The Left – The Rainbow

Political party in Italy

The Left – The Rainbow

La Sinistra – L'Arcobaleno

Leader| Fausto Bertinotti
Founded| 8 December 2007 (2007-12-08)
Dissolved| May 2008 (2008-05)
Ideology| Communism
Democratic socialism
Green politics
Political position| Left-wing to far-left[1][2]

* Politics of Italy
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History

* Fasci Siciliani
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Ideologies

* Anarchist communism
* Autonomism
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Principles

* Anti-clericalism
* Anti-fascism
* Anti-imperialism
* Antimilitarism
* Class conflict
* Cultural hegemony
* Counterhegemony
* Euroscepticism
* Feminism
* Organic centralism
* Passive revolution
* Proletarian internationalism
* Secularism
* Solidarity
* Subalterns

Current organisations

* Lotta Comunista (Communist Struggle)
* Anticapitalist Left
* CARC Party
* Communist Alternative Party
* Communist Front
* Communist Party
* Communist Refoundation Party
* GC
* Communist Struggle
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* Italian Communist Party (2016)
* Italian General Confederation of Labour
* Italian Marxist–Leninist Party
* Network of Communists
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* Unified Communist Party of Italy
* Workers' Communist Party

Defunct organisations

* Armed Proletarians for Communism
* Autonomia Operaia
* Communist Party of Italy (2014)
* Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist)
* Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) Red Line
* Critical Left
* Front Line
* Italian Communist Party
* FGCI
* The Left – The Rainbow
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* Movement of Unitarian Communists
* October 22 Group
* Party of the Christian Left
* Party of Italian Communists
* FGCI
* Popular Democratic Front
* Proletarian Democracy
* Proletarian Unity Party
* Red Brigades
* Volante Rossa
* Workers' Power

Media

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Related topics

* Anarchism in Italy
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The Left – The Rainbow (Italian: La Sinistra – L'Arcobaleno, SA), frequently referred as Rainbow Left (Italian: Sinistra Arcobaleno), was a left-wing federation of parties in Italy that participated in the 2008 general election.

## History

[edit]

The federation was officially launched on 8–9 December 2007[3][4] with the goal of uniting Italian communist, socialist and ecologist parties in a united bloc, somewhat similar to what the centre-left forces have done with the Democratic Party and before that The Olive Tree.

The four parties tended to disagree on a number of issues, including the support for the Prodi II Cabinet,[5][6] the symbol and the name of the federation, with the Greens wanting the word "ecologist" and the Italian Communists the hammer and sickle to be included,[7] but in the end they formed a joint list for the 2008 general election.

In the election The Left – The Rainbow gained a disastrous 3.1% of the vote (down from 10.2%, combined result of the three parties in 2006 general election) and failed to gain any seats in the Italian Parliament. Shortly after, the Party of Italian Communists announced it would leave the federation, and the Communist Refoundation Party did the same soon after. These groups went on to launch the Anticapitalist and Communist List, which later became the Federation of the Left. Meanwhile, the Greens and Democratic Left, together with the Socialist Party, Movement for the Left and Unite the Left, formed Left Ecology Freedom.

## Composition

[edit]

The federation, defined by its members as the sinistra radicale[8][failed verification] (which can be translated in English as both "radical left" and "far left"), was composed of four parties:

Party  | Ideology  | Leader

|
|

| Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)  | Communism | Franco Giordano
| Party of Italian Communists (PdCI)  | Communism | Oliviero Diliberto
| Federation of the Greens (FdV)  | Green politics | Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio
| Democratic Left (SD)  | Democratic socialism | Fabio Mussi

## Electoral results

[edit]

### Italian Parliament

[edit]

Chamber of Deputies

Election year  | # of
overall votes  | % of
overall vote  | # of
overall seats won  | +/–  | Leader
2008 | 1,124,298 (#6)  | 3.08  |

0 / 630

Fausto Bertinotti

Senate of the Republic

Election year  | # of
overall votes  | % of
overall vote  | # of
overall seats won  | +/–  | Leader
2008 | 1,053,228 (#6)  | 3.21  |

0 / 315

Fausto Bertinotti

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Italy's fragmented left". Le Monde diplomatique.
2. ^ "Italy's Berlusconi wins third term by surprise margin". The Sidney Morning Herald. 15 April 2008.
3. ^ La Cosa Rossa? Sinistra e Arcobaleno. Corriere della Sera
4. ^ Sinistra Arcobaleno, «puntiamo al 15%». Corriere della Sera
5. ^ Welfare, spaccatura nella "Cosa Rossa". Corriere della Sera
6. ^ Bertinotti: «Il governo Prodi ha fallito». Corriere della Sera
7. ^ Cosa rossa: I Verdi e i Comunisti italiani litigano sul simbolo Archived 2007-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Bertinotti, beato oppositore Corriere della Sera

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Communist Refoundation Party

Secretaries|

* Sergio Garavini (1991–1994)
* Fausto Bertinotti (1994–2006)
* Franco Giordano (2006–2008)
* Paolo Ferrero (2008–2017)
* Maurizio Acerbo (2017–present)

