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Rose in the Fist Rosa nel Pugno
Italian National Federation of Parties
Leader	Enrico Boselli, Emma Bonino
Coalition	L'Unione
Political ideology	Liberalism, Social Democracy, Laicism, Third Way
Official newspaper	none
Website	http://www.rosanelpugno.it
See also	Politics of Italy Political parties in Italy Elections in Italy

The Rose in the Fist (Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) is an Italian political federation of parties founded in 2005.

Its members are 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 now gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist (Lanfranco Turci, Salvatore Buglio, Biagio De Giovanni, Luciano Cafagna, etc.), whereas the left-wing of the New Italian Socialist Party (NPSI) has shown some interest in joining this federation. Some members of NPSI actually left their party in order to adhere to RnP: the Reformist Socialists of Donato Robilotta.

RnP is part of the centre-left coalition of parties L'Unione and it is one of the main Italian supporters of gay rights, abortion and euthanasia.

The federation has been constituted in September 2005, during a convention held in Fiuggi, based on the political principles of José Luis Zapatero (not about foreign policy, where Radicals have a pro-U.S. stance), Tony Blair and Loris Fortuna. In November 2005, its official definition has been finally announced, and the symbol presented: it clearly recalls the current one of 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 is, in fact, a rose).

The Radical component of the alliance creates some friction with the more Roman Catholic components of L'Unione, such as Daisy-Democracy is Freedom and Popular-UDEUR. The Socialist component is made up mostly of veterans of the Italian Socialist Party, who have some problems with former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro (who caused the demise of their former party with his investigations during Mani Pulite) and his movement Italy of Values. There is also the so-called "third component", composed mainly by ex-Democrats of the Left, as Lanfranco Turci, Salvatore Buglio, Biagio De Giovanni and Luciano Cafagna, now gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist.

The federation presented its own candidates for the next general election of 2006, 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.

• Rose in the Fist official site

v • d • e Political parties in Italy (complete version, historical parties)
The Union	Democratic Party – Communist Refoundation Party – Democratic Left Minor: Party of Italian Communists – Federation of the Greens – Italy of Values – Socialist Party – UDEUR Populars – Italian Radicals Micro: Liberal Democrats – Democratic Union – Critical Left – Italian Democratic Socialist Party – Citizens' Political Movement Regional: South Tyrolean People's Party – Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party – Valdotanian Renewal
House of Freedoms	Forza Italia – National Alliance – Union of Christian and Centre Democrats – Lega Nord Minor: The Right – Christian Democracy for the Autonomies – Movement for Autonomy – Pensioners' Party – Tricolour Flame – Social Action Micro: Italian Republican Party – Liberal Reformers – New Italian Socialist Party – Italians in the World Regional: Veneto for the EPP – Sardinian Reformers – Sardinian People's Party – Sardinian Democratic Union – New Sicily
Others	Micro: Italian Associations in South America – Socialist Party – Decide! Regional: Valdotanian Union – Edelweiss Aosta Valley – Autonomist Federation – Union for South Tyrol – The Libertarians – North-East Project – Sardinian Action Party Complete list
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