In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" parties with "green" parties. The alliance is often based on common left political views, especially a shared distrust of corporate or capitalist institutions. While the "red" social-democratic parties tend to focus on the effects of capitalism on the working class, the "green" environmentalist parties tend to focus on the environmental effects of capitalism.
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 18 May 1996 to 21 October 1998, and then from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008. Prodi is considered the founder of the Italian centre-left and one of the most prominent and iconic figures of the Second Republic. He is often nicknamed Il Professore due to his academic career.
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 Italian Democratic Socialists were 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 Party of Italian Communists was a communist party in Italy established in October 1998 by splinters from the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC). The split was led by Armando Cossutta, founder and early leader of the PRC, who opposed Fausto Bertinotti's leaderhip and, especially, his decision to withdraw support from Romano Prodi's first cabinet. In December 2014, the party was transformed into the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I), which would later evolve into the new version of the Italian Communist Party (PCI).
The Union was a heterogenous centre-left political and electoral alliance of political parties in Italy. The Union was the direct heir of The Olive Tree coalition which represented the centre-left in the 1996 and 2001 general elections. However, The Union also included parties of the radical left, which were not affiliated with The Olive Tree. The Union was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from May 2006 to May 2008, and former President of the European Commission. Collapsing in the wake of the 2008 Italian political crisis, the alliance was succeeded by the current-day centre-left coalition.
The Democratic Party of the Left was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the Alliance of Progressives and The Olive Tree coalitions. In February 1998, the party merged with minor parties to form Democrats of the Left. At its peak in 1991, the party had a membership of 989,708; by 1998, it was reduced to 613,412.
The 1996 Italian general election was held on 21 April 1996 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left The Olive Tree, won the election, narrowly defeating Silvio Berlusconi, who led the centre-right Pole for Freedoms.
The Democrats was a centrist and social-liberal political party in Italy.
The Workers' Communist Party is a communist party in Italy. It was created in 2006 by the Trotskyist breakaway wing of the Communist Refoundation Party led by Marco Ferrando. The PCL is the Italian section of Coordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International.
The second Prodi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days. The 59th cabinet of the Italian Republic, it was the only cabinet of the XV Legislature.
The first Prodi government was the 53rd government of Italy. It held office from 18 May 1996 until 21 October 1998.
The Alliance of Progressives was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The alliance was a predecessor of the modern-day centre-left coalition.
The Olivists (Ulivisti) are a faction within the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy.
Massimo D'Alema is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also served for a time as national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Earlier in his career, D'Alema was a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and was the first former Communist party member to become prime minister of a NATO country and the only former PCI prime minister of Italy. Due to his first name and for his dominant position in the left-wing coalitions during the Second Republic, he is referred to as Leader Maximo. He is also the author of several books.
The Pole for Freedoms was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, which was active from 1996 to 2000. It included Forza Italia (FI), the National Alliance (AN), Union of the Centre (UdC), Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), United Christian Democrats (CDD), and Pannella–Sgarbi List.
The Union of Democrats for Europe, also known as UDEUR Populars, was a minor centrist, Christian-democratic political party in Italy.
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replaced Paolo Ferrero in 2017. Armando Cossutta was the party's founder, while Fausto Bertinotti its longest-serving leader (1994–2008). The latter transformed the PRC from a traditional communist party into a collection of radical social movements.
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 2022; 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.
