24.2	20.2	26.8	26.3	27.1	26.7	28.1	21.3	22.9
Veneto	33.3	31.5	25.1	23.8	26.0	25.6	26.7	28.9	26.7	26.5	20.3	20.3
Emilia-Romagna	51.4	52.3	47.5	43.7	43.9	44.3	43.0	48.1	44.8	45.7	38.6	40.6
Tuscany	49.4	47.2	44.8	41.0	44.1	44.3	41.6	48.8	43.3	46.8	38.7	42.2
Lazio	37.7	33.2	33.5	30.4	29.6	33.4	31.7	33.8	31.0	36.8	28.1	26.3
Campania	36.8	33.3	32.2	31.7	32.9	26.4	31.3	31.3	28.5	29.2	23.4	21.4
Apulia	42.1[43]	35.7	31.0	30.8	29.4	29.0	26.3	28.9	29.1	30.1	21.7	20.8
Calabria	42.0	37.3	32.0	34.4	27.7	28.6	27.2	33.9	31.4[44]	32.6	25.4	22.8[45]
Sicily	30.7	26.4 (1996)	26.7	31.6	22.4 (2001)	24.2	28.6	34.8 (2006)	25.3	25.4	21.9	18.8 (2008)
ITALY	39.3	-	32.2	31.9	-	31.1	31.1	-	31.3	33.2	26.1	-

Leadership

• Secretary: Walter Veltroni (2007–2009), Dario Franceschini (2009), Pier Luigi Bersani (since 2009)
  • Deputy-Secretary: Dario Franceschini (2007–2009), Enrico Letta (2009–present)
  • Executive Coordinator: Goffredo Bettini (2007–2009), Maurizio Migliavacca (2009–present)
  • Organizational Coordinator: Giuseppe Fioroni (2007–2009), Maurizio Migliavacca (2009), Nico Stumpo (2009–present)
  • Treasurer: Mauro Agostini (2007–2009), Antonio Misiani (2009–present)
  • Spokesperson: Andrea Orlando (2008–present)
• President: Romano Prodi (2007–2008), Anna Finocchiaro (acting,^[46] 2008–2009), Rosy Bindi (2009–present)
  • Vice Presidents: Marina Sereni / Ivan Scalfarotto (2009–present)

• Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Antonello Soro (2007–2009), Dario Franceschini (2009–present)
• Party Leader in the Senate: Anna Finocchiaro (2007–present)
• Party Leader in the European Parliament: David Sassoli (2009–present)

