The Left – The Rainbow (, SA), frequently referred as Rainbow Left (), was a left-wing federation of parties in Italy that participated in the 2008 general election.
History The federation was officially launched on 8–9 December 2007La Cosa Rossa? Sinistra e Arcobaleno. Corriere della SeraSinistra Arcobaleno, «puntiamo al 15%». Corriere della Sera 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,Welfare, spaccatura nella "Cosa Rossa". Corriere della SeraBertinotti: «Il governo Prodi ha fallito». Corriere della Sera 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,Cosa rossa: I Verdi e i Comunisti italiani litigano sul simbolo 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 The federation, defined by its members as the sinistra radicaleBertinotti, beato oppositore Corriere della Sera (which can be translated in English as both "radical left" and "far left"), was composed of four parties:
PartyIdeologyLeader 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
Italian Parliament Chamber of Deputies Election year # ofoverall votes % ofoverall vote # ofoverall seats won +/– Leader 2008 1,124,298 (#6) 3.08
Senate of the Republic Election year # ofoverall votes % ofoverall vote # ofoverall seats won +/– Leader 2008 1,053,228 (#6) 3.21
References