PCI Congress paves way for new transformations
ITALY
F ORMALLY, the Bologna con-
gress was not called on to decide about the transformation of the party or changing its name. But the delegates did have to decide about the party embarking on a programme of profound reforms (the "foundation phase") that, according to the PCI general secretary, Occhetto, are supposed to lead to the formation of a new alternative political force.
The majority of the delegates (67%), along with the majority of the Central Committee voted for the motion put by Occhetto, while 33% of the delegates voted for the Ingrao-Natta motion and 3% for the one presented by Cossutta.
According to Occhetto, the objective is "to build a force able once again to set in motion a process bringing together the reform currents in Italian society on the basis of a program for social and political renewal designed to redefine the identity of the left on the eve of the year 2,000" and to "reestablish politics on the foundation of distinguishing progress from conservatism on the basis of program and ideals."
The PCI first secretary's report to the congress pointed out that "the process of building the new political formation will advance not through a fusion with other parties but through the contributions of individuals, groups and sections of society that operate in production, in the liberal professions, in the cultural world and in the institutions and want to associate themselves with, and participate in, our foundation process." PCI bids farewell to workers' movement
The conception of the party championed by Occhetto bids farewell to the traditional view of the organization as the party of the workers' movement. According to him, the PCI must transform itself into a sort of progressive party fighting the conservative bloc for the leadership of society with a view towards gradualist reform. Even though there is nothing new about this approach, which was adopted years ago by the PCI, the scope of the change projected should not be underestimated.
In fact, what is proposed today is to "surmount" the traditional approach of the social democratic parties and replace the contest between the parties and organizations of the workers movement and the bourgeois parties and organizations with 12 vati bes. one between "progressives" and "conserInternational Viewpoint #183 • April 23, 1990
IT'S BECOME something of
La tradition. All the congresses of the Italian
Communist Party (PCI), especially since the death of Enrico Berlinguer, have been lauded by Its leaders as major turning points. But for once, It has to be acknowledged that the PCI's Nineteenth Congress, held in Bologna March 7-10, opened a new chapter in its history. Indeed, what was at stake at the congress was the continuity of the party as it has existed for nearly seventy years.
### LIVIO MAITAN
Such a view goes beyond the traditional policy of collaborating, including on the governmental level, with the bourgeoisie or sections of it. The references to the fundamental role that the workers are to play in the new political formation, which seem to be a concession to the minority tendencies, in no way alter the substance of what is proposed.
Occhetto cannot be unaware of the fact that without the support - especially the electoral backing - of the workers, no "progressive force" is going to get anywhere. But in his eyes this in no way involves a need to reaffirm the political independence of the working class and the struggle that it has to wage for hege-
The very concept of "hegemony" has vanished from the plans of the Communist Party. On the ideological level, the notion of "new politics" involves completing the break from Marxist, or even just materialist, conceptions. In the first place, this leads Occhetto and company systematically ideological themes over social and eco-
Dilution of critique of capitalism
In the second place, this approach is reflected by an extreme dilution of their critique of capitalist society and even of the differences between the various political forces. Occhetto explains that "the problem today is not to oppose Christian anti-democrats and anti-Communists.....It is to unite, for the first time in human history, two great ideals that in our century have remained at loggerheads, the ideal of freedom and that of equality."
To complete the picture, the PCI is going to apply for membership in the Socialist International. Moves toward achieving that objective were made immediately after the congress.
As all of the international press has stressed, Occhetto's project ran into quite strong opposition in the party. For the first time since the 1920s, we have seen the formation of real tendencies clashing not only in the internal debate but also publicly, and which now have proportional representation in the new Central Committee.
The main opposition tendency, led by veteran leader Pietro Ingrao and the former first secretary, Alessandro Natta, has tried to maintain a class-struggle approach and defend the traditional reformist conception, with a, to be sure, very vague perspective of "surmounting" capitalism.
The reporter for this tendency at the congress, Aldo Tortorella, explicitly condemned the majority's tendency to bury any idea of social and political conflict. He criticized the party for being late to take a position toward the mobilization that rocked the Italian universities for two months (see IV 180), and chided the unions for using not very democratic methods. In fact significant sections of the workers have recently rejected platforms proposed by the bureaucrats for the new contract negotiations.
Opposition critical of foreign policy orientation
For their part, both Ingrao and Luciana Castellina (one of the main leaders of the internal opposition) criticized the party's foreign policy orientation, which according to them is not sufficiently different from those of the government.
However, these criticisms are substantially weakened by the fact that the signers of the Ingrao-Natta motion still identify with the conceptions that the PCI has held for decades, both in Togliatti's time and in that of Enrico Berlinguer. In addition, they share the majority group's favorable assessment of the current Soviet leading group. As for the Socialist International, over and above a few criticisms by Luciana Castellina, they do not oppose Occhetto's proposal. They also do not draw any historical balance sheet of that organization or of what it represents today. In this
area also, they remain prisoners of their past. Indeed, at the 1986 congress, they accepted the idea of integrating the PCI into the "European left," or in plain terms into the international social democratic current.
