Italian Democratic Socialist Party

The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party, was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy, the PSDI was an important force in Italian politics, before the 1990s decline in votes and members. The party's founder and longstanding leader was Giuseppe Saragat, who served as President of the Italian Republic from 1964 to 1971. Compared to the like-minded Italian Socialist Party on the centre-left, it was more centrist, but it identified with the centre-left. After a rightward shift in the 1990s, which led some observers to question the PSDI as a social democratic party, it was expelled from the European Socialist Party. When Enrico Ferri founded with Luigi Preti the current European Liberal Social Democracy (SOLE), which was in favour of an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition, the choice was stigmatized by the PES and the Socialist International, and an official statement was issued. In January 1995, the party congress put the current of Ferri and Preti in the minority and elected Gian Franco Schietroma as secretary. After the party was disbanded in 1998, the majority went to the Socialist Party of the centre-left coalition, while the party's right-wing current joined centre-right coalition parties. In 2004, the party was established with the same name, Italian Democratic Socialist Party, which remains a minor party associated with both centre-left and centre-right coalitions. History Early years and government coalitions The party was founded as the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (PSLI) in 1947 by a splinter group of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) due to the decision of the latter to join the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the Popular Democratic Front's electoral list for the 1948 Italian general election. The split, led by Giuseppe Saragat and the sons of Giacomo Matteotti, took the name ofscissione di Palazzo Barberini, from the name of a palace in Rome where it took place. On 1 May 1951, it joined forces with the smaller Unitary Socialist Party and Labour Democratic Party and took the name Socialist Party – Italian Section of the Socialist International (PS–SIIS). On 7 January 1952, the PS–SIIS was ultimately renamed Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). From 1949 to 1965, members of the PSDI held the presidency of the Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza Sociale (INPS).