Workers Socialist League

Socialist Press, Trotskyism Today and the Trotskyist International Liaison Committee, 1975–1984

No Solution to Italian Crisis

Socialist Press no. 251, 18 June 1981 · scan p. 2 · about 587 words

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Never.

That because the answer has, if possible, to crats in the Soviet Union and in other states of! Eastern Europe are larger.

It is these people whoin defence of their own positions-are warning of the danger to "socialism" represented by Solidarity, and called for measures to crush the Polish mass movement.

As the Kania leadership in Poland-its prestige temporarily enhanced by its stand against the Moscow ultimatum-prepares for the political test of next month's Party congress, the Kremlin leadership will be considering their next steps.

In 1968, under cover of opposing "anti-soviet" forces, Kruschev sent Russian troops into Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Czech Party conference once it became clear that the established leadership was losing control of the Party, The defence of the gains made in Poland since the strikes began fast August demands not simply the development of a conscious revolutionary leadership, in the Polish working class, but also the fight for solidarity action by workers in the USSR and other East European states to oppose any moves to an invasion and mobilise mass opposition to bureaucratic rule.

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satisfy two conditions: the first is that the Prime Minister cannot be a Christian Democrat.

That seemed to be proved last week when outgoing Premier Arnaldo Forlani abandoned his efforts to form a new centre-left coalition.

Corruption

This is because his party, the majority party of the Italian bourgeoisie, Is noW more steeped than ever in the stench of corruption and scandal-after a long list of its senior members were implicated in Licio Gelli's notorious masonic lodge, known as P2.

If non-membership of the Christian Democrats were the only condition for forming an Italian government there would be few problems.

There are plenty of Willing candidates for the Premiership, in particular Bettino Craxi, the Socialist Party leader.

Second condition

The trouble is that there is a second condition: that the Premier cannot be anything other than a Christian Democrat, because the Christian Democrats are unwilling to relinquish government leadership which they have monopolised since 1945.

If these two conditions ате absolutely rigid then logically minded readers will rightly conclude that it is impossible to form any government at all.

The same conclusion will sooner or later be reached by the less logically minded Italian political establishment and the Socialist Party President Sandro Pertini will therefore have to call new general elections.

Italian politicians, however, are so terrified of submitting their besmirched record to the electorate it may just be that one or other of the conditions prove less than absolute.

At present the leader of the tiny bourgeois Republican Party, Giovanni Spadolini is now attempting to break the second condition by forming the first post war government led by a nonChristian Democrat.

Same trick

Spadolini's predecessor, Ugo La Malfa who tried the same trick two years ago, failed to form a government and died shortly afterwards.

Even if Spadolini succeeds in the lesser miracle of forming a government it is hard to believe him capable of the greater miracle of keeping in office for more than a few weeks.

Elections now look almost inevitable. But there is little that they can solve for the bourgeoisie.

Their most likely result at present would be the strengthening of the Comrecent scandals.

It is now very unlikely receive a sign from the results of the local elections on June 21.

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munist Party which has been relatively untainted by the

that any major step will be taken until the parties

← Contents of Socialist Press no. 251, 18 June 1981