Symbols

• 

  2007–present

• 

  2008 general election

See also

• Historic Compromise
• The Olive Tree

References

1. ^ "Tesserati per il PD del lavoro e delle famiglie | PD". Partitodemocratico.it. http://www.partitodemocratico.it/dettaglio/93088/tesserati_per_il_pd_del_lavoro_e_delle_famiglie. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
2. ^ "Gruppi consiliari" (in Italian). Regional Council of Veneto. http://www.consiglioveneto.it/crvportal/pageContainer.jsp?n=27&p=27&c=1&e=27&t=0&. Retrieved 2007-05-12. 
3. ^ "Pd, è nato il comitato dei 45. Prodi: "Nessuna egemonia Ds o Dl"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 2007-05-22. http://www.repubblica.it/2007/05/sezioni/politica/partito-democratico3/comitato-45/comitato-45.html. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
4. ^ "Pd: colombo ritira candidatura" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 2007-08-01. http://www.repubblica.it/news/ired/ultimora/2006/rep_nazionale_n_2412819.html?ref=hpsbdx3. Retrieved 2007-08-01. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "PD: BOCCIATE CANDIDATURE DI PIETRO E PANNELLA" (in Italian). ANSA. 2007-07-31. http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/visualizza_fdg.html_128024177.html. Retrieved 2007-07-31. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Pd: collegio garanti decidera' domani su pannella" (in Italian). ANSA. 2007-08-02. http://www.repubblica.it/news/ired/ultimora/2006/rep_nazionale_n_2417555.html?ref=hpsbdx. Retrieved 2007-08-03. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ L'Unione Sarda^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "Italy's Veltroni elected new centre-left party's leader: projections". AFP. 2007-10-14. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iJgxTPLO8A4ALrle9SUxqf_vDDLQ. Retrieved 2007-10-14. 
9. ^ "Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni pronounced leader of Italy's new Democratic Party". International Herald Tribune. 2007-10-27. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/27/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Left-Leader.php. Retrieved 2007-10-28. 
10. ^ "Tricolore e ramoscello di ulivo. Ecco il nuovo simbolo del Pd" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 2007-11-21. http://www.repubblica.it/2007/10/sezioni/politica/partito-democratico-15/simbolo/simbolo.html. Retrieved 2007-11-21. 
11. ^ "LIST OF PRESENT ELECTORAL POLITICAL POLLS" (in Italian). President of the Council of Ministers of Italy - Department for Media and Publishing. http://www.sondaggipoliticoelettorali.it/asp/visualizza_sondaggi.asp?ordine=data. 
12. ^ "ABRUZZO/ELEZIONI: IL CENTROSINISTRA PUNTA TUTTO SU COSTANTINI (IDV)" (in Italian). ASCA. 2008-10-28. http://www.asca.it/moddettnews.php?idnews=786879&canale=ORA&articolo=ABRUZZO/ELEZIONI:%20IL%20CENTROSINISTRA%20PUNTA%20TUTTO%20SU%20COSTANTINI%20(IDV). 
13. ^ "Veltroni: con Di Pietro alleanza finita" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 2008-10-19. http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_ottobre_19/veltroni_fine_alleanza_dipietro_fc8b7390-9dfb-11dd-b589-00144f02aabc.shtml. 
14. ^ "Oltre 2 milioni e mezzo al Circo Massimo" (in Italian). Democratic Party press release. 2008-10-25. http://www.partitodemocratico.it/gw/producer/dettaglio.aspx?ID_DOC=62456. Retrieved 2008-12-08. 
15. ^ ^{a b} "Italy's Left gets new leader". France 24. 2009-02-22. http://www.france24.com/en/20090221-italys-left-gets-new-leader-. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
16. ^ ^{a b c} "Italian opposition elects leader". BBC News. 2009-02-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7904052.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
17. ^ "EUROPEE: VICINO ACCORDO PD-VERDI-SOCIALISTI. SD E PRC IN DIFFICOLTA'" (in Italian). ASCA. 2008-10-06. http://www.asca.it/moddettnews.php?idnews=782165&canale=ORA&articolo=EUROPEE:%20VICINO%20ACCORDO%20PD-VERDI-SOCIALISTI.%20SD%20E%20PRC%20IN%20DIFFICOLTA%27. 
18. ^ "I dati definitivi dei congressi di circolo | PD". Partitodemocratico.it. http://www.partitodemocratico.it/dettaglio/87452/i_dati_definitivi_dei_congressi_di_circolo. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
19. ^ "La squadra di Bersani Letta sarà numero due Scalfarotto vicepresidente". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2009/novembre/07/squadra_Bersani_Letta_sara_numero_co_8_091107035.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
20. ^ "Bersani segretario: siamo l' alternativa Sulle riforme confronto in Parlamento". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2009/novembre/08/Bersani_segretario_siamo_alternativa_Sulle_co_8_091108008.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
21. ^ "Alleanza per l'Italia prima convention a Parma | Parma la Repubblica.it". Parma.repubblica.it. http://parma.repubblica.it/dettaglio/Alleanza-per-lItaliaprima-convention-a-Parma/1776324. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
22. ^ http://www.camera.it/217?idGruppo=475
23. ^ http://www.senato.it/composizione/21600/159070/152847/genpagina.htm
24. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/marzo/19/Nord_gli_Popolari_escono_dal_co_8_110319041.shtml
25. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/settembre/13/Pietro_attacca_caro_Pier_Luigi_co_8_110913012.shtml
26. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/settembre/17/Bersani_nuovo_Ulivo_con_Pietro_co_9_110917014.shtml
27. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/settembre/19/foto_Vasto_agita_Pd_co_8_1109192689.shtml
28. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/settembre/20/Sponda_moderata_unione_sinistra_Quali_co_8_1109202748.shtml
29. ^ Veltroni quits as leader of Italy's opposition Democratic Party, The Earth Times
30. ^ "Italy. Everybody Is Crazy For Obama, Maria Rita Latto (November 5, 2008)". I-italy.org. 2008-11-05. http://www.i-italy.org/5133/italy-everybody-crazy-obama. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
31. ^ "An Italian Democrat in NYC, Damiano Beltrami (September 22, 2008)". I-italy.org. 2008-09-22. http://www.i-italy.org/4444/italian-democrat-nyc. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
32. ^ "Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats established in the European Parliament, News, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats". Socialistgroup.org:80. http://socialistgroup.org:80/gpes/public/detail.htm?id=132764&section=NER&category=NEWS&request_locale=EN. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
33. ^ ^{a b} "Un documento e (forse) un movimento Veltroni dà la scossa ai democratici". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/16/documento_forse_movimento_Veltroni_scossa_co_9_100916011.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
34. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
35. ^ "Veltroni e Bersani sul ring «Pd senza bussola». «Sbagli tutto»". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/17/Veltroni_Bersani_sul_ring_senza_co_8_100917018.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
36. ^ "Il Pd si conta sul testo Veltroni Firmano in 75, minoranza divisa". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/18/conta_sul_testo_Veltroni_Firmano_co_9_100918024.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
37. ^ "«Doloroso rompere con Walter, ma questa è la strada giusta»". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/24/Doloroso_rompere_con_Walter_questa_co_9_100924009.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
38. ^ "Ribaltone nel Pd, Franceschini con Bersani". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/24/Ribaltone_nel_Franceschini_con_Bersani_co_9_100924005.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
39. ^ "L' obiettivo della nuova maggioranza: fare fuori i due eterni rivali". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/24/obiettivo_della_nuova_maggioranza_fare_co_9_100924008.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
40. ^ "«Mozione di sfiducia al premier» Sì di Veltroni a Parisi, Bersani cauto". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. 2009-12-24. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/19/Mozione_sfiducia_premier_Veltroni_Parisi_co_8_100919040.shtml. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
41. ^ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2011/ottobre/30/piano_Pier_Luigi_per_primarie_co_8_111030006.shtml
42. ^ http://rassegna.camera.it/chiosco_new/pagweb/immagineFrame.asp?comeFrom=search&currentArticle=15WXCW
43. ^ Forza Italia failed to present a list and thus some centre-right voters voted for PPI and Patto Segni.
44. ^ Includes the score of the Southern Democratic Party (5.1%).
45. ^ Combined result of the PD (15.8%) and Agazio Loiero's personal list (7.0%).
46. ^ Although she was never elected party president, Finocchiaro presided over all the party's meetings since Prodi's resignation, including the national assembly of 20 June 2008 (see video), the national assembly of 21 February 2009 (see video) and the national convention of 11 October 2009 (see video).

External links

• Official website
• Manifesto of Values of the Democratic Party
• Parliamentary Group in the Chamber of Deputies
• Parliamentary Group in the Senate