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Dario Franceschini (Acting)
The 2009 Democratic Party leadership election was held in July–November 2009, following the resignation of Walter Veltroni in February 2009, after 16 months as secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy.
Pier Luigi Bersani, a former minister in several centre-left governments hailing from the Italian Communist Party (then Democratic Party of the Left and Democrats of the Left), was elected secretary in an open primary on 25 October. Three million Democratic supporters turned out to vote and it was a real fight between three candidates, with Bersani winning with only 53% of the votes cast.
Bersani was declared new secretary of the party during the first meeting of the party's new national assembly elected on 7 November 2009. On that occasion Rosy Bindi was elected president of the party (with Marina Sereni and Ivan Scalfarotto vice-presidents), while Enrico Letta and Antonio Misiani were nominated deputy-secretary and treasurer, respectively.
Veltroni, a former leader of the Democrats of the Left and Deputy Prime Minister in Prodi I Cabinet, was elected in an open primary election in 2007 by a landslide, but left the post of leader after a series of electoral defeats one and a half years before the natural conclusion of his term. He was replaced by his deputy, Dario Franceschini, a former left-wing Christian Democrat hailing from Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy.