Editing Italian Democratic Socialists (section)

==History==

===Early years===
The SDI were founded in 1998 by the merger of the [[Italian Socialists]] ([[Enrico Boselli]], [[Roberto Villetti]], and [[Ottaviano Del Turco]]), the [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party]] ([[Gian Franco Schietroma]], and [[Giorgio Carta (politician)|Giorgio Carta]]), a portion of the [[Labour Federation (Italy)|Labour Federation]], a portion of the [[Socialist Party (Italy, 1996)|Socialist Party]] ([[Ugo Intini]]), and the [[Socialist League (Italy)|Socialist League]] ([[Claudio Martelli]] and [[Bobo Craxi]]). In their first appearance on the national stage, the [[1999 European Parliament election in Italy]], the SDI won 2.2% of the votes and two [[MEPs]]. In December 1999, the SDI formed a short-lived centrist alliance ([[The Clover]]) with the [[Union for the Republic (Italy)|Union for the Republic]] and [[Italian Republican Party]], which was responsible for the fall of the [[D'Alema I Cabinet]] in December 1999.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Gilbert|author2=Gianfranco Pasquino|chapter=Introduction: The Faltering Transition|editor1=Mark Gilbert|editor2=Gianfranco Pasquino|title=Italian Politics: The Faltering Transition|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4jlaPUP1MAC&pg=PA28|year=2000|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-57181-840-9|page=28}}</ref>

The SDI re-entered [[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]] of the [[Centre-left coalition (Italy)|centre-left coalition]] and in 2000 they were originally touted for inclusion in the [[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy]] joint list, before being rejected by the Christian-inspired parties of the alliance,<ref>{{cite book|author=Sarah Rose|chapter=The parties of the centre-left|editor=James L. Newell|title=The Italian General Election of 2001: Berlusconi's Victory|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZhiuXDq8K4C&pg=PA82|year=2002|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-6100-4|page=82}}</ref> notably including the [[Italian People's Party (1994)|Italian People's Party]]. For the [[2001 Italian general election]], the SDI formed an unusual alliance ([[The Sunflower]]) with the [[Federation of the Greens]], which was disbanded soon after the election due to political divergences and ultimately to the disappointing electoral result: 2.2% of the vote, while the two parties' combined result in 1999 had been 4.0%. In the [[2004 European Parliament election in Italy]], two SDI [[Member of the European Parliament|MEPs]] were elected on the [[The Olive Tree (Italy)|United in the Olive Tree]] ticket.

===The Rose in the Fist===
In 2001, [[Claudio Martelli]] and [[Bobo Craxi]] left the party to form, along with [[Gianni De Michelis]], the [[New Italian Socialist Party]] (NPSI), which joined the [[House of Freedoms]] of the [[Centre-right coalition (Italy)|centre-right coalition]], while in 2004 [[Giorgio Carta (politician)|Giorgio Carta]] left to re-establish the [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party (2004)|Italian Democratic Socialist Party]].

In 2005, the SDI entered in alliance with the [[Italian Radicals]], forming the [[Rose in the Fist]] (RnP) electoral list. In 2006, the [[Socialist Unity (Italy)|Socialist Unity]] of [[Claudio Signorile]] joined the SDI, while some members of NPSI, as [[Donato Robilotta]], founded the Reformist Socialists and directly joined the RnP.

In the [[2006 Italian general election]], the RnP list won only 2.6% of the vote, much less than the combination of the two parties before the alliance, as the Radicals lost voters in their strongholds in the North to [[Forza Italia]], while the Socialists lost ground in the South to [[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]] parties.<!--[[Rose in the Fist#Electoral results]]-->

===Socialist Party===
During a party convention in April 2007, Boselli launched the proposal of a Socialist Constituent Assembly, open to all the Italian social democrats and especially to the remnants of the old [[Italian Socialist Party]], while [[Ottaviano Del Turco]] supported the entry of the SDI in the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]] (PD). Boselli was re-elected secretary of the party with 784 votes out of 787 and 3 abstentions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2007/04_Aprile/15/boselli_sdi_psi.shtml|title = Boselli: «Ci chiameremo Psi» - Corriere della Ser"}}</ref> In May, Del Turco and his faction left the SDI and formed the '''Reformist Alliance''' ({{langx|it|Alleanza Riformista}}),<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 May 2007 |title=Del Turco fonda Alleanza Riformista |url=https://www.emmelle.it/2007/05/14/del-turco-fonda-alleanza-riformista/ |access-date=25 July 2022 |website=emmelle.it |language=it-IT}}</ref> which would merge into the PD.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fatucchi |first=Marzio |date=29 June 2007 |title=400 socialisti scelgono il Pd |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2007/06/29/400-socialisti-scelgono-il-pd.html |access-date=25 July 2022 |website=la Repubblica.it |language=it}}</ref>

Several groups, including a large portion of the [[New Italian Socialist Party]], [[The Italian Socialists]], [[Democracy and Socialism]], and the [[Association for the Rose in the Fist]], decided to join forces with the SDI. This happened on 5 October 2007, when they were merged into a unified Socialist Party, later renamed the [[Italian Socialist Party (2007)|Italian Socialist Party]] on 7 October 2009 to recall the historical party of the same name. The new party obtained 1.0% of the vote and no seats in Parliament in the [[2008 Italian general election]].