Come viene percepito il PD all'estero?

[Enrico1987]

Mettiamo qui tutti gli articoli, i commenti, le idee che i giornali e i siti stranieri che solitamente visitate hanno messo sul PD.

[Enrico1987]

Parto da un sito in cui ci sono i dati elettorali. Il PD qui è definito come socialdemocratico:
http://www.parties-and-elections.de/italy.html
http://www.parties-and-elections.de/news.html

[Enrico1987]

da www.elpais.es

Italia se vuelca para elegir al líder de la izquierda
Cientos de miles de simpatizantes votan a Veltroni, alcalde de Roma, al frente del Partido Democrático

ENRIC GONZÁLEZ - Roma - 15/10/2007

El Partido Democrático, la nueva fuerza hegemónica del centro-izquierda italiano, nació ayer con un extraordinario respaldo popular. Más de tres millones de personas votaron y pagaron al menos un euro para elegir a un líder y a los compromisarios que debían definir la línea programática. Fue una gran fiesta y una novedad en la tradición política europea. Walter Veltroni, alcalde de Roma, logró el 76% de los votos y asumió la jefatura del Partido Democrático y de la coalición que respalda a Romano Prodi. Veltroni lanzó una oferta de diálogo a la derecha ("ya no funcionan las políticas de contraposición") y prometió novedades: "No os sorprendáis", dijo al celebrar el triunfo, "si adoptamos iniciativas que no parezcan ortodoxas según los esquemas tradicionales". (non sorprendetevi se adotteremo iniziative che non siano ortodosse secondo gli schemi tradizionali)

La democracia cristiana y el comunismo, las dos fuerzas que se enfrentaron durante décadas, unos siempre en el poder, los otros siempre en la oposición, confluyeron en un Partido Democrático de vocación reformista. El proceso que comenzó 12 años atrás, con la creación de la coalición El Olivo y bajo la tutela de Prodi, culminó en un domingo de formidable participación ciudadana. La formación nació arropada por millones de personas que apostaron por un proyecto aún vago, pero lleno de esperanza.

El éxito de la convocatoria sorprendió a los propios organizadores. L'Unità, el viejo órgano del Partido Comunista, salió ayer a la calle con un titular cauto: "Un millón para empezar". El millón de participantes era la meta que se había establecido como cota de éxito. Fueron muchos más quienes hicieron cola en más de 10.000 sedes para respaldar a uno de los cinco candidatos y apoyar con su voto el proceso constituyente. Hubo quien votó varias veces y los 3,3 millones anunciados por el propio partido resultaban sin duda exagerados. La afluencia a las urnas fue, en todo caso, masiva, aunque ligeramente inferior a la que aupó a Prodi como candidato de la izquierda en las pasadas elecciones.

El popularísimo Walter Veltroni fue, como se esperaba, el gran vencedor. Alcanzó, según los primeros recuentos, el 76% de los votos. El segundo lugar (13%) fue para la combativa Rosy Bindi, una antigua dirigente de Acción Católica, procedente de la Democracia Cristiana hegemónica de la Primera República y actual ministra de la Familia, que presentó su envite a Veltroni como "un combate entre David y Goliat", y se definió como "representante de la auténtica izquierda". Bindy estaba destinada a representar la corriente católica en el Partido Democrático.

En tercer lugar se situó Enrico Letta (11%), actual subsecretario de la Presidencia del Gobierno y voz del reformismo moderado. Los otros dos aspirantes, Mario Adinolfi (0,1%) y Piergiorgio Gawronski (0,2%), asumieron una función poco más que testimonial.

Nuevo aliento a Prodi


Podía votar cualquiera: bastaba haber cumplido los 16 años, mostrar la tarjeta electoral (que demuestra la inclusión en el censo y que pueden poseer los extranjeros residentes) y pagar al menos un euro. Algunos, como la astrofísica Margherita Hack, votaron por primera y última vez al Partido Democrático: "Yo estoy más a la izquierda, pero me parece positivo que nazca esta fuerza", declaró.

La fusión entre Demócratas de Izquierda, de tradición comunista, y Democracia y Libertad, de tradición democristiana, creó la fuerza más poderosa en el Parlamento italiano. Y dio, al menos temporalmente, un nuevo aliento al Gobierno de Prodi, quien se declaró "feliz tres millones de veces". El primer ministro seguirá al frente del Gobierno, pero no desempeñará ningún cargo en la recién creada formación. La elevada participación en las llamadas "primarias", en realidad un mecanismo de elección directa de los dirigentes del nuevo partido, reveló que, pese al descrédito de la clase política, los italianos confiaban todavía en la regeneración del sistema.

