| Socialist International | |
|---|---|
Socialist International logo |
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| Abbreviation | SI |
| Formation | June 3, 1951 |
| Type | Federation |
| Purpose/focus | World federation of socialist political parties |
| Location | London, England, U.K. |
| Region served | Worldwide |
| Membership | 115 |
| President | George Papandreou |
| Main organ | Congress of the Socialist International |
| Budget | USD $1.7 million (€1 million) (2008) |
| Website | http://www.socialistinternational.org |
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.
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The Second International, the original Socialist International which was formed in 1889 and dissolved during World War I in 1916 and the Labour and Socialist International which dissolved itself in 1940 with the rise of Nazism and the start of World War II, constituted some of the same parties that would later form the modern Socialist International. Among the Second International's most famous actions were its 1889 declaration of 1 May as International Workers Day and its 1910 declaration of 8 March as International Women's Day.
While the Second International was split by the outbreak of World War I, a skeleton form survived through the International Socialist Commission. The International re-formed in 1923 (as the Labour and Socialist International), and was reconstituted again, in its present form, after World War II (during which many social democratic and socialist parties had been suppressed in Nazi-occupied Europe).
During the post-World War II period, the SI aided social democratic parties in re-establishing themselves when dictatorship gave way to democracy in Portugal (1974) and Spain (1975). Until its 1976 Geneva Congress, the Socialist International had few members outside Europe and no formal involvement with Latin America.[1] In the 1980s, most SI parties gave their backing to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas (FSLN), whose left-wing government had incited enmity from the United States.
Since then, the SI has admitted as member-parties not only the FSLN but also the left-wing Puerto Rican Independence Party, as well as the ex-Communist parties such as the Italian Democrats of the Left (Democratici di Sinistra (DS)) and the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO). Following the Tunisian revolution, the Constitutional Democratic Rally was expelled from the SI.[2] Later that month, the Egyptian National Democratic Party was also expelled.[3] As a result of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis, the Ivorian Popular Front was expelled in March.[4] However, according to section 5.1.3 of the statutes of the Socialist International, an expulsion requires a decision of Congress by a majority of two-thirds.[5]
The Party of European Socialists, a European political party active in the European Parliament, is an associated organisation of the Socialist International.
The current Secretary General of the Socialist International is Luis Ayala (Chile), who has held the post since 1989.
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