Bersaniani referred to the followers of

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 ...

, a former secretary of the Democratic Party, a

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

. The ''Bersaniani'', who were formerly affiliated with the ''

Dalemiani Dalemiani referred to the followers of Massimo D'Alema, a former leading member of the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy. The ''Dalemiani'' were generally social democrats who want the party to join the Party of European Socialists. D'A ...

'' (the followers of

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema ...

), represented traditional

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

within the party and have their power base in the "red" regions, mainly

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

and

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. Since his election as secretary, Bersani gained autonomy from D'Alema, but they are still close allies. Bersani's main supporters include

Maurizio Migliavacca Maurizio Migliavacca (born 5 April 1951 in Fiorenzuola d'Arda) is an Italian politician and the current Coordinator of the Democratic Party, the main center-left political party in Italy. He has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies f ...

Virginio Merola Virginio Merola (born 14 February 1955) is an Italian politician. Merola is a member of the Democratic Party and former Mayor of Bologna. Early life Virginio Merola was born on 14 February 1955 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere in the Province of Cas ...

Vasco Errani Vasco Errani (born 17 May 1955) is an Italian politician. He was a founding member of the Democratic Party (PD), which he has left on 22 February 2017, to join Article 1 – Democratic and Progressive Movement, a party founded by the former PD ...

, Enrico Rossi,

Nicola Zingaretti Nicola Zingaretti (; born 11 October 1965) is an Italian politician who served as President of Lazio from March 2013 to November 2022 and was List of Secretaries of the Democratic Party (Italy), Secretary of the Democratic Party (Italy), Democra ...

Stefano Fassina Stefano Fassina (born 17 April 1966) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a former member of the Chamber of Deputies and of Italy's Democratic Party. Since 2018, he is the leader of the left-wing political association Fatherland and C ...

Andrea Orlando Andrea Orlando (born 8 February 1969) is an Italian politician who served as minister of labour and social policies from 2021 to 2022 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi. From 2013 to 2014 he served as minister of the environment u ...

and

Matteo Orfini Matteo Orfini (born on August 30, 1974 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian politician. He is a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies and president of the Democratic Party. Biography Matteo Orfini was born in Rome in 1974. He started his interest in ...

References

Democratic Party (Italy) factions {{Italy-politics-stub