PO: THE ITALY OF THE BANKERS IN CRISIS BECAUSE OF A TROTSKYIST CANDIDATE
 | No. 933 |
Jorge Altamira
The impasse of the Italian bourgeoisie could never have been more clearly expressed than in the McCarthyist campaign set up against candidate Marco Ferrando, a historical leader of Asociazione Marxista Rivoluzionaria Progetto Comunista (a member of the Coordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International, the organization Partido Obrero belongs to).
Ferrando had been included at the top of the Rifondazione Comunista senators' slate for next April 9 elections. Ferrando's candidacy has been lately repudiated by most capitalist politicians and dailies, ranging from Italian Prime Minister proto-fascist Berlusconi, Foreign Affairs Minister Gianfranco Fini —a member of the fascist party Alianza Nazionale—, former Prime Minister and former President of the European Union Committee Romano Prodi, and former Stalinist, former Prime Minister and a chieftain of the party Democracia de Sinistra M�ximo D'Alema, to the "highly reputed" dailies, such as Corri�re della Sera, and even the "less reputed" ones. Fausto Bertinotti and the Secretariat of Rifondazione Comunista gave in to these pressures and turned down Ferrando's candidacy, breaking with the tradition of the left wing worldwide. They have given up the appointment of their own representatives to forces hostile to the Italian left-wing. To add insult to injury, the Secretariat of Rifondazione shunned the political debate of such a measure by going over the head of the National Political Party Committee, the statutory body empowered to appoint candidates.
Marco Ferrando's candidacy arose from a decision reached by the majority of Rifondazione, according to which it should grant the possibility of a representation to the minority tendencies. This change of modality is due to sundry circumstances, principally, to the fact that Bertinotti's majority tendency was reduced to 59% of the delegates to the last congress, whereas all the minority tendencies figured in the remaining 41%, 8% of which belonged to AMR Progetto Comunista. Moreover, because of a recent change in the elections regime, Rifondazione has become likely to greatly increase their parliamentary representation, which could not be monopolized by the majority tendency without unleashing internal crisis. This monopoly had already been jeopardized by Bertinotti’s offering of candidacies to external anti-globalization movements. The prodigality of the majority tendency was limited, as it offered 15% of the candidacies to the internal fractions which make up nearly three times that percentage within the party. Although running alone in the coming elections, Rifondazione Comunista belongs to a capitalist coalition named Unione, which boasts strong support from the Italian big bourgeoisie (the consultant Moody's has just reported that the vast majority of Italian businessmen confirmed their support for Unione). Recognizing minority fraction candidacies is tantamount to avowing their right to express themselves at a parliamentary level, i.e., by voting in Parliament according to their positions, at least in questions that are strategic or related to their principles. It would clearly be nonsensical to grant the internal minorities a parliamentary representation just to have them do what they never did out of Parliament, namely, to vote against their programs.
However, the methodological broadness of Rifondazione's majority collapsed as the Italian bourgeoisie forced Fausto Bertinotti to annul Ferrando's candidacy. The procedure employed to achieve this end is a real manual of 'democratic' McCarthyism, even though it is obvious that McCarthyism, that is, selective and constitutional repression, is a feature of 'democracies'.
The campaign was started by the magazine Libero, which quoted Ferrando's statements, dating some years back, on the "historically artificial" character of the state of Israel, in which he also denied the fact that Zionism could be the expression of "a national movement of the Hebrew people". With the "know how" of the Inquisition (or rather, of the secret services), the journalist warns that "in Unione, there is someone who wants the destruction of Israel" (Corri�re, 2/11). The daily Il Corri�re della Sera, the official voice of Italian capitalism, seizes its chance and writes an editorial reporting Bertinotti's "outraged reaction" to Ferrando's declaration, which ends up by saying that: "[It is] a first step to reassert the need to keep these Hamas-like positions away from Parliament." This was the word for Bertinotti to kick out Ferrando, notwithstanding the fact that, one, Ferrando is against Hamas