Carnival Air Surrounds Coming General Elections in Italy
-WILLIAM F. SUNDERLAND
United Press International
Rome ruPD Romans and
some 32 million of their coun
trymen decide next week in
general elections whether the
government of this Catholic
country keeps veering left or
moves back to center and per
rtarjs hpvnnri
t carnival air surrounds
selections in these parts, and
Shis has been so since the days
"-if the orations of Cicern 2.0011
j cars ago.
i' tin! (ha 1 1 l- ..
ggii&mj t-unipncfiicn electoral
has mnrp BnHnn cnli-li iA
wim linn uui in ureaicr num-
. other Western democracy, in-
has averaged 93 per cent of
'eligible voters since World
War II.
, -. Who are they voting for?
'Range of Parties
2 Parties range from the ex--treme
right Neo-Fascists. ape--jng
the ideals of the late dic
tator Benito Mussolini who
brought this nation to war
time ruin, through various
centrist parties including the
Catholic Christian Democrats,
.lo the disciplined Moscow
Jine Communists who once
nearly pulled this country be
.hind the Iron Curtain.
Martial music mingles in
the streets with the raucous
gsouna oi voices ampiiiiea oy
loudspeakers, adding to the
cacopnuny ui name in uic
n-liii i ,. .u.
from both channels of a state
"owned radio and television.
" Tl-,n 1 (mil . oar . nlrl ,unn.
rinrc nf Rnnip are all hilt hid-
.den by huge temporary bill
boards urging citizens to
. "Vote Communist," "Vote
Christian Democratic," "Vote
Liberal," Vote . . . Vote . . .
Vote . . .
Eligible To Vote
' .. On April 28 and 29 some
.34,292.662 men and women
21 years or older are eligible
to go to 60.472 polling stations
It...... ti, ,..,..1,-,. In ,..,.(
ballots for the Chamber of
Deputies and the Senate.
Their makeup determines the
color of the next government.
It will be Italy's fifth gen
eral election since 1946 and
the first in five years.
- Main issue is the "center
,left" experiment of Chris
tian Democratic Premier Am
aintore FanFani, the diminu-
teacher known as "The Little
Professor," Most of this na
tion's post - war governments
have been either entirely
Christian Democratic or based
on right-wing support.
! But a year ago Fan Fani
i formed a Christian Democrat
; ic government coalition with
! left- of - center Social Demo-
crats and Republicans and
j with the Parliamentary sup
i port of Pietro Nenni's extreme
left Socialists often bedfel-
lows of the Communists.
The immediate price that
: Fanfani had to pay for Nen
i ni's support was nationaliza
I tion of electrical power. And
I many right - wing Italians
claim that Italy will pay and
i pay in further concessions as
I long as the left is vital to
the government coalition.
I Eight Major Parties
! Eight major parties are con
; tending the elections and
' some of those are made up
, of parties within parties.
Largest is the Christian
j Democratic party, Italy's main
i bulwark against Communism.
I Since the Christian Democrats
beat the Communists at the
polls in the crucial 1948 elec
tions, they have been run
ning the government, cither
I alone or at the head of co
! aiitions. These coalitions were
! right wing until the "center
I left" scheme emerged a year
ago. Foreign policy is strong
I ly pro-American, pro-Atlantic
1 Alliance, vigilantly anti-Com-'
munist.
Fanfani. whose government
! ends automatically with the
' elections, is nominal leader of
1 the party. But the party, pow-
er behind him is quiet, 46
' year-old party secretary Aldo
Moro. whose most noticeable
mark in the public eye is
the steak of solid gray that
runs through his otherwise
dark hair. It was Moro who
looked at the signs and gave
Fanfani the go-ahead to form
his "center-left" government
last year.
Second In Size
Second in size and voting
power are the Communists,
the largest Red party in the
Western world. They still
claim a membership of about
1,700,000 despite the loss of
300,000 card - holders after
the 1956 Hungarian revolt.
Since 1046 the Communists
have not been in any govern
ment but have formed the
main opposition.
Leader is gray-haired Pal
miro Togliatti, shrewd war
horse of Italian politics. Now,
70, he has changed from a
fire - breathing revolutionary
to a soft - spoken leader who
& 1 !-. f ! XI
ReV. MRNk i i i i ifi m i
New!
Sensational I
CHANNEL MASTER
Transistorized
RADIO-PHONO COMBO
Plays your records
even while you walk!
even works upside down
has a terrific 6-transistor radio
with Great "Dull-in Dower" jtarW
Ballroom-Size Tone
greater than a I4-trans
istor raaio
stores twelve 45 RPM records
It s the teen rage-ot Europe now here
In America for the, first time. Come see
ind hear tilt SWING-ALONG today.
S .3
seems bent on givmg ih: par
ty a bourgeois image.
