The last few weeks have seen a series of scandals erupt in Italian politics, demonstrating the corruption of the Italian political system. The alliance between the Christian Democrats and the Socialists that has dominated the system since World War I!, the 'partitocrazia", has collapsed.
Socialist Outlook asked LIVIO MAITAN, a leader of the Party of Communist Refoundation* (PCR) and a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, what the series of crises means for Italian politics. What does the seeming collapse of the 'partitecraza' mean for the Italian bourgeoisie?
I think to say 'collapse' is an exaggeration; it's a doop crisis, but not yot a collapse. It means that the bourgeoisle consider that their apparatus is no longer viable as a means of defending their interests, particularty in terms of the unilication of Europe. It just can't deltver the goods. It seems that all the main Italian parties - the Christian Democrats, Craxi's Socialists and to some extent the Communist Party too - are Implicated in corruption. Can they carry on in the same way when they are so publicly implicated in corruption?
Obviously corruption is no new onenomenon. ine ory ting that's different now is that it has come to the surface, and people can see what has happened In realty i'sbeen a kind of political law that i you want something, you June 13. 1992 No. 23 have to pay the poitical parties. It's a resut of the inlegration of all the parties - inckading the parties of the workers movement -into the system for une last forty years.
It's a big crisis, but there's no real alternative. That's the problem. With the leaderships of the traditional parties so discredited, are there new opportunities for the left?
The real danger is that right wing forces will exploit the situation. reple are against the polluca rogime, not against the capitalist sysAnd the p people who appear mast obviously hostile to the political regime are the Norther League and other right wing organisations.
The problem is that the left parties dont appear to be the real opposition to the regime. The only positive thing in the Italian situation today is the extence or we ron. but is vot new.
It's not a very big party, but i's got a solid working class popular base and is seen as the only real left op ganisation and has to develop is The big question mark is to what extent it will be able to counteract the been a big rise of the MSI, but in the centre and the south the league are growing. For example in Milan. What are the main projects of the Party of Communist Refoundation?
The first thing, which is very posi the, is that there are still a lot of people who identify as communists. Of course they arent stalinists, they critise what happened in the Soviet Union, but they s still want fo be com Second, in terms of the main issues of the day, the CRis taking the intiative around two issues. Crucialy around the sliding scale of wages and secondly around Europe - i wil be campaig in parliament against the agreement. These should help the PCR to appear as a real loft alternative.
The Party of Communist Refoundation was formed out of the breakup of the old italian Communist Party (PCI), in allance with the far left party Domocrazia Prolstaria In recent elections it has won 5.6 and 6.4 per cent in the Senate, compared with 16.4 per cont for the renamed Communist Party.
It has 35 MPs and 20 senators. It CGiL union federation, formerly lod by the PCI. students organisations.
The rest observed a half-day Electricity consumption fell by 68 per cent, showing that production had been seriously But the fact that there was no unified strike call affected the mobilisation. Where Whole day strike was called it was total. Where it was partial, the paralysis was almost total in the contes or work, paracuarty in construction and ser10307 rices but there was less imnad on social life as a whole.
The unions' appeal had a significant impact on the workers, disproving assertions that the unions no longer have worker support. So they are right to consider it a success It seems clear that if the called for a 24-hour strike the dynamic would have been stronger. We have counted 140 demonstrations on May 28, with tens of thousands in the big cities. The biggest was in Madrid - the radio estimated 100,000 people - with the next biggest in Barcelona Abridged from International Viewpoint, journal of the United secretariat of the Fourth InternaA fortnightly review of news the United Secertariat of the Fourth intemational 1 year 280 FF or £28; Six months 150 FF or 615 (French francs preferred) Name Address Return to: IVP, 2, rue Richard Lenoir, 93108, Montreuil, France
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