SPANISH STATE / ITALY Elections bring new setback for Italian CP FROM THE OUTSET, the June 14 parliamentary election was seen as a test of strength between the Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party, that is, between the two major formations in the five-party coalition government. LIVIO MAITAN T • HE SOCIALIST Party emerged clearly strengthened. (Its vote rose from 11.4% in the 1983 elections to 14.3%). But the Christian Democrats also managed to regain some ground, increasing their vote by 1.4%.
However, the results were distinctly unfavorable for the other coalition parties. The Partito Repubblicano Italiano (PRI) lost 1.4%. The Partito Socialdemocratico Italiano (PSDI) dropped by 1.1%, and the Partito Liberale Italiano (PLI) by 0.8%. The Socialist Party, therefore, has a stronger hand to play in negotiations, and for its customary methods of bluff and blackmail.
Maneuvers to shift the balance of power
It was not by chance that the PSI's number two, Claudio Martelli, told the press that "for the first time there is a left majority in parliament." In fact, while the fiveparty coalition as a whole went up from 56.4% to 57.4%, if you add the deputies of the Communist Party (PCI), the PSI, the PSDI, the Radical Party (PR), the Greens and Democrazia Proletaria (DP), you get a parliamentary majority.
Needless to say, this is a purely theoretical possibility. Martelli himself made it clear in his interview that there was no question of the PCI coming into the govemment.
So it is likely that in the coming weeks we will see large and small maneuvers designed in the last analysis to shift the dis- 9 tribution of ministerial posts — and more generally the division of the fruits of power — more in favor of one or other of the July 13, 1987 • International Viewpoint
ITALY
The vote for the Chamber of Deputies right.
All of this was reflected at the meeting of the Central Committee held after the
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1987 Votes PCI 10,249,690 13,231,960 PSI 5,501,980 MSI 2,282,212 PRI 1,428,358 PSDI 1,140,086 PLI 810,961 P. Rad.* 987,675 DP 642,021 Greens 969,534 Others 1,328,577 TOTALS 38,573,054 • The Radical Party, a protest party. iwo major parties in the coalition.
The outstanding result of the elections, however, was the defeat of the PCI. In the 1984 European elections (which were held in exceptional conditions in some respects) the PCI got 34.5% of the vote, as opposed to 29.9% the 1983 legislative elections. Two years ago, in the regional elections, its vote was down to 28.9%. Now it has dropped further to 26.6%, which is more or less the level it had 20 years ago.
This setback is all the more grave inasmuch as the PCI's vote losses were most pronounced in the big cities and in the working-class and popular neighborhoods. For example in Milan, the decline was 4.07%.
Paying the price for moderate opposition
The PCI has paid the price for its policy of partial and moderate opposition to the five-party government, and for its failure to lead a real fightback to the bosses' offensive. It has tied itself in knots trying to extend a hand in every direction. At times it has taken conflicting, if not directly opposing, positions.
For example, on the occasion of the signing of national contracts for certain categories of workers, L' Unita, the PCI daily, approved the decisions of the bureaucratic union leaderships. But when the workers began to express their discontent over the content of the contracts, it largely echoed their criticisms.
Another more glaring example is the case of the teachers' unions. With the agreement of the confederal leaderships, they signed a contract that provoked a very sharp reaction. Hundreds of rank-and-file committees were formed in many cities.
At the beginning, L' Unita presented the contract in a favorable light. Then, little by little, it assumed a pose of sympathy for the rank-and-file committees. 1
Moreover, the accommodating attitude of the PCI was reflected in the makeup of its electoral slates. Alongside workers, intellectuals and party activists, it included independents of various hues, even representatives of not exactly proletarian strata. The most glaring case was that of the financier International Viewpoint • July 13, 1987
1983
% Seats
%
Seats
26.6
29.9
177
198
234
32.9
225
34.3
14.3
11.5
94
73
5.9
35
6.8
42
3.7
5.1
21
29
4.1
3.0
17
23
2.9
2.1
11
16
2.2
2.6
13
11
1.7
8
1.5
7
2.5
13
3.T
7
630
-
630
Guido Rossi, who reported an income of
3,500 million lire last year. During his campaign, he came out explicitly for rationalization of the system without proposing the slightest reform in the interests of the masses.
The PCI's setback at the polls has already provoked a new wave of of tempestuous discussion in the party. Those who were on the right in the discussions that preceded last year's congress went on the offensive, arguing that the party should go further down the road of social democratization.'
The center and the "left" — assuming that you can call it that — are anxious on the other hand not to weaken the party's positions any more in working-class and popular strata, and are therefore arguing for maintaining the line adopted at the last congress, without any further shift to the of the Central Committee held after the elections, and in particular in the election Communist Party lost votes to DP and Greens of Achille Ochetto to the post of deputy secretary. Ochetto is looking more and more likely to succeed the present secretary, Alessandro Natta, in a not very distant future. The right opposed him both in the National Leadership (11 votes against, 38 for) and in the Central Committee (194 votes for, 41 against and 22 abstentions).
Although an overall assessment will be possible only after a detailed analysis of the results, it is clear that the PCI lost votes not only to Democrazia Proletaria (which gained slightly, by 0.2%, increasing its deputies from seven to eight), but to the Greens, who in their first campaign got a rather impressive vote (2.5% - 13 deputies and one senator).
Both the DP vote and that of the Greens — to a lesser extent — partially reflected a radicalization and a spirit of opposition that have developed in the country against the anti-popular offensive being waged by the ruling class and its government. In other words, the social and political struggles of the last two years have also had an impact on the pattern of voting and parliamentary representation. * 1. See International Viewpoint 99, May 19, 1986.
The LCR and DP campaign FOR THE June elections, Democrazia Proletaria (DP) and the Lega Comunista Rivoluzionaria (LCR), Italian section of the Fourth International, formed an alliance in line with the accords reached between these two organizations in 1983 and 1985.
The main axes of their campaign were around the right to a job, healthcare, equality, and the defence and extension of of democratic rights, as well as support for "council democracy in the unions" and peace and solidarity with the oppressed peoples. (For the text of the accord, see International Viewpoint 121, June 1, 1987.)
About 50 members of the Italian section ran on the joint slates for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and in most cases got a large number of preferential votes, in particular in Rome, Turin, Genoa and Taranto. (The system allows a vote both for the slate and then an indication of those candidates on the slates voters prefer).
The Fourth Internationalist candidates conducted a very active campaign, participating in rallies and local radio programs. For example, on May 24 in Rome, the LCR brought together union activists, factory council delegates and representatives of political organizations to discuss the workers' struggles.
The LCR also made an extensive and important contribution to building the anti-imperialist demonstration that took place in Venice on the eve of the summit meeting of the world's top seven industrialized countries. Five thousand people marched throughout the city, which was virtually occupied by security forces. The demonstration had been initiated by anti-imperialist solidarity organizations with Nicaragua, the struggle of the Blacks in South Africa and so on. It was supported by the LCR and DP. The PCI did not participate in the demonstration, and did not report it in its newspaper (although it gave coverage to small initiatives by the Radical Party in Rome). Only the Venetian organization of the Communist Youth associated itself with the demonstration, but without making the least practical contribution. *