Italians face prospect of Communist administration

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33873, 19 June 1975, Page 17

Italians face prospect of Communist administration

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) ROME, June 18. Millions of Italians face for the first time the prospect of being ruled by Communist-led local administrations after b ig Left-wing gains in regional elections.

One Italian in three voted Communist, making the party the largest in scores of cities inchiding Milan, Turin. Naples, Rome, and Venice.

With gains averaging 5.6 per cent, the Communists claimed their biggest election victory since the war. They came within two points of the ruling Christian Democrats on the national level. The Communist Party’s most significant success was in the northern industrial city of Turin, where a Commun-ist-Socialist coalition looked likely to succeed the former centre-Left administration dominated by the C.D.U. (Christian Democrats). Confusion

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant Communist supporters celebrated in demonstrations yesterday un and down the country. There were minor disturbances in Rome when Rightists attacked peonle attending a rally addressed by the Communist Partv leader, Mr Enrico Berlinmier. But after 36 hours of votecounting for the simultaneous regional, provincial, and local elections, the political picture looked confused — both locally and nationally. Much depends on the. Socialists, with some 12 per cent of the vote, who hold the middle, ground between the Communists and the C.D.U. Their own gains in

the election will certainly encourage them to press for a greater say in the national centre-Left governing coalition to which they belong. They will also want freedom to negotiate local agreements with the Communists. What used to be called the "red belt” across central Italy now looks more like a sizeable “red chunk” on the map with the addition of the north-western region of Liguria around Genoa. Two other regions may go to the Left, depending on what the Socialists decide.

“Too late”

One elderly Communist was so overcome by the Leftwing victory that he burst into tears outside the party’s headciuarters in Rome.

“Why are you crying, comrade?” a young official asked. “It’s all ri g h t for you

young people,” the old man replied. “For me, it’s too late.” “The Times” of London commented that Italian voters by their votes in municipal elections had shown they were ready to pul Communists into power.

. The “Daily Telegraph” said the Communist successes “should send shivers up the spines of all democrats.” But the Communist “Morning Star” said the vote was “a brilliant confirmation of the move to the Left in the capitalist part of our continent.”

The business daily, the “Financial Times,” said the prospect of a Communistdominated Government in Italy, if the results were repeated at the national level, “is naturally a cause for concern for Italy’s friends and allies.” But the newspaper noted:

“The Italian Communist Party is one of the least Moscow-orientated. It has made its way through the ballot box as well asthe shop floor. It has made a respectable contribution to Italian life through its work on the standing committees in Parliament as well as in the regions it controls.” “The Times” commented that the present Government of Christian Democrats and Republicans still had two years life ahead of it. But unless some miracle shook the Christian Democrats, there would be another Communijt advance.

“Whatever foreigners may think, Italians are no longer frightened by their homegrown Communists ... by their vote on Saturday the electors may be said to have served notice that they will not flinch from propelling the Communists into power if the Christian Democrats are unable or unwilling to change their spots.” The “Daily Telegraph” editorial said: “One reason for the further upsurge of Communism in Italy is endemic in Western Europe. This is the acceptance of Russian “detente” propaganda at its face value, with an accompanying disbelief, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the Soviet system is unduly repressive.” The “Guardian” commented: “Whether the Italian Communists can be trusted is a question which will now trouble many minds.”