The Rose in the Fist (Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) was a coalition of parties in Italy.

The RnP was composed of the Italian Democratic Socialists (led by Enrico Boselli and Roberto Villetti), the Italian Radicals (led by Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino) and some independent members gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist (Lanfranco Turci, Salvatore Buglio, Biagio De Giovanni, etc.).

RnP was part of the centre-left coalition of parties The Union and was one of the main Italian supporters of gay rights, abortion and euthanasia.

History

The federation was constituted in September 2005, during a convention held in Fiuggi, based on the political principles of José Luis Zapatero (excluding foreign policy, where the Radicals have a pro-American stance), Tony Blair and Loris Fortuna. In November, its official definition was finally announced, and the symbol presented, recalling the current emblem of the Socialist International, and the historical logo of the Italian Radicals during the 1970s and the 1980s, but also the current one of the Italian Democratic Socialists, that being a red rose.

The Radical component of the alliance created some friction with the more Roman Catholic components of The Union, such as Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and UDEUR Populars. The Socialist component was made up mostly of veterans of the Italian Socialist Party. There was also the so-called "third component", composed mainly by ex-Democrats of the Left, such as Lanfranco Turci, Salvatore Buglio and Biagio De Giovanni, now gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist.

In Prodi II Cabinet the RnP was represented by Emma Bonino, Minister of International Trade.

Popular support

The federation presented its own lists for the 2006 general election, obtaining 2.6% of votes, and winning 18 seats (9 for SDI, 7 for the Radicals, one for Lanfranco Turci and one for Salvatore Buglio) in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Senate.

This was not an encouraging result, indeed a bad one, considering that the Radicals alone scored 2.3% both at the 2001 general election and at the 2004 European Parliament election, while the Socialists have an electoral force of 2-3% in regional and local elections.

In particular, it seems that the Radicals lost votes to Forza Italia in their Northern strongholds (as Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia), while the Socialists did the same in favour of the Olive Tree coalition in their Southern strongholds (as Abruzzo, Campania, Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria). The table below shows how the two parties were not able to secure the favor of their usual voters, so that the Rose in the Fist scored less than Radicals alone in the North and the Socialists alone in the South.