Italian Socialists Meet
CICCOTTI, SIGFRIDO
Italian Socialists Meet By Sigfrido Ciccotti Milan It was a lean, pale Giuseppe Saragat who appeared at the rostrum of the National Convention of his Social Democratic party (PSDI) here. After...
...Good-will messengers scurried through the corridors with compromise plans...
...Neither of the habitual controversies—participation in the Government or socialist unification—could be raised...
...when the harassed convention began to vote...
...By Sigfrido Ciccotti What made this convention such a paradox was the fact that never had the party reached more substantial agreement on policies...
...With the aid of his daughter and two physicians, Saragat left the rostrum and sat down at the speakers' table...
...And so, while the PSI apparatus had won at the convention of Nenni's party earlier this year, the PSDI machine was defeated when left, center-left and right wings joined against it...
...In an adjoining room, the credentials committee was hotly debating proxies from the provincial federations of Salerno, Naples and other cities...
...The Saragat center, which obtained 59 per cent of the votes at the 1956 convention, was reduced to 48...
...Midnight passed, greeted by angry outbursts from the tired delegates...
...at 8 p.m...
...As for socialist unity, even the Social Democratic left, led by Matteo Matteotti, recognizes that it is impossible to deal with Pietro Nenni's Socialist party (PSI) until after the election, which should enable a realistic assessment of both parties' positions in Italian politics...
...Nobody will be surprised if the Social Democrats wage their election campaign on a platform of "a two-front' struggle": against the Communists, against the Christian Democrats...
...And the Christian Democrats had announced that they intend to continue governing in this way (with Parliamentary support from Monarchists and Neo-Fascists) until the general elections this coming spring...
...Rivalry for candidacies tended to make the leaders of the various party factions extremely sensitive...
...The roof of the Alcione Theater was opened...
...The reason must be sought in the impending elections...
...By 6 p.m...
...After a few minutes, he was able to resume his speech...
...the issue was not his leadership, but the activities of some of his followers...
...Matteotti's center-left got 23 per cent, the extreme left 21 and the right 8. Saragat's center now has but 29 of the 61 seats on the Central Committee, and will need help...
...Since the Christian Democrats had formed a one-party government under Adone Zoli, the question of Social Democrats in a coalition was no longer in Social Democratic hands...
...Nevertheless, though these two perennial bones of contention were disposed of, this 12th convention was stormier than any of the previous eleven...
...Although the left wing has recently shown a tendency to so-called "neo-Atlanticism" in foreign policy, the PSDI is substantially united in profound irritation with the Christian Democrats' "monochromatic" government and its support by the extreme Right...
...the convention was recessed for an hour...
...Compromise seemed near at 10, then faded...
...But the credentials committee could not reach agreement...
...the convention's policy debates had ended, and the delegates were ready to vote for a central committee and take night trains home...
...Someone in the audience tried to help: "Saragat, the party stands with you...
...This was the last day of a frenetic, tumultuous convention, but the climax lay ahead...
...It was almost 3 a.m...
...One must emphasize that Saragat's personality was never in question...
...It was raining, and a few umbrellas appeared in the pit...
...The party machine surrounding Saragat has, in this pre-election period, rather assiduously fostered the interests of its own followers...
...Parliamentary deputies and provincial leaders to the right and left of the machine felt personally threatened by the prospect of its gaining an absolute majority at the convention...
...After uttering a few sentences, he asked for air...
Vol. 40 • November 1957 • No. 45
