The White Flower [1] [2] (Italian : Biancofiore) was an informal name given to the electoral alliance of two Christian democratic Italian political parties for the 2001 general election, [3] namely:
The alliance's name came from "O bianco fiore", the party anthem of Christian Democracy. [4] The parties aligned themselves with the House of Freedoms centre-right coalition. It was led by Pier Ferdinando Casini. The list gained only 3.2% of the vote, [1] [5] short of the 4% threshold however, thanks to its alliance with the House of Freedoms, it gained 40 Deputies and 29 Senators.
In December 2002 both constituent parties merged with European Democracy to form the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC). [1]
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic political party in Italy. The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic as the nominal successor of the Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crusader shield. As a Catholic-inspired, centrist, catch-all party comprising both centre-right and centre-left political factions, the DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for fifty years, and had been part of the government from soon after its inception until its final demise on 16 January 1994 amid the Tangentopoli scandals. Christian Democrats led the Italian government continuously from 1946 until 1981. The party was nicknamed the "White Whale" due to its huge organisation and official colour. During its time in government, the Italian Communist Party was the largest opposition party.
Forza Italia was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic, liberal, social democratic and populist tendencies. It was founded by Silvio Berlusconi, who served as Prime Minister of Italy four times.
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of the PDS with several minor parties. A member of The Olive Tree coalition, the DS was successively led by Massimo D'Alema, Walter Veltroni, and Piero Fassino, and merged with Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and a number of minor centre-left parties to form the Democratic Party in October 2007.
The Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party is a Christian-democratic political party in San Marino.
The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left political and electoral alliances of Italian political parties from 1995 to 2007.
The Union of the Centre, whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats", is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy.
The Italian Democratic Socialists was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Socialist Party. The Italian Democratic Socialist Party, the other long-time Italian social-democratic party, was merged into it along with other minor parties. The party's long-time leader was Enrico Boselli, a former president of Emilia-Romagna (1990–1993). In 2007, the SDI were merged with other descendants of the PSI to form the modern-day Italian Socialist Party.
Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, commonly known simply as The Daisy, was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties within the centre-left coalition: the Italian People's Party, The Democrats and Italian Renewal. The party president and leader was Francesco Rutelli, former mayor of Rome and prime ministerial candidate during the 2001 general election for The Olive Tree coalition, within which The Daisy electoral list won 14.5% of the national vote.
The Christian Democratic Centre was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy from 1994 to 2002. Formed from a right-wing split from Christian Democracy, the party joined the centre-right coalition, and was a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
The Democratic Alliance was a social-liberal political party in Italy.
The United Christian Democrats was a minor Christian democratic political party in Italy. The CDU was a member of the European People's Party from 1995 until 2002.
The Italian People's Party was a Christian-democratic, centrist and Christian-leftist political party in Italy. The party was a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
Italian Renewal was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy.
European Democracy was a minor Christian-democratic, centrist political party in Italy.
The Network, whose complete name was Movement for Democracy – The Network, was a political party in Italy led by Leoluca Orlando.
The Segni Pact, officially called Pact of National Rebirth, was a Christian-democratic, centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a former member of the Christian Democrats who was a prominent promoter of referendums.
The Pact for Italy was a centrist political and electoral alliance in Italy launched by Mario Segni and Mino Martinazzoli in 1994.
The centre-right coalition is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed the Forza Italia party. It has mostly competed with the centre-left coalition. It is composed of right-leaning parties in the Italian political arena, which generally oppose immigration, and in some cases are eurosceptic.
The centre-left coalition is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the country for more than fifteen years between 1996 and 2021; to do so, it had mostly to rely on a big tent that went from the more radical left-wing, which had more weight between 1996 and 2008, to the political centre, which had more weight during the 2010s, and its main parties were also part of grand coalitions and national unity governments.
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