The Zingaretti aberration Not surprisingly, the attempt to reinvent social democracy came to nothing. The rightward drift is now set to continue. Toby Abse looks at the dysfunctional parties, factions, fiefdoms and tokenistic gestures which dominate electoral politics The sudden and dramatic resignation of Nicola Zingaretti from the position of secretary (ie, leader) of the Partito Democratico (PD) marked the end of a serious attempt to reclaim it as a vehicle for social democracy, and to undo the poisonous neoliberal, anti-trade union and anti-working class legacy of Matteo Renzi. Whilst th...