I couldn t tell you about the formalities I know that the formation of the PDS was felt as a major change in Italy Throughout the entire postwar period 30 or so of Italians considered themselves communist forming the largest single bloc but were almost entirely shut out of national power because the other parties would form almost any alliance so long as it didn t include the PCI When the PDS was formed it was not for them a mere name change many of them felt completely at sea Whatever the formal organizational questions I think it would be inappropriate to treat that singular historical moment as just one point in the whole history of the PCI