Democratic Party of Socialists

Democratic Party of Socialists Partito Democratico dei Socialisti
Chairperson	Carla Bormolini
Founded	October 17, 2014
Merger of	PS, FSDS, PSLM
Headquarters	Santa Maria, Marirana
Newspaper	Workers' Daily
Youth wing	Association of the Democratic Socialist Youth
Membership	2.5 million (2015)
Ideology	Liberationism Left-wing populism Left-wing nationalism Sotirian socialism Democratic socialism
Political position	Left-wing
National affiliation	Avanti Marirana!
Colours	Red
House of Councillors	116 / 232
House of Senators	50 / 90
Provincial Assemblies	177 / 747
Provincial Presidents	3 / 6
Website
www.adsd.org.ma
Political parties

The Democratic Party of Socialists (Vespian: Partito Democratico dei Socialisti, abbreviated as PDS) is a left-wing political party in Marirana. Formed in 2014 as a merger of three left-wing political parties (the Socialist Party, Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left and Mariranan Workers' Socialist Party) it has since grown to become the largest political force in Marirana with a plurality of seats in provincial parliaments and the most amount of seats in both the House of Councillors and House of Senators.

The PDS was formed in 2014 as the successor of the Democratic Coalition of Socialists which had existed from 2010. During the 2013-2014 presidential election the CPS candidate Lorenzo Occhetto came second to the dominant Coalition for Democratic Action candidate Giorgio Macciocchi. Following the 2014 presidential election the CPS became a unitary party - the Democratic Party of Socialists, PDS - formed on the principle of liberationism. It became the largest party on a provincial level in 2016 and in 2018 won both the presidency and the largest amount of seats in the House of Councillors and Senators.

The PDS support left-wing political positions, advocating for economic relief for Marirana's poor, the ending of the Mariranan insurgency, a reorientation in Marirana's foreign policy away from Asteria and the assertion of "political and economic sovereignty". The PDS encompasses a wide range of left-wing beliefs, but has generally been described as left-wing populist.

History

Formation

The Democratic Party of Socialists was founded as a merger of three left-wing Mariranan political parties - the Socialist Party (PS), Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (FSDS) and Mariranan Workers' Socialist Party (PSLM) each of which represented different ideological traditions amongst the Mariranan left. The PS was seen to be of centre-left heritage supporting social democracy with its voters mainly being concentrated in the progressive middle class; the PSLM was seen as continuing the tradition of industrial syndicalism on the Swetanian model. The FSDS meanwhile was seen as continuing in the tradition of Palmiro Lanza supporting "liberartionism, a decentralist, populist form of socialism concentrated in rural communities and influenced by Solarian Catholic liberation theology.

The PSLM was one of the oldest parties in Marirana, being formed in the aftermath of the Great War as the political arm of the syndicalist trade union movement; it never however became a mainstream political force. The FSDS meanwhile was formed in 1978 by left-wing dissidents exiled by the civic-military dictatorship with its leader Renzo Acquaviva being a prominent anti-government figure. Both the FSDS and the PSLM helped found the Coalition of Democratic Action (CAD) with the liberal Democratic Alternative and Anti-Revolutionary Party which played a key role in the end of the civic-military dictatorship. Both the FSDS and PSLM played a prominent role in the democratisation process with Acquaviva serving as prime minister from April to September 1992 - however in September 1992 Acquaviva and the FSDS left CAD accusing it of driving the country to the right and subsequently announcing he would run for president. The PSLM supported Acquaviva's candidacy and formed a new coalition, the Democratic Left Alliance (ASD). The right-wing of both parties however disapproved of this action and led by PSLM member Renato D'Ascanio left their parties to form the PS which supported the CAD.

Lorenzo Occhetto at the PDS's founding congress in 2014.

Acquaviva would run as the ASD's candidate in the 1992, 1997 and 2002 elections - although coming second in both 1992 and 1997 he was never able to reach the presidency. The PS continued to support the CAD from its formation in 1992 until 2007 when the PS prime minister, Maddalena Angiolillo, refused to approve of a GIFA loan package that was demanded following the 2005 economic crisis. The PS subsequently left the CAD and joined with Dario Lorenzin's Alliance of the Centre. During the 2008 election the ASD candidate - PSLM member Cuitláhuac Battista - lost to Lorenzin who appointed a PS member, Vasco Azeglio, as prime minister.

