The Election in Italy
CICCOTTI, SIGFRIDO
By Sigfrido Ciccotti The Election in Italy Christian Democrats gain, but still face dilemma: What kind of coalition? Rome Over 30 million voters went to the polls on May 25-26 in Italy's third...
...And Segni's cabinet was doomed in May 1957 when a group of Christian Democratic deputies rebelled against the compromise agrarian bill drafted by the democratic coalition...
...the rightists would prefer the support of the Monarchists and neo-Fascists...
...Since Nenni during the campaign took a pro-Communist position and thus ruled out an "opening to the left" for some time, and since the extreme rightists lost seats, the Christian Democrats' choice now boils down to two alternatives: Center-Right or Center-Left...
...More than 12 million voted for the Christian Democrats, who have dominated Italian politics for a decade...
...Nenni Socialists, Communists and rebel members of his own party put him over...
...But either way now the majority will be slim, and both alternatives have shortcomings...
...In between, from January 1954 to June 1957, Mario Scelba and then Antonio Segni presided over the coalition of the four democratic parties...
...Parliament will meet on June 12, to hear the resignation of the Zoli Government, and will then adjourn until the choice is made and a new government is nominated...
...Furthermore, Christian Democrats disagree among themselves on these issues...
...Since the Communists and Nenni Socialists controlled roughly a third of the Parliamentary seats, the Christian Democrats in 1953 had two alternatives: either to seek the support of the extreme Right, or to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats, Liberals and Republicans...
...Rome Over 30 million voters went to the polls on May 25-26 in Italy's third postwar Parliamentary election...
...Thus, the Christian Democrats are no better off now than they were before the election...
...Generally speaking, we may say that the left wing of the Christian Democrats would prefer an "opening to the left," an alliance with Nenni's Socialists...
...this action led to the withdrawal of Giuseppe Saragat and his Social Democrats from the Government...
...the center, true to the tradition of the late Alcide de Gasperi, would like to revive the democratic coalition...
...The Liberals, with just over a million votes (3.5 per cent), gained 1 Senator and 2 deputies...
...The left wing, inspired by Enrico Mattei, influential boss of the state-owned oil company ENI, is strongly committed to Government intervention...
...And a Christian Democratic coalition with the Social Democrats and Republicans would not only enjoy a precariously thin majority but would encounter obstacles among the Social Democrats...
...Many in Saragat's party are committed to unification with Nenni's Socialists, and their ranks have probably been swelled as a result of the excellent showing made by Nenni's party in this election...
...Men like Gronchi and trade union leader Giulio Pastore on the left, centrists like Scelba and Guido Gonella, rightists like Pella and Giulio Andre-otti, coalesce and disagree in the most unpredictable manner...
...It is worth recalling that in June 1955 Christian Democrat Giovanni Gronchi was elected President of the Republic against the official candidate of his party...
...Over the last five years, the Christian Democrats had tried both methods...
...They are really a coalition by themselves...
...The results showed a modest swing to the Left-Center since the last election in 1953...
...On the one hand, the Social Democrats and Liberals were in sharp disagreement over economic and social problems...
...The left and centrist factions of the Christian Democratic party would not abandon social-reform programs if this were the price of support by extreme rightist deputies in the Chamber...
...The major parties achieved the following results: • The Christian Democrats, with 42.2 per cent of the popular vote as against 40.1 five years ago, gained 10 seats in the Senate and 12 in the Chamber of Deputies...
...In other words, the ruling party can form a coalition with the Liberals (counting on some support from the extreme Right), or it can form one with the Social Democrats and Republicans...
...Fanfani hoped that the electorate would demonstrate a clear preference for one or the other alternative, thus enabling him to follow the voters' choice...
...and over the past eleven months the cabinet of Adone Zoli has ruled with the same support...
...It was how and with whom, the dominant Christian Democrats would form their next government...
...The moderate Republicans and Radicals also lost votes...
...The Social Democrats, with 1.4 million votes (4.6 per cent), gained 1 Senator and 4 deputies...
...Some of these may have been swung to the Christian Democrats by the developments in France...
...Among them, they lost 800,000 votes, 8 Senators and 21 seats in the Chamber...
...Pietro Nenni's left-wing Socialists, with 4.2 million votes (14.2 per cent, a 1.5-per-cent rise), gained 7 seats in the Senate and 8 in the Chamber...
...Fanfani still must choose...
...The fact is that the Christian Democrats are not really a political party in the true sense of the word...
...Party boss Fanfani tries not to commit himself and appears available for all possible combinations...
...The real issue of the election was not stated in the campaign...
...It is not an easy choice for the Christian Democrats, because it implies a choice between state intervention and laissez-faire in such matters as agrarian reform, assistance to depressed areas, industrialization of the South, etc...
...On the other hand, the Christian Democrats themselves have been divided by various political tendencies and personal feuds...
...In 1953, the cabinet of Giuseppe Pella lasted four months with the support of the Monarchists and neo-Fascists...
...We say "generally speaking" for on several occasions the right and left wings have combined to defeat the center (as in the election of Gronchi...
...What brought about the collapse of the coalition...
...Christian Democratic party secretary Amintore Fan-fani handled this issue skilfully, warning against splinterization of the electorate, and probably won a good many votes at the last moment...
...Gron-chi's election brought about the resignation of Premier Scelba...
...Pella, An-dreotti and other right-wingers are just as firm for free enterprise...
...The Communists, with 6.7 million votes, 22.7 per cent of the total, held their ground, gaining 10 seats in the Senate but losing 3 in the Chamber...
...The big losers in the election were the parties of the extreme Right— two Monarchist parties and the neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement...
Vol. 41 • June 1958 • No. 23
