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49-959: The party was founded in June 1995 as a split from the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) by Communist MPs who had endorsed the vote of confidence in the government of Lamberto Dini (which was also supported by the Democratic Party of the Left , the Italian People's Party and Lega Nord ) in March 1995. Most members of the MCU were formerly of the Proletarian Unity Party (PdUP); the PdUP had merged with

98-553: A mere 3.1% (compared to 10.2% won by the constituent parties individually two years before) and no seats. Consequently, Bertinotti quit politics and Giordano resigned and after that some bertinottiani , led by Ferrero and Giovanni Russo Spena (both former Proletarian Democracy members), had forged an alliance with former cossuttiani . At the July 2008 congress, the PRC was highly divided around ideological and regional lines with Vendola,

147-482: A poor result in the 1999 European elections, but Bertinotti was nevertheless elected to the European Parliament . Since 2001, Bertinotti has led the party to take more radical, mass-movement positions close to those of the growing alternative globalisation movement , a stance which is opposed by the party's Trotskyist factions. From 2002 on, there has been some reconciliation between Rifondazione and

196-580: A splinter from the Five Star Movement who later joined Italian Left (SI). In the 2019 European Parliament election the PRC was part of The Left electoral list, which obtained 1.8% and no seats. In February 2022 the party formed a joint sub-group with PaP in the Chamber of Deputies' Mixed Group. In June 2022 the same happened in the Senate, and senator Nugnes returned to the party. In

245-565: Is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo , who replaced Paolo Ferrero in 2017. Armando Cossutta was the party's founder, while Fausto Bertinotti its longest-serving leader (1994–2008). The latter transformed the PRC from a traditional communist party into a collection of radical social movements . The PRC

294-664: Is a member of the Party of the European Left (PEL), of which Bertinotti was the inaugural president in 2004. The PRC has not been represented in the Italian Parliament since 2008, but had a member of the European Parliament , Eleonora Forenza , who sat with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group in 2014–2019. In February 1991, when the Italian Communist Party (PCI)

343-554: The 2008 general election he announced his intention of renouncing to any future leadership positions. In December 2019 Bertinotti begun a collaboration with the Italian online journal Il Riformista . For the after the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy , Bertinotti suggested the Italian government to adopt a new Keynesianism against the economic recession and a higher level of public expenditure to reabsorb mass disoccupation after

392-648: The CGIL (General Confederation of Italian Labour) in 1964, becoming secretary of the local organisation of the Federazione Italiana degli Operai Tessili (Italian Textile Workers Federation). Three years later, he became president of the labour chamber of Novara . From 1975 to 1985 he was regional secretary of the CGIL in Piedmont . In 1972 he joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI), and soon afterwards became

441-653: The Communist Alternative Party , others, led by the Trotskyist Marco Ferrando , formed the Workers' Communist Party , while a tiny minority chose to stay in the party and launched Countercurrent . In February 2007, senator Franco Turigliatto of Critical Left, led by Salvatore Cannavò , voted twice against the government's foreign policy, leading Romano Prodi to temporarily resign from Prime Minister . In April, Turigliatto

490-521: The Communist Refoundation Party ( Partito della Rifondazione Comunista ) from 1994 to 2006. On 29 April 2006, after the centre-left coalition's victory in the Italian general election , he was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies , a position he held until 2008. Bertinotti was born to Enrico Bertinotti, a railroad engineer, and Rosa Bertinotti. After completing his education in Milan , he joined

539-590: The Federation of the Greens . After that, the party formed joint lists with the Party of Italian Communists. The 2014 result refers to that of The Other Europe , a joint list led by Left Ecology Freedom . The electoral results of the PRC in the ten most populated regions of Italy are shown in the table below. Fausto Bertinotti Fausto Bertinotti (born 22 March 1940) is an Italian politician who led

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588-538: The Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1984, only to leave it when the PCI abandoned communism and reformed as the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) in 1991. At that time most ex-PdUP members joined the PRC. The leading politicians who formed the MCU included Sergio Garavini , Lucio Magri , Luciana Castellina , Famiano Crucianelli , Luciano Pettinari , Ersilia Salvato , Rino Serri , Marida Bolognesi and Walter Bielli . 16 out of 57 PRC parliamentarians and 2 MEPs joined

637-568: The anti-globalization movement in Italy . The PRC also forged new alliances at the European level and was instrumental in the foundation of the Party of the European Left in May 2004. In October 2004, the PRC re-joined the centre-left coalition, once again led by Prodi. In April 2005, Nichi Vendola , an openly gay politician and one of the emerging leaders of the party, won a primary election and

