Democratic Party of the Left

Democratic Party of the Left Partito Democratico della Sinistra
Secretary	Achille Occhetto (1991–1994) Massimo D'Alema (1994–1998)
Founded	3 February 1991; 33 years ago (1991-02-03)
Dissolved	14 February 1998; 26 years ago (1998-02-14)
Preceded by	Italian Communist Party
Succeeded by	Democrats of the Left
Newspaper	L'Unità
Youth wing	Youth Left
Membership	989,708 (1991) 613,412 (1998)
Ideology	Democratic socialism Social democracy
Political position	Left-wing
National affiliation	Alliance of Progressives (1994) The Olive Tree (1995–1998)
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (1993–1998)
International affiliation	Socialist International (1993–1998)
European Parliament group	European United Left (1991–1993) Party of European Socialists (1993–1998)
Colors	Red
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

The Democratic Party of the Left (Italian: Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) 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,^[1][2][3] 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.^[4]