Foundation In April 2007 the
Democrats of the Left (DL) held in
Florence their last congress in order to ratify the move towards the foundation of the
Democratic Party, along with the
centrists of
Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In opposition to
Piero Fassino's majority resolution, two resolutions were tabled by supporters of the factions led by
Fabio Mussi and
Gavino Angius (who formed
Socialists and Europeans together with
Mauro Zani): the first opposed in any form the foundation of the PD, whilst the second was favourable only in the event that the new party was to join the
Party of European Socialists and thus represented a more "wait and see" attitude. These resolutions managed to garner around 25% of the vote. Following the congress, a large majority of Mussi's followers, with a few notable exceptions such as
Vincenzo Vita, left the DS. This was consistent with their declared position prior to the Florence congress. In contrast, Angius' sudden departure from DS after the congress was somewhat surprising and arguably inconsistent with the position adopted by the supporters of the Angius-Zani resolution prior to and during the congress itself. Consequently, rather than follow Angius out of the party some of the most significant supporters of the motion, including Zani,
Massimo Brutti and
Sergio Gentili opted to stay inside the DS. On 16 May 2007 the new party's parliamentary groups had 22 deputies and 12 senators.
Out of Parliament In the
2008 general election The Left – The Rainbow, of which the Democratic Left was a part along with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and the Federation of the Greens, gained 3.1% of the vote and failed to win any seats in the
Italian Parliament. After the election,
Oliviero Diliberto, leader of PdCI, who considered the experience of a "united left" ended, proposed a "communist constituent assembly" and the PRC elected
Paolo Ferrero, from the internal left-wing, as party secretary. Despite these events, Democratic Left proposed a "left-wing constituent assembly" as a bridge between the "European socialism" and "the alternative left". In the run up to the
2009 European Parliament election SD planned to form a joint list with the
Movement for the Left, the
Federation of the Greens and
Unite the Left in a sort of re-edition of The Left – The Rainbow. The list, with the additional participation of the
Socialist Party, was named
Left and Freedom and was launched on 16 March 2009. The list received just 3.1% of the national vote and failed to return any MEPs. The list was eventually renamed
Left Ecology Freedom, and was founded as a united political party on 22–24 October 2010. ==Leadership==