Lo más difícil comienza hoy. Los 2.500 delegados elegidos junto a Veltroni se enfrentarán en los próximos meses a la tarea de confeccionar unos estatutos y un esbozo de programa. Y en algún momento tendrán que resolver la cuestión que durante años ha paralizado los impulsos reformistas del grueso del centro-izquierda: ¿qué hacer con la "cosa roja"? Refundación Comunista, Comunistas Italianos y un sector apreciable de los mismos Demócratas de Izquierda han permanecido al margen del proceso y saben que, mientras rija un sistema electoral proporcional, el Partido Demócrata no podrá gobernar sin ellos. Como ahora. Habrá que optar entre mantener el actual equilibrio, que bloquea casi cualquier iniciativa de cambio (véase lo poco que ha podido hacer Prodi), o realizar la "apertura al centro" que reclaman los moderados.

Una hipotética alianza con los democristianos de la derecha, no especialmente cómodos con Silvio Berlusconi, rompería la dependencia de la "cosa roja". Pero crearía nuevos problemas de definición política. El líder de los democristianos berlusconianos, Pierferdinando Casini, emplazó a Veltroni: "Tendrá que aclarar si está con la extrema izquierda o con los reformistas moderados". Era un reto y, a la vez, la enésima oferta de diálogo.

[Lollo87Lp]

BBC NEWS - EUROPE

Rome mayor set to lead new party

Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni is heading for a landslide victory in a vote to lead Italy's new centre-left Democratic Party (PD), exit polls indicate.

They give Mr Veltroni, 52, nearly 75% of the votes in Sunday's election.

The party was born after a merger of the Democrats of the Left and the Margherita (Daisy) Party.

The PD's supporters hope it can boost the flagging fortunes of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition. He is expected to quit politics in 2011.

The PD also aims to become Italy's largest political grouping, overtaking the right-wing Forza Italia of former prime minister and now opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi.

'Unprecedented choice'

Exit polls give Mr Veltroni's closest rival, Families Minister Rosy Bindi, only about 14% of the vote.

Enrico Letta, undersecretary in Mr Prodi's office, was third with some 11%, while two other contenders won less than 1%.

About three million centre-left supporters took part in the poll.

Casting his vote, Mr Veltroni said: "It's a fantastic day for Italian democracy. We have in these primaries chosen to create a new party - a choice absolutely unique and unprecedented in European politics."

If confirmed, the margin of Mr Veltroni's victory would make him the prime candidate to replace Mr Prodi.

Mr Prodi has been pushing for the creation of the PD, in a plan to simplify Italian politics and stabilise his disparate centre-left coalition.

The PD's founding congress is due to be held on 27 October.

[Lollo87Lp]

BBC NEWS - EUROPE

Veltroni: Rising star of Italy's left
By Neil Arun
BBC News

He entered politics as a communist but the new leader of the Italian left is more likely to quote his hero Robert Kennedy than Karl Marx.

Walter Veltroni's centrist beliefs belie his radical beginnings - he says nowadays that he was never a true communist.

He is one of Italy's most popular politicians, a hyperactive, outgoing man who has been twice elected mayor of Rome.

This week, the 52-year-old was chosen by a landslide to lead Italy's newest - and largest - political grouping, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

His supporters say he has the charisma and the bipartisan appeal to eventually lead the country.

Mr Veltroni has described the PD in almost revolutionary terms, calling it a "new force" that would "invent a new language" to address voters.

His critics say he has built a career out of being all things to all men and his policies, as a result, are often contradictory.

Support base

The PD was formed in 2007 after a merger between the socialist Democrats of the Left and the liberal Christian Democrats of the Margherita (Daisy) party.

It immediately eclipsed former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia as the single largest party in parliament.

The current Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, spearheaded its creation, hoping to simplify Italy's splintered political scene and shore up his own shaky centre-left coalition.

Though the formation of the PD is good news for his government, analysts say the election of Mr Veltroni suggests Mr Prodi's days as leader are numbered.

According to Franco Pavoncello, president and political science lecturer at Rome's John Cabot University, the mayor of Rome is well placed to outshine Mr Prodi.

Mr Veltroni is the first leader of the left in a long time to have the full backing of his party, Mr Pavoncello says.

"Prodi by comparison has always been more like the party-less leader of a coalition," he says.

'La Dolce Vita'

For the time being, Mr Veltroni says he intends to continue as mayor of Rome - a post he has held since 2001.

His campaign has included pledges to fight corruption and crime and to give Rome's inhabitants fresh cause to take pride in their city.

Eye-catching new buildings have been commissioned from renowned architects and Rome has now got its own film festival.

Hollywood celebrities have been returning to the city in a manner some columnists say evokes La Dolce Vita - the 1960 film depicting Rome as a playground of the rich and famous.

Mr Veltroni's critics say his cultural achievements mask civic failures.

Rome's roads remain congested and its public transport network desperately needs overhaul, with aggressive unions restricting the number of taxis allowed to work the city's streets.

"Crime rates are rising, the roads are crumbling, the city is falling apart," an Italian parliamentary commentator says.

But, he says, the public appear unwilling to blame their soft-spoken, personable mayor.