686-444: The bertinottiani' s standard-bearer, accusing northern delegates of having absorbed leghismo and stating that it was the end of the party as he knew it. The internal left-wing (which wanted to return to PRC's original communist project) finally prevailed over the bulk of bertinottiani (who insisted on the creation of a broader left-wing party) and Ferrero was elected secretary by the central committee with 50.5%. In January 2009,

735-519: The "withdrawal" pact with the Ulivo coalition: Rifondazione would refrain from running candidates in certain electoral districts and advise its voters to support the candidates of the centre-left. The centre-left would reciprocate in other constituencies. Thanks to this tactic, the Ulivo coalition won the elections in 1996 and Prodi became prime minister. Bertinotti's relationship with the centre-left leader

784-497: The 2008 split of Communist Left , which would splinter in 2011 into Communist Left and Communists Together/ The Future City . Following the severe defeat of the party in the 2008 general election , a group of bertinottiani composed mainly of former members of Proletarian Democracy and led by Paolo Ferrero and Giovanni Russo Spena allied with the other minority factions, notably including Being Communists, to force Franco Giordano 's resignation from secretary. Subsequently, in

833-561: The Ferrero-Grassi group. Vendola, defeated by Ferrero, announced the creation of a new minority faction, Refoundation for the Left (RpS). RpS finally left the party in 2009 to form the Movement for the Left (MpS), but some of its members, led by Augusto Rocchi , decided to stay in the PRC and launched To the Left with Refoundation . However, the alliance between Ferrero and the traditionalists did not last. The Ernesto joined

882-556: The July congress Ferrero's and Grassi's Refoundation in Movement motion (40.1%) faced the bulk of bertinottiani , who organized themselves around a motion named "Manifesto for the Refoundation" (47.6%) with Nichi Vendola as standard-bearer. Giannini's The Ernesto and Countercurrent (7.7%), Claudio Bellotti 's HammerSickle (3.2%) and a minor group of former bertinottiani called "Disarm, Renew, Refound" (1.5%) joined forces with

931-524: The MCU. In the 1996 general election , the MCU was part of The Olive Tree , and presented some candidates in the electoral lists of the PDS as "PDS – European Left". In February 1998, the MCU and other small parties merged with the PDS to form the Democrats of the Left (DS). Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( Italian : Partito della Rifondazione Comunista , PRC )

980-506: The PCI dissidents and form a united front composed of all Italian communists. In December, the PRC was officially founded and Sergio Garavini was elected secretary. In the 1992 general election , the party obtained 5.6% of the vote. Garavini resigned from his role as secretary in June 1993 and was replaced by Fausto Bertinotti , a trade unionist of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) who had left

1029-571: The PDS only a few months before. In the 1994 general election , the PRC was part of the PDS-led Alliance of Progressives and obtained 6.1% of the vote. In June 1995, a splinter group led by Lucio Magri and Famiano Crucianelli formed the Movement of Unitarian Communists (MCU), which would eventually merge with the PDS, being one of the founding members of the Democrats of the Left (DS) in February 1998. The leadership of Bertinotti

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1078-516: The PRC was divided between those who wanted to stop supporting Prodi's government, led by Bertinotti; and those who wanted to continue the alliance, led by Cossutta, the party's president. The central committee endorsed Bertinotti's line, but Cossutta and his followers decided to ignore this line and to support Prodi. The votes of the cossuttiani were not enough and the government lost a confidence vote in Parliament. The dissidents, who controlled

1127-423: The PRC, replacing Sergio Garavini who had led the party since its foundation. Bertinotti's accession to the leadership was organised by Armando Cossutta , who probably wished to increase his own prestige and power within the party. In time, however, Bertinotti succeeded in winning over the majority of the party base, aided in this by his charismatic oratory. He was confirmed in the position of party secretary at

1176-594: The PdCI in 2011 while Being Communists divided in two groups, both eventually quitting the party. One group joined SEL in 2014 and was later merged into the Democratic and Progressive Movement (MDP) in 2016; a second, larger group (including Grassi) participated in the foundation of SEL's successor, Italian Left (SI). In the 2017 congress, two motions were presented by Ferrero and Eleonora Forenza , respectively. The coalition of factions led by Ferrero prevailed with

