Italy's corrupt 'partitocrazia', the 4-party coalition stretching from Christian Socialists, was civen a nasty shock at the polls last Monday. losing substantial popular support. Only the far-right Lombardy League made major gains.
In years gone by, the Communist Party would have been long ago, the PCI was the largest single party in the country. But the collapse of stalinism dealt the deain Diow to what was already a party in deciine So the partitocrazia will continue, witnour an overall majority of votes behind it, but with enough seats to govern. One option being discussed by the ruling coalition is to make an approach to the major remDemocratic Socialism (PDS) which got 16 per cent of the The Party of Communist Refoundation, the left wing plit from the PDS, got six per ent in the parliamentary elec tions, but nearly 8 per cent in elections for the Senate.
The traditional fascist party. the Italian Social Movement, (MSI) did not pick up votes. Despite Alessandra Mussolini's victory in Naples, achieved after a campaign combining page 3 pin-ups with reminisc ng about her grandad getting the trains to run on time in the good old 1930s, overall the MSI got only 5%.
But the results of the rightpopulist Lombardy League were more impresisve. With a national total of 9 per cent, the Leaguescored 20 per cent of the vote in many towns in northern Italy.
In Germany there were also gains for the far right. With a fertile breeding ground in the east, racist attacks have been on the increase for some time.
Now they are clearly beginnine to transter into votes and gain ground in the west, with 11 per cent and 15 seats for the far right in Baden Wurttemburg.
The far right's growth, and the of Helmut Kohl's government, has led to a flurry of speculation over whether Kohl's CDU and the social democraticSPD will form