Recent Trends in Italian Politics

Abstract

When, during the crisis of July 1964, Signor Aldo Moro, labouring under all sorts of difficulties including the heat of a Roman summer, seemed to be failing in his efforts to piece together the four party coalition over which he had presided for six months, an old Roman hand summed up the situation. Signor Moro, he said, would succeed because whatever difficulties he might encounter in giving Italy a centre-left government he would find it even more difficult not to do so. What he meant was that the so-called opening to the was the inescapable result of twenty years of political evolution; and his forecast proved correct. The present coalition includes the Christian Democratic Party, to which the Prime Minister belongs; the Socialist Party, under Pietro Nenni; the Democratic Socialist Party, led by Giuseppe Saragat; and the tiny Republican Party which, as the heir of Mazzini's Party, has an influence exceeding its numerical strength. The four parties together are assured of a comfortable majority in both Houses, which, being elected simultaneously by direct adult suffrage, show more or less the same composition. The 630 seats in the House of Deputies were distributed after the 1963 election as follows: Christian Democrats, 260; Democratic Socialists, 33; Republicans, 6; Socialists, 87; Communists, 166; MSI (Neo-Fascists), 27; Liberals, 39; Monarchists, 8; others (local), 4. No government is feasible without the Christian Democrats, for the Communists and the right wing parties will never side together. On the other hand, the Christian Democratic Party is not in a position to govern alone. Theoretically, besides joining with the parties on their left down to and excluding the Communists (which is what they did under the present centre-left government) the Christian Democrats could form a centre government with support from the left of the Republicans and the moderate Democratic Socialists, and from the right of the