In 2010 the government collapsed after neither Forza Marirana (a right-wing liberal party) and the PS approved an austerity budget from Lorenzin with FM stating it did not go far enough whilst the PS believed the opposite. The right-wing of the PS led by D'Ascanio split from the party to form the Progressive Socialist Party whilst PS leader Angiolillo led the party to join the ASD coalition which subsequently renamed itself the Democratic Coalition of Socialists (CDS).

In the 2012-2013 election the CDS put forward FSDS senator Lorenzo Occhetto as its candidate. Although losing the election to the CAD candidate Giorgio Macciocchi Occhetto came first in the first round of the election and scored an overall 44% of the vote. Following the election Occhetto motioned for the CDS to merge into one party so better "represent the diverse opinion of left-wing politics in Marirana". At the 2014 CDS congress this motion was approved with Occhetto being elected as the PDS leader for a two year term, being re-elected in 2016.

2018 elections

In 2017 in preparation for the 2017-2018 presidential election the PDS formalised a coalition agreement with the Union of Green Democrats - Ecological Action and Party of Social Justice who represent environmentalism and indigenismo respectively known as Avanti Marirana! The new coalition nominated Occhetto - who resigned as PDS leader upon his nomination - as the parties candidate in the 2017-18 election, with Occhetto entering the election tied in the polls with CAD candidate and prime minister Rosa Michelozzi. Michelozzi however soon lost momentum due to a strong right-wing challenge from Alfonso Hatoyama, worsening violence from the Mariranan insurgency and the legacy of corruption from the Macchiochi administration. In the first round Occhetto got 12,134,186 (44.1%) of all votes with his closest opponent being Hatoyama who gained 5,007,759 (18.2%) votes. In the second round Occhetto was boosted thanks to a rise in nationalism due to comments made by GIFA chief executive Michael Clyde, fear of authoritarianism under a Hatoyama government and Dario Lorenzin's Positive Marirana party joining Avanti Marirana, clearing the way for Occhetto to get 16,107,631 (59.3%) of votes in one of the biggest landslides in Mariranan history.

Occhetto subsequently appointed the PDS's interim leader Amadeo Tajani as prime minister, the first prime minister of indigenous descent. In legislative elections held in May the Avanti Marirana coalition swept to power gaining enough seats to change the constitution. The PDS alone secured an absolute majority in both the House of Councillors and the House of Senators.

At the PDS congress in 2018 interim leader Tajani announced he would not run for a full two-year term as party leader. Carla Bormolini, the PDS's leader in the House of Councillors, was elected as the PDS leader.

Organisation

Chairperson

No.	Name (Born–Died)	Portrait	Term in Office		Notes
1	Lorenzo Occhetto (1968-)		17 October 2014	2 November 2017	Elected as party chairman in 2014 and 2016 party conferences. Resigned in 2017. Previously a member of the FSDS.
2	Amadeo Tajani (1945-)		2 November 2017	14 October 2018	Served in an interim role until the 2018 party conference. Previously a member of the FSDS.
3	Carla Bormolini (1976-)		14 October 2018	Present	Elected at the 2018 party conference. Previously a member of the PS.

Electoral results

Presidential elections

Election year	Candidate	First Round	%	Second Round	%	Outcome
2017-18	Lorenzo Occhetto	12,134,186	44.1	16,107,631	59.3	Y Elected

Legislative elections

House of Councillors

Election year	# of plurality district votes	% of plurality district vote	# of proportional votes	% of proportional vote	# of overall seats won	±	Position
2018	10,625,860	38.09	9,744,462	34.93	116 / 232	57	Majority

Senate elections

Election year	# of multi-member district votes	% of multi-member district vote	# of overall seats won	±	Position
2018	10,575,311	38.26	50 / 90	28	Majority