Radical Party (Italy)
The Radical Party (Italian: Partito Radicale, PR) was a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy.
Radical Party Partito Radicale | |
|---|---|
The fist and rose emblem used between 1976 and 1983. | |
| Leader | Marco Pannella |
| Founded | 11 December 1955 |
| Dissolved | 1 January 1989 |
| Split from | Italian Liberal Party |
| Succeeded by | Antiprohibitionists on Drugs Transnational Radical Party |
| Headquarters | Via di Torre Argentina 76 00186 Rome |
| Newspaper | Il Mondo Notizie Radicali |
| Membership (1958) | 11,645 |
| Ideology | Liberalism Libertarianism |
| Political position | Centre to centre-left |
| European affiliation | Coordination of European Green and Radical Parties/European Green Coordination |
| European Parliament group | Technical Group of Independents Non-Inscrits Green Group |
| Colours | Orange |
For decades, inspired by 19th-century classical radicalism, the Radical Party was a bastion of anti-clericalism, civil libertarianism, feminism, liberalism and radicalism in Italy as well as environmentalism. The party proposed itself as the strongest opposition to the Italian political establishment, seen as corrupt and conservative. Although it never reached high shares of vote and never participated in government, the party had close relations with the other parties of the Italian left—from the Republicans and the Socialists to the Communists and Proletarian Democracy—and opened its ranks also to members of other parties through dual membership.
The party's longtime leader was Marco Pannella (1930–2016), who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1976–1994) and the European Parliament (1979–2009), leading the party in most of the elections it contested.
In 1989, the PR was transformed into the Transnational Radical Party, a non-governmental organisation tasked with defending liberal and left-libertarian values. During the 1990s, the Radicals had formed a succession of electoral lists (notably including the Pannella List and Bonino List), without having a structured party and sometimes dividing themselves between competing lists. The latest incarnation of the party is the Italian Radicals, founded in 2001, former section of Transnational Radical Party.