General|

* Italian Communist Party
* Proletarian Democracy
* Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist)
* Prodi II Cabinet
* Eurocommunism
* Liberazione
* Young Communists
* International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
* Party of the European Left
* European United Left–Nordic Green Left

Factions and splits|

| Current factions|

In the 2017 congress, two motions were presented: the majority one led by Paolo Ferrero and the minority one led by Eleonora Forenza.

|

Former factions|

* Bertinottiani
* Refoundation in Movement
* To the Left with Refoundation

Splintered factions|

* Movement of Unitarian Communists (1995)
* Party of Italian Communists (1998)
* Communist Alternative Party (2006)
* Communist Project / Communist Workers' Party (2006)
* Critical Left (2007)
* Refoundation for the Left / Movement for the Left (2009)
* The Ernesto (2011) / Italian Communist Party (2016)
* Countercurrent (2013)
* HammerSickle / Left Class Revolution / Revolutionary Communist Party (2016)
* Being Communists (2016)

Alliances|

* Alliance of Progressives (1994)
* The Union (2005–2007)
* The Left – The Rainbow (2007–2008)
* Anticapitalist and Communist List (2008–2009)
* Federation of the Left (2008–2012)
* Civil Revolution (2012–2013)
* The Other Europe (2014)
* Power to the People (2017–2018)
* The Left (2019–present)

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Historical political parties in Italy

Communist|

* Proletarian Unity Party (1972–1984)
* Italian Communist Party (1921–1991)
* Proletarian Democracy (1978–1991)
* Party of Italian Communists (1998–2014)

Democratic socialist|

* Italian Revolutionary Socialist Party (1881–1893)
* Italian Workers' Party (1882–1892)
* Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (1964–1972)
* Democratic Party of the Left (1991–1998)
* Democratic Left (2007–2010)
* Left Ecology Freedom (2010-2016)

Green|

* Rainbow Greens (1989–1990)
* Federation of Green Lists (1986–1990)
* Federation of the Greens (1990–2021)

Social-democratic and liberal-socialist|

* Italian Reformist Socialist Party (1912–1926)
* Unitary Socialist Party (1922–1930)
* Action Party (1929–1947)
* Labour Democratic Party (1943–1948)
* Union of Socialists (1948–1949)
* Unitary Socialist Party (1949–1951)
* Unified Socialist Party (1966–1969)
* Italian Socialist Party (1892–1994)
* Italian Democratic Socialist Party (1947–1998)
* Labour Federation (1994–1998)
* Democrats of the Left (1998–2007)
* Italian Democratic Socialists (1998–2007)
* Article One (2017–2023)

Radical and social-liberal|

* Action Party (1853–1867)
* Italian Radical Party (1904–1922)
* Democratic Party (1913–1919)
* Social Democracy (1922–1926)
* Republican Democratic Concentration (1946)
* Radical Party (1955–1989)
* Democratic Alliance (1993–1997)
* The Network (1991–1999)

Centrist and centrist liberal|

* Constitutional Democratic Party (1913–1919)
* Italian Democratic Liberal Party (1919–1926)
* Democratic Union for the Republic (1998–1999)
* Union for the Republic
* Italian Renewal (1996–2002)
* The Democrats (1999–2002)
* Segni Pact (1993–2003)
* Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (2002–2007)
* Civic Choice (2013–2019)
* Liberal Popular Alliance (2015–2018)

Regionalist and federalist|

* Movement for the Independence of Sicily (1943–1951)
* Italian Unionist Movement (1944–1948)
* Federalists and Liberal Democrats (1994–1996)
* Federalist Italian League (1995–1996)
* Great South (2011–2013)

Christian-democratic|

* Italian Catholic Electoral Union (1906–1919)
* Conservative Catholics (1913–1919)
* Italian People's Party (1919–1926)
* Christian Democracy (1943–1994)
* Italian People's Party (1994–2002)
* Christian Democrats for the Republic (1998)
* Christian Democratic Centre (1994–2002)
* United Christian Democrats (1995–2002)
* European Democracy (2001–2002)
* Christian Democracy for Autonomies (2005–2009)
* Union of Democrats for Europe (1999–2013)

Conservative-liberal|

* Liberals (1913–1922)
* Italian Liberal Party (1922–1994)
* National Democratic Alliance (1953–1954)
* Union of the Centre

Liberal-conservative|

* Economic Party (1919–1924)
* Forza Italia (1994–2009)
* The People of Freedom (2009–2013)
* Future and Freedom (2010–2014)
* New Centre-Right (2013–2017)
* Conservatives and Reformists (2015–2017)
* Direction Italy (2017–2019)
* Cambiamo! (2019–2022)

National-conservative|

* Common Man's Front (1946–1949)
* Monarchist National Party (1946–1959)
* People's Monarchist Party (1954–1959)
* Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity (1959–1972)
* National Democracy (1977–1979)
* National Alliance (1995–2009)

Nationalist|

* Italian Nationalist Association (1910–1923)
* Combatants' Party (1919–1923)
* National Fascist Party (1921–1943)
* Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945)
* Italian Social Movement (1946–1995)

* List of political parties in Italy
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* Early 20th-century Italian political parties
* 1950s–1990s Italian political parties
* Current Italian political parties

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