FLARES IN ITALIAN CP OVER AMENDODA ARTICLE -
By Sirio DL Giuliomaria oe
‘Three topics have been uppermost in the Italian workers!. movement in recent months:
(1) ‘The municipal and provincial elections.
- (2) A discussion kicked off by an article written by Giorgio Amendola of the PCI [Italian Communist party].
(3) .The demonstrations touched off by Tshombe's visit to
Blections we The provincial elections, held November 22,. registered a slight improvement in the position of the PCI in comparison with the 1963 elections (from 25.7% of the: vote to 26,0%).. The PSIUpP [Italfan Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity] obtained 2.9% of the votes, This was:considered good for the: new party that “split oft from the PSI (Ttalian Socialist party].
: The PSI dropped. from-14, ad to ll. Bde ‘The. PSDI ; [rbelian Social Democratic party] rose a shade from 6.4% to 6.6%. The PRI (Republican party) vote also changed but slightly, from 1.3% to 1.2%. The DC (Christian Democrats) dropped from 38,5% to 37.4%. (We have presented the data for the provincial rather than municipal tors.) since the former. are less influenced by- purely local fac~ tors. a a ;
~The PCI made some: rather. significant gains: in the Nhed regions" (Emilia and Tuscany), in some big cities like Rome, and-in-the-:out-.. skirts of the big cities in the north. However, in the south the:.>> POL lost votes to the PSIUP and the PSI, paying in this way for its previous policy of collaborating with sectors of the bourgeoisie, Discussion on a "United Party"
‘A discussion on the possibilities for a united party of the -working class in Italy has been fostered for Some time by Rinase lta,” the PCI's weekly theoretical magazine. PCI, “PSIUP and Pst ‘leaders ~ have participated in this,. ~. The discussion took a sharp turn, with an immediate rise in interest in wide sectors, when, in reply to a letter: by Noberto | Bobbio (a Turin University professor of Social Democratic inclina~: :: tion),. Giorgio Amendola, a member. of the National: Secretariat of. the PCI, published an article in the November 28 issue. wane,
A united party of Italy's working class, Amendola : ‘said, should
be a new. party, capable of elaborating a new policy and strategy .in. the. struggle for socialism in Italy. "Neither of the two solutions placed before the working class of the capitalist countries of Western Europe during the past 50.years, the Sodial Democratic solution ; and the Communist solution, have so far proved valid for carrying. ‘out a socialist transformation of society, a change in the system, _ If one does not start by. acknowledging. this -- which is.a criticism: and self-criticism at one and the same,,time' -- he. cannot understand the need for a radical turn which may help to overcome the causes which, during the past 50 years, have prevented.the working-class movement of the advanced capitalist countries” from offering a deci~ sive contribution to the advance ‘of. sooielisn ; ,in the. world."
Amendola declared that it remains, bo. be geen’ ‘whether | the. “Pao tors that caused the splits in the working-class. movement are still. valid and whether new conditions have materialized which may make possible a regrouping of the leftist forces in Ttaly.
“ In Italy," he said, "the reunification. -cannot be achieved on either the Social Democratic or Communist positions. This cannot be done, owing to the relationship of forces, and. it should not be Gone, if we want to build a new party." [Emphasis in.original,
4 The. new party,, according to the Communist leader, should be the party of the Italian, road. to socialism, a party. where all ten= dencies could find free expression, regardless of their philosophies. "The Communists," he hastened. to assure his comrades, "will, of course, continue their Marxist struggle within, the united party, An a Permanent democratic debate. of. their ideas. w Bagh
‘The article touched oft. an immediate row in ‘the POI. It spread through the rank and file, indignation. being voiced in: many sectors, Amendola's: article points toward a two-party system like | the one in Britain, and is a step backward from the official position of the PCI in favor of a plurality of parties. It calls in question the 1921 split out of which the PCI.was: born, . Amendola's talk about the "failure of Communism" sounds like..the Social Demo-. cratic attacks,. although the Social Democrats, of: course ,. equate. Communism and Stalinism, ve es
... These. and similar ‘eriticisms were. levelled against Amendola by rank-and-file militants, Meanwhile Rinascita published two .° articles attacking Amendola's views. The official organ of the PSIUP expressed disagreement. Lelio Basso, the PSIUP leader, returned offiglally to the political scene, after a long illness, by participating in a public debate onthe subject. At the debate, which was attended by about 400 Socialist and Communist militants, a speech by Livio Maitan, the well-known Italian Trotskyist leader, received heavy: applause. .
Since the: “political requisites for a united party do not exist, the issue is not a concrete one. ‘Thus the immediate effect of Amen-
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dolats article was to open a tendency fight inside the PCI on a problem deeply felt by all sectors of the party. Even top bureaucrats, concerned, about the interests of the apparatus, came out against Amendolats positions, The reactions from the ranks in the form of motions and.declarations, while slower are no less important. It is expected that a big debate will develop around the problem in the coming months. Amendola and his supporters (mainly. the federa~. tions of.the "red regions") are in for trouble. oe vad Begs in ‘the Shell for pshombe
In his so-called "testament, " Togliatti talked about the need to oppose the Chinese positions through a concrete policy towards — the "Third World." Since then, the PCI has faced the problem of showing that something more than words was meant. Opportunz ty knocked when Tshombe visited. Rome on December 10...
The situation was unusually hot for the POL leaders, because. three other factors were involved:
(1) Big pressure from the ranks, especially ‘the Communist. Yoyth~ ‘of Rome ,_ to. turn to action. . :
(2) The possibility of exploiting the event to embarrass ‘the Socialists, who are Participating in a. poalition, government» ; whee (3) Anger among the demonstrators owing. to the extreme : violence of. the police... (It seems that the police went: beyond the instructions. of. the Minister of Interior himself, thus. acting as a class" force manipulated by. political forces. outside the government, )
On December 10 and 11, hundreds of young Communist militants demonstrated,in the streets of Rome against the "Quisling," as they call Tshombe...
“Hundreds of plainclothesmen mingled with the demonstrators, savagely beating them, Many were arrested (but most of them were released the same day). Even some, Communist members of parliament were beaten and arrested, This met with violent denunciation in parliament, Communist and PSIUP members sharply attacking the government. Similar demonstrations took place in many other cities
While this was gotng on, high-school students were demonstrating in.Naples over problems connected with school. The police again moved in'with a brutality such as has not been seen since the new Center=Left government took office. Dos
‘on December ll, while on his way to visit the Minister. ot manaiey in Rome, Tshombe got the right reception. A Commy ist girl, Laura Gonsalez, let fly with three eggs for the "quis ing." She was arrested at once and ‘booked.
On Sunday, December 15, at a mass meeting in the theater of Rome, she was enthusiastically called up to the rostrum and: given a seat.
At this meeting another ynusual incident occurred, ~Alicata, the official PCI speaker (he is a member of the national secretariat and editor of the daily party paper L'Unita) said that the Sootalist leaders should not be attacked too sharply.
He was interrupted by hostile shouts of "Down with the united party}! a
Alicata responded by saying, "You see, we do not always tell you pleasant things; sometimes we are even compelled to tell you unpleasant things!"
TORONTO TROPSKYISTS IN MUNTCTPAL