The Communists prepared
for this election by carrying
out a purge, or what they
call a "rejuvenation." of the
party to try to make it more
attractive in the public eye.
Lefiwing Socialists
Nenni's leftwing Socialists
rank third in party ratings
in Italy. They were closely
allied with the Communists
after the war in a "unity of
action" pact and ran with
them on a people's front"
ticket in the 1948 elections.
Bui following the Hungari
an re'o!t the Socialists began
to ease away from the Com
munists, although at present
at least 40 per cent of the
rank and file still are con
sidered pro-Communist.
Nenni, a bald, hooked-nosed
man of 72, has a half century
of opposition work behind
him - first to the Fascists and
then to the Christian Demo
crats. His agreement to give
Parliamentary support to the
Fanfani government was a
complete change in policy,
and automatically made him
a key political figure in Italy.
Other major political par
ties and their leaders include:
A Conservative Group
Monarchists A conserva
tive group with most of its
support in the south where
the long - gone monarchy was
once strongest. It has split and
merged several times and has
lost ground regularly. Its only
clear goal is opposition to the
center left. The two leaders
are Alfredo Coveilli and
Achiile Lauro.
Neo-Fascists The extreme
rightwing party which goes
under the name of Italian
Social Movement (MSI) since
Fascism was outlawed in It
aly after the war, led by Ar
turo Michelini, its main pur
pose seems to be to furnish
opposition to just about every
other party.
Social Democrats the
moderate, pro-Western Social
ists, under the leadership of
Gi Seppe Saragat, who broke
away from the Nenni Social
ists in 1947 in protest against
Nenni's tics with the Commu
nists. They have been part
ners in past middle - road
government coalitions and the
current cent - left cabinet,
Saragat. the 64-year-old party
leader is an unpredictable
man of whims and has little
taste for compromise.
Moderate Rightwing Party
Liberals A moderate
rightwing party which claims
that Fanfanms policies are
the "antechamber of Commu
nism." Led by Giovanni Mal
agodi, they are pro-Western
and advocate free enterprise.
Their main support comes
from industrial leaders, al
though they are trying to
build strength in the middle
classes. Republicans Led by Or
onzo Reale, they are the small
est national party represent
ed in parliament. They are
determined supporters of the
center -left and Budget Min
ister Ugo La Malta is a Re
publican, Because of the center - left,
this election has been called
Italy's most important vote
since the crucial showdown
at the polls between the
Christian Democrats and the
Communists in 1948. If the
voters give their approval to
the "opening to the left" it
could chart a new era in
Italian politics.
Predict With Reservations
Political observers are cau
tious but predict, with reser
vations: The Christian Democrats
will lose, if not in representa
tion in the Chamber of Dep
uties and the Senate, at least
in percentage of the vote. The
Communists also probably
will lose, but by a fraction of
a per cent.
Almost certain to record
largest, gains are the Liber
als. More and more the mid
dle - class who up to now
voted Christian Democratic
will turn towards that small
party These voters do not
approve of the "opening to
the left" and the Liberals are
the party that has opened its
doors to them.
The Social Democrats
probably will record a gain,
although not so much as the
Liberals. So will the Nenni
! Socialists. The other parties
will remain about the same.
with a possible small loss
The percentage gain by any
party probably will be at the
expense of the Christian Democrats.
For the Chamber of Depu- ( to its popular vote is used. In Italy, ttwre is not voting Mas for a seven-vear term
ties, the proportional repre- j The Senate is elected under for government leaders. The after consultation with lead
sentation system which gives i a mixed majority - proportion-1 president of the nation cur- ers of all parties calls on
each party a number of seats j al system which gives a slight ; rcntly Antonio Segni who was somebody to form the govern
almost exactly in proportion j bonus to larger groups. j elected by Parliament last merit.
It the man chosen under
takes the tasK then It is up
to Parliament to give vote
of confidence or nip thai new
government In the bud.
Ideal for teenage gifts ... for
birthdays and graduation.
Lay-away a "Swing-Arong" Now!
In the record department at
PURUCKER
MUSIC HOUSE
HI No. Central Phone 773-7538
Applicants for Two
i Posts Interviewed
Central Point - School Dis-
trict 6 board of directors last
: week interviewed applicants
i for the positions of curricu
j lum director and dean of boys.
The curriculum director
I will be resposiblc for selecting
curriculum content, develop
, ment, and design, and will as
i sume genera! supervision over
the instructional program
j from grades 1 through 1 2 in
' School District 6.
j The Dean of boys at Crater
j High is also vice principal and
j will conduct the guidance and
counseling program there,
Bo?rd members will review
iapplici '.ions before deciding.
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19c wash cloths, 6 for 99e
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BOYS REG. 1.98
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2 for $3
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