Cesare G. De Michelis, professor of Russian literature at the University of Rome
When Gianni De Michelis and Bobo Craxi disputed on the collocation of the party in 2005, she supported De Michelis and his line of continuing the alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedoms coalition.
De Michelis, after winning the legal dispute for the symbol and the leadership of the NPSI, led the party into an alliance with Gianfranco Rotondi's Christian Democracy for Autonomies (DCA).
In October, after a consensual separation between the two groups and the foundation of the Socialist Party by Boselli, De Michelis, Craxi, Turci and splinters from Democratic Left (including Gavino Angius and Valdo Spini), the group of De Michelis changed name into Socialist Party (coherently with name of the future party), while the group of Caldoro retained the party's name and decided to change the symbol.