"The emperors used to appease the Roman public with bread and circuses. Veltroni has managed it with circuses alone," he says.

"He is the miracle boy of the Italian left."

'Bomb-proof relationship'

According to Mr Pavoncello, none of Rome's problems are easily solved.

"Rome has a huge bureaucracy," he says. "No mere mayor could reform it - that would require the genius of Leonardo da Vinci."

Nonetheless, Mr Pavoncello says he expects Mr Veltroni to be more forceful than Mr Prodi in pushing through new initiatives.

The new PD leader has spoken of his desire to reduce the number of ministers in parliament and to make the Senate function in the manner of a regional assembly - moves intended to stabilise governments and make it easier to pass legislation.

Speaking after his election, Mr Veltroni insisted he was not going to undermine Mr Prodi's authority.

"For myself and Romano, this is a dream come true and our relationship is bomb-proof," he said.

Italy is not due to go to the polls again until 2010 and Mr Prodi's poor ratings and narrow Senate majority mean he is unlikely to call an early election.

[Lollo87Lp]

THE INDEPENDENT - NEWS - EUROPE

Poll victory sets up Mayor of Rome as Italy's PM in waiting

By Peter Popham in Rome
Published: 16 October 2007

Italy woke up yesterday with a new prime minister-in-waiting. After a primary election on Sunday in which more than three million voted, Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome, is now seen as the best bet to replace Romano Prodi.

Mr Veltroni attracted 75 per cent of votes to lead the nascent Democratic Party. The idea of the party is that it should fuse the centrist majority of the former Italian Communist Party with the reformist part of the former Christian Democrats, creating a moderate force at the heart of Italy, capable of taking on the might of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

The idea, conceived by Mr Prodi four years ago, has become the holy grail of the Italian centre and, on Sunday, 3.3 million Italians voted for its new leader, many queuing patiently.

Mr Veltroni, a jazz-loving former communist who boasts of having doubled the number of tourists coming to Rome and who writes novels in his spare time, is in pole position to become Italy's next prime minister – and, as he is only 52, he could be a remarkably young one by Italian standards.

His Democratic Party joins the unruly throng of existing Italian parties – 155 of them, including two Fascist parties, 12 post-Fascist, 10 varieties of Communist and six Greens. The new party has has attracted only 300,000 members so far, but its 3.3 million endorsements on Sunday make it at a stroke one of the serious contenders.

Ezio Mauro, editor of La Repubblica, compared the genesis of the PD, as it is called, to the creation of New Labour. "This is a new party, like the New Labour that was announced by Blair at the beginning of his adventure," Mr Mauro wrote.

"The leadership is new, and represents a change of generations, the programme is new, the liturgy is new and in particular the instrument of direct participation of citizens is new."

Compared to the revolution effected by Mr Blair, with the junking of Labour's commitment to nationalisation and the steady appropriation of Thatcherite economic ideas, the novelty of Mr Veltroni's party looks cosmetic. He wants to cut the number of ministers in the cabinet but the party is far stronger on buzz words such as "liberty" and "dignity" than on anything the outside world would recognise as a new or radical idea.

But if Mr Veltroni were to succeed in his mission of blending two sides into a vote-winning formation, he could revolutionise Italian politics and put the right – a hotchpotch of parties with discordant ideas, clamped together by Mr Berlusconi's money – in the waiting room of power for many years.

Yet with its stunning first success, the party has given Mr Prodi a Gordon Brown-sized headache: as prime minister-in-waiting, Mr Veltroni will be not be happy to sit on his hands very long.

Mr Prodi, who belongs to no party, rushed to Mr Veltroni's headquarters in Rome to congratulate the new leader. "The relationship between me and Veltroni is bombproof," he gushed, but his aides were less than convinced.






i soliti inglesi sprezzantissimi

[Defender]

But if Mr Veltroni were to succeed in his mission of blending two sides into a vote-winning formation, he could revolutionise Italian politics and put the right – a hotchpotch of parties with discordant ideas, clamped together by Mr Berlusconi's money – in the waiting room of power for many years.

No, ormai no, il centrodestra è coeso anche dal punto di vista ideologico

[anonimovenexian]

mi pare ovvio: il PD attuerà scelte "socialdemocratiche" in sintonia con gli altri partiti riformisti europei, magari un po' più mitigate in certe tematiche. Su questo penso non ci possano essere dubbi.

Chi non si riconosce in questo, ha sbagliato posto.

[John Galt]

Allora all'assemblea nazionale dovrete scacciare un pò di gente...

[lupoDL]

mi pare ovvio: il PD attuerà scelte "socialdemocratiche" in sintonia con gli altri partiti riformisti europei, magari un po' più mitigate in certe tematiche. Su questo penso non ci possano essere dubbi.

Chi non si riconosce in questo, ha sbagliato posto.

Io credo che il posto lo abbia sbagliato tu. La politica del PD sarà più simile al New Labour che ai socialdemocratici tedeschi. E' inevitabile.