Lodge scandal brings down Italian Govt

Press, 27 May 1981, Page 1

Lodge scandal brings down Italian Govt

NZPA-Reuter

Rome

The Italian Government resigned yesterday in the wake of the scandal surrounding a secret Masonic lodge.

Political sources said that- the decision was taken, at a Cabinet meeting yesterday morning chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Arnaldo Forlani.,

Mr Forlani went immediately to the Quirinale Palace to hand his resignation to President Sandro Pertini.

Mr Forlani’s resignation ends the seven-month life of Italy’s fortieth Government ice Worni' War 1.1 and opens the prospect of a long search for a successor.

.The ' scandal of the Masonic lodge, called P2 for Pronrmanda 2,. came to a head last week when Mr Forlani, under Pressure from the' Parliament, released the names of politicians, businessmen, publishers, diplomats, and military officers on a list of 953 alleged lodge members.

“Lodge P2 is a secret sect that has combined bittiness and politics with the intention of destroying the constitutional order of the country and of transforming the parliamentary system into a presidential

system,” prosecutors said, in a report prepared for a parliamentary commission. Ldst Saturday, the Minister of Justice, Mr Adolfo Sarti, a Christian Democrat, resigned after documents found in the home of the lodge’s “grand master,” Licio Gelli, reported him to be a candidate for membership.

The Minister of Foreign Commerce,; ‘Mr Enrico Manca, a Socialist, and the Minister of Labour, Mr Franco Foschi, a Christian Democrat, were also named as members. <■'.

Prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for Mr Gelli on charges of political espionage. He is listed as a fugitive outside Italy.

The Christian Democratic Prime Minister and his coalition partners, the Social Democrats and ; Republicans, left no doubt in speaking to reporters yesterday that the Government was about to collapse. “This crisis *-> be opening in a climate of total irresponsibility,” said

the Secretary of the Republican Party, Mr Giovanni Spadolini. His words were clearly directed at the fourth party in the Government, the Socialists, whose reaction to the Masonic lodge revelations largely brought on the crisis'.

The Socialists had earlier indicated that a mere Cabinet reshuffle would not satisfy them. The Socialist leader, Mr Bettino Craxi, on Monday refused to take part in a • proposed meeting of Government party chiefs, saying that he felt each coalition partner should make up its mind separately.

Political commentators believe that Mr Craxi has set his sights on becoming the Republic’s first nonChristian Democratic Prime Minister. ; . President Pertini must now consult all political parties, and may heed or ignore their advice, ijt asking a new candidate to try to form a Government.

If Mr Craxi were invited, the other parties, in their present mood, may refuse to serve with him.