1225-411: The PdCI, both in the 1999 European Parliament election (4.3% to 2.0%) and the 2001 general election (5.0% to 1.7%). Despite competition from the PdCI, the PRC confirmed its status as Italy's largest communist party. Having been left by most traditional communists, it also started to enlarge its scope aiming at becoming a collector of radical social movements and, foremost, the main representative of

1274-707: The candidates. Prodi won with an absolute majority, but Bertinotti ranked second with 16% of preferences. Bertinotti was elected member of the European Parliament in 2004 on the Rifondazione Comunista list, in which he was candidate in all five electoral districts, receiving some 380,000 votes in all Italy. He served as member of the European Left group in the parliament, sitting on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs . He

1323-449: The centre-left. The two tendencies have concluded alliances for both local and European elections in 2004 (in which latter the PRC gained 6.1% of the vote), as well as the regional elections of 2005, in which the centre-left coalition, rechristened L'Unione gained a clear victory. During the 6th national conference held in spring 2005, Bertinotti was the first promotor of a motion for the alliance with Romano Prodi. That decision broke with

1372-492: The faction around Vendola and Giordano, silently supported by Bertinotti, left the PRC and launched the Movement for the Left (MpS), aimed at forming a broader left-wing party, which would eventually be Left Ecology Freedom (SEL). In the 2009 European Parliament election the PRC ran with the PdCI and minor groups within the Anticapitalist and Communist List , obtaining 3.4% of the vote and no MEPs . In April 2009

1421-537: The first time it entered a government by joining the Prodi II Cabinet , with Paolo Ferrero Minister of Social Solidarity and seven undersecretaries. The decision to participate in the coalition government and vote to refinance the Italian military presence in Afghanistan and send troops to Lebanon attracted criticism from sectors of the European far-left and provoked the splits of several groups from

1470-464: The hard-line traditionalist Being Communists (26.2%) which was composed of former followers of Armando Cossutta as well as the Trotskyists of Critical Left , Communist Project and HammerSickle (14.6% together). Communist Project, which opposed the party's participation in the Prodi II Cabinet , unfolded shortly after the 2006 general election . A group led by Francesco Ricci established

1519-455: The leader of the most left-wing tendency in the CGIL, called "Essere Sindacato" (to be a union), which harshly criticised the consensus politics of the majority. In this role he took part in the great workers' struggles of the time, including that of the Fiat workers which ended with a 35-day occupation of the car manufacturer's factory. A committed and hardline trade unionist, Bertinotti affirmed

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1568-485: The list was transformed into the Federation of the Left , which would be disbanded by the end of 2012 and officially dissolved in 2015. In the 2013 general election the PRC ran within Civil Revolution along with the PdCI, the Greens, Italy of Values and minor groups, obtaining 2.2% and no seats. In the 2014 European Parliament election the PRC was part of The Other Europe , which obtained 4.0% of

1617-486: The majority of deputies and senators, split and formed a rival communist party, the Party of Italian Communists (PdCI), which would soon join the first cabinet led by Massimo D'Alema , the leader of the DS, who replaced Prodi and became the first post-communist to hold the job of Prime Minister of Italy . Deprived of most of its parliamentary representation, the PRC fought for its existence and voters supported it rather than

1666-559: The need for the working class to strike against the "injustices of the boss class", thereby attracting the anger of more moderate trade unionists. At that time he first disagreed with Sergio Cofferati , beginning a polemic which has continued, albeit in different forms, until the present. In 1994, the year in which he was elected to the secretariat of the Rifondazione Comunista and to the Italian and European parliaments, Bertinotti resigned all his trade union positions. He remains interested in economics and workers' rights, and has been offered

1715-639: The position of Minister for Labour on several occasions by leaders of the Italian centre-left, but he has always declined it. Bertinotti did not readily find a political party during the First Italian Republic which conformed to his principles. He was a member of the Italian Socialist Party and then the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity before joining the Italian Communist Party, in which he

1764-427: The private sectors' collective dismissals. Bertinotti is an icon known to the Italian public for his " aristocratic " public image, mainly conveyed by his French R , his good manners and his elegant sweaters. His fascination with expensive cashmere is also part of his idiosyncrasy . This bourgeois look has often been seen as being in ironic contrast with his far left politics. On 4 June 2023, he took part as

1813-528: The ranks of his own party, notably including the Workers' Communist Party , the Communist Alternative Party and Critical Left . Prodi, whose majority was weak and fragmented, resigned in January 2008. For the 2008 general election , the PRC formed a joint list named Rainbow Left (SA) with the PdCI, the Federation of the Greens and the Democratic Left under Bertinotti's leadership. SA obtained