Analogous remarks can be made about the other minority, the one led by Cossutta. He and his associates, making apt criticisms of the approach championed by the majority, have correctly pointed out that the PCI has been in decline for more than ten years. "At bottom, there is a superficial, sugar coated view of reality, an absence of not only a class analysis but even a materialist analysis of the phenomena of our time," Cossutta said in his report. And he added "there is a theory that there are no longer any enemies."
In the trade-union field, Cossutta also advanced correct criticisms, as well as could constitute a basis for unitedfront actions. But, as he has done in congresses, he presented the period of Togliatti and his gradualist reformist strategy in a favorable light and also expressed a favorable assessment of Gorbachev. As for the Socialist International, this third not go beyond a few partial criticisms.
The oppositionists had an easy time pointing out
PANCHO take part in building the new political formation, aside from a few Radical Party members and some small sections of the Greens.
The only ones who have come out for Occhetto's project are some left intellectuals and independents. Before and after the congress, they have started to form clubs and committees for the celebrated "foundation phase," often referring explicitly to the clubs that prepared the way for Mitterrand's "refounding" of the French Socialist Party in the lead up to the Epinay
As Ingrao has noted, "the real target of Occhetto's initiative is the Italian Socialist Party [PSI]." But that party's secretary, Bettino Craxi, has answered by proposing "socialist unity,"2 which seems to imply a "return" of the PCI to the old "common home," while Occhetto, for the moment at least, rejects such a perspective. In fact, he claims to be aiming for a more ambitious objective. He describes this as going "beyond the traditional conflict between and Communist movements," including broader "progressive" forces in his operation.
In the coming months, we will probably see how far this goes beyond a mere conjunctural tactical move. The fact remains that while the PSI leaders are showing signs of greater flexibility than in the past, they are by no means ready to clear the path for Occhetto.
Finally, over and above the vicissitudes of the process that is supposed to lead to the celebrated new foundation, what will be the nature and dynamic of the new political formation, if it really sees the light of day? The intentions of the PCI's new leading group have to be distinguished from the party's real political practice. If this new foundation really gives rise to a fundamentally new political formation, of which the PCI would only be one component, albeit the largest one, that would mean the emergence of a "progressive" party with a qualitatively different configuration from the traditional outlines of an organization of the workers' movement. In my opinion, that is an unlikely variant.
If, on the other hand, the new formation is essentially a new incarnation of the PCI, with traditional liberal-social or liberal-democratic features, with a more fluid and more eclectic political profile, it will play a role similar to that of the social democratic parties in other countries of capitalist Europe. Its strength will still lie in the electoral support of wage earners and in the influence it retains, more or less directly, in the trade-union
In conclusion, whatever happens,
ITALY Occhetto's operation will encounter serious obstacles, not to say very knotty con-
On paper, it is easy to be ecumenical and to propose big openings. In practice, things do not happen like that. For example, a few weeks before its congress, the PCI found itself in a awkward position with respect to the student movement. But one of that movement's main objectives was the withdrawal of a law that the party had not fought.
The rectification that the PCI carried out at its congress, lining up partially with the student movement, immediately created tensions with intellectuals and professors favorable to the "new foundation," and the crisis did not spare the "shadow cabinet." 3 In the trade-union field, the PCI claimed in its documents to be in favor of democracy, but its members include the choicest specimens of the and more turning thumbs down on. On the other hand, the party wants to win the sympathy of the peace activists, and given impetus to the anti-war mobilizations. Some major federations even adopted proposals for Italy's withdrawal from NATO. Concerned about its respectable international image, however, the party rejected all the points that went in that direc-
Secondly, even if the role the "new" CP plays in practice may depart from its ideonot fail to have consequences. In fact, the damage wrought will be still graver than in the past, setting back the political consciousness of broad sections of the working class and thereby creating additional obstacles on the road for rebuilding the Italian workers' movement on revolutionary bases. * 1. See International Viewpoint, No. 163, May 15, 1989. 2. In reality, the "socialist unity" perspective is undoubtedly shared by some supporters of the majority tendency. 3. About a year ago, the PCI formed a "shadow cabinet," a sort of parallel government presided over by Occhetto himself. The "minister" in this govemment for university questions, a left independent, resigned in protest against the congress's rectification with movemen the govement law fought by the student 13 April 23, 1990 • #183 International Viewpoint
The left in a changing defeat.
At the same time, as a result of the women's groups and other new movements and continuing criticism of the new tax law, the SP was able to make gains and win seats, while Komei and DSP lost seats. Now the LDP is in the minority in the Upper House and in the majority in the Lower House, so there is still a very unstable political situation. The LDP is using the argument that since there is a severe
IN 1989, Japanese politics was marked above all by corruption and sex scandals. On February 18, 1990, in spite of opinion polls which showed it slipping and the rise of the Socialist
Party (JSP), the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled for
35 years, won the legislative elections to the Lower House.