Terrorism and Politics in Italy

...Perhaps one of these days, when conditiones in Italy are less hectic, PSI Secretary Craxi will have the authority and the inclination io bring these facts of life to the lull attention of his fellow Socialists...

...Especially in the early phase of the five-day meeting, the main floor issue was political terrorism, not the reshaping of Socialist policies...

...The single most important development was the impressive majority (64 per cent) scored by the coalition that supported incumbent Secretary Bettino Craxi's re-election...

...Although carefully stressing the temporary, emergency nature of the decree, the Socialists committed themselves to vote in favor when it comes up for approval in Parliament...

...Despite the unfortunate timing and the depressed mood of most delegates, once it moved beyond the issue of terrorism the PSI congress provided some interesting clues to the party's direction...

...On the one hand, he made a cautious overture to the Christian Democrats, but this should in no way be interpreted as the harbinger of a renewed Center-Left coalition...

...A revolutionary mythology has made both parties vulnerable to endemic splits, prone to half baked maximalism, and ambiguous on their government role...

...While slating that the PSI's ultimate goal is the Leftist alternative that is, a Leftist ruling bloc with the Christian Democrats pushed into an opposition role—craxi declared that this would not be feasible until the PCI completed its process of democratization and severed its international ties...

...Indeed, until last month the Italian Socialists—who had become convinced that the key to success was Mitterrand's policy of a radical program to be achieved with the cooperation of the Communists—may have been entitled to believe in the thaumaturgic powers of a union of the Left...

...The impact of the clear and urgent danger of terrorism on the Socialists was shown by PSI's support of the government's Emergency Executive Decree...

...But these plans were dealt a heavy blow when two weeks prior to the scheduled March 24 opening of the congress al Turin, Christian Democratic (DC) president and former Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades urban guerrilla organization...

...Writing in the PCI's ideological weekly Rinascita, Communist leader Giorgio Amendola emphasized the need for prompt action to save the Republic...

...Secondly, he has had to be careful not to overly antagonize the comrades who cherish the Marxist, class image of the party...

...In the first place, he has had to soft-pedal his policy of "equidistance" and stress the party's ubiety in the Leftist area, thereby weakening the PSI's bargaining power...

...In private conversation, however, the delegates spoke of a hypothetical mediation by the Holy See or a high prelate as a development that could not be excluded a priori...

...Like the Christian Democrats and Communists (PCI), the Socialists voiced unconditional condemnation of the Red Brigades, advocated utter firmness in fighting them and ruled out the possibility of any "deal," such as releasing the 15 leading Red Brigades terrorists now being tried in exchange for Mora's liberation...

...Indeed, the PSI cannot be too unrelenting on the subject: A few months ago, a group of leading Socialists raised the equivalent of approximately $1 million to ransom former party secretary Francesco De Martino's son after he was kidnapped in Naples...

...Both have exercised greater influence on large sectors of their respective country's middle class than have the German Socialists or British Labor, yet they also have enjoyed less solid support from the working class...

...After March 19, though, they should realize that its magical powers are severely limited...

...And since 1945, both have been weakened by ruthless Communist competition...

...At Turin, he stressed in blunt terms the non-Marxist, reformist Atlantic nature of the Italian Socialist party...

...A new strategy was to be mapped and placed before the electorate, marking the start of an effort to expand the party's 10 per cent share of the national vote...

...Craxi spoke at the Turin congress and acted as if he were an unchallenged party leader—which he is only up to a certain point...

...The Secretary heads the comparatively small autonomist faction—once a solid majority led by Pietro Nenni, his mentor—And to stay in power needs the support of the Left-wing PSI leaders who, at least for the present, share his appraisal of the Communists...

...The coalition worked well in Turin, repelling the attacks of the advocates of a silent partnership with the PCI...

...Various circumstances, including limited time, prevented a probing debate on the outcome of the French elections at the congress...

...In doing so, Craxi tried to strike as balanced a note as possible given the anti-DC feelings of large sectors of the Socialist rank and file...

...The important difference between the two is the substantial progress scored by the French Socialists under Francois Mitterrand's leadership...

...Still, he could not resist observing that at times the dialogue between Socialists and Communists was like "un dialogo fra sordi" (a dialogue between deaf people...

...In its initial stage unity of the Left may be conducive to increasing popular support, but when a possible ascent to power is in sight the unity proved to be fictitious if the joint economic and, or foreign policies fail to lake basic national facts of life into proper account...

...When Communist leader Gian-carlo Pajetta objected, Craxi quipped: "Well, if that is not the case it is only because we raise our voice...

...Finally, even though he has sufficient personal prestige to pay official tribute to the Western Socialist and Social Democratic parties, he has had to carefully avoid a showdown with those who insist that the PSI's particular traits differentiate it from the other formations, with the exception of the French Socialist party...

...Craxi is a pragmatic, level-headed, comparatively young (44 years old) Milanese, whose concept of Socialism is similar to that of the West German SPD...

...Thus for the immediate future, particularly in the light of the Left's defeat last month in France, he urged a policy of national unity...

...A stiff measure, it requires mandatory life imprisonment for kidnappers who kill their victims, permits the police to question suspects immediately without the presence of defense lawyers, and allows detention up to 24 hours...

...He also rebuked those intelectuals who in the past have shown some sympathy for the Left-wing extremists, and who are still opposed to drastic measures for alleged libertarian reasons...

...THE SOCIALIST CONGRESS Terrorism and Politics in Italy BY SILVIO R SENIGALLIA Rome For months, the Italian Socialists (PSI) had been planning to turn their biannual national congress into a rally for reviving the (lagging enthusiasm of the faithful...

...The Communists have taken the identical stand...

...But to preserve this alliance, Craxi has had to make a number of concessions...

...The significance of this decision can perhaps best be demonstrated by noting that until early March the PSI had been harshly critical of the current legislation on public order (the Reale Act), and had pressed for its amendment to cut down the amount of power granted the police...

...Silvio F. Senigallia reports regularly for The New Leader from Rome...

...But there are definite similarities between the Italian and French Socialist parties...

...On the other, he carefully avoided straining his relations with the Communists, who, understandably enough, do not like him...