1862-528: The run-up of the 2022 general election the PRC was a founding member of the People's Union (UP), a left-wing electoral list led by Luigi de Magistris . The majority of the party following the October 2004 congress was led by Fausto Bertinotti (59.2%) and viewed the PRC as the representative of the anti-globalization movement in Italy. Other factions strongly opposed Bertinotti's innovations. These included

1911-407: The third, fourth, fifth and sixth congresses of Rifondazione. At the last, however, his final document received less support than usual, gaining only 52% of delegates' votes. This close result has led many political commentators to suggest that he may be replaced as secretary of Rifondazione Comunista by Nichi Vendola . As an ally of the "progressives" alliance in the 1994 general election, he agreed

1960-600: The traditional attitude of the Italian Communist party to be an opposition movement. Bertinotti declared himself willing to see Prodi chosen without primary elections as the left's joint candidate for the post of prime minister, but when Prodi accepted that primary elections would be necessary, he proposed himself as a candidate. The elections were held on 16 October 2005 and apart from Bertinotti and Prodi, Antonio Di Pietro , Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio , Clemente Mastella , Ivan Scalfarotto and Simona Panzino were

2009-569: The vote and three MEPs, including PRC's Eleonora Forenza . In April 2017 Ferrero was replaced as secretary by Maurizio Acerbo , a former member of the Chamber of Deputies . In the 2018 general election the PRC was part of the Power to the People (PaP) electoral list, which obtained 1.1% of the vote and no seats. In 2020–2021 the party was briefly represented in the Senate by Paola Nugnes ,

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2058-435: The vote of 71.5% of party members. Consequently, Maurizio Acerbo , supported by Ferrero, was elected secretary by the central committee. The electoral results of the PRC in general (Chamber of Deputies) elections and European Parliament elections since 1994 are shown in the chart below. The 2008 result refers to that of The Left – The Rainbow , a joint list comprising the Party of Italian Communists , Democratic Left and

2107-455: Was a member of Pietro Ingrao 's tendency. Fausto Bertinotti was opposed to the dissolution of the PCI in 1991 and the creation by its reformist majority of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Nevertheless, he did not immediately join the radical minority in the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (PRC). He finally broke with PDS leader Achille Occhetto in 1994 and became secretary of

2156-554: Was a substitute for the Committee on Legal Affairs and a member of the Delegation to the EU -Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee. After the general election held on 9 and 10 April 2006, which saw a narrow victory of The Union, Fausto Bertinotti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies, and thus left the party leadership, being replaced on 7 May by Franco Giordano . After losing his deputy seat in

2205-403: Was a turning point for the party, which jumped to 8.6% of vote in the 1996 general election , fought by the party in a loose alliance with The Olive Tree , the major centre-left coalition whose dominant partner was the PDS. After the election, the PRC decided to externally support the first cabinet led by Romano Prodi . Tensions soon arose within the coalition and the party. In October 1998

2254-463: Was elected president of traditionally conservative southern region of Apulia , becoming the only regional president ever belonging to the PRC. In the 2006 general election , the PRC was part of The Union , which won narrowly over the centre-right House of Freedoms coalition and the party obtained 5.8%. After the election, Bertinotti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies and replaced by Franco Giordano as secretary. Additionally, for

2303-475: Was expelled from the party and Critical Left was suspended from it, leading to its final split and establishment as a party in December. Turigliatto's ejection was supported also by Claudio Grassi (leader of Being Communists) and this caused a break-up of the faction. A group led by Fosco Giannini launched an alternative faction named The Ernesto (from the eponymous communist publication), but it would suffer

2352-504: Was not an easy one, and in 1998, when Prodi proposed a new budget, incorporating a vote of confidence in his government, Bertinotti and the Rifondazione voted against it, causing the fall of the government. Cossutta's faction refused to vote against the government and left the party. They subsequently established a new party, the Party of Italian Communists ( Partito dei Comunisti Italiani , PdCI). The PRC, weakened by this split, had

2401-486: Was transformed into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) under the leadership of Achille Occhetto , left-wing dissidents led by Armando Cossutta launched the Movement for Communist Refoundation. Hardliners in PCI were not happy about the changes made inside the party after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Later that year, Proletarian Democracy (DP), a far-left outfit, dissolved itself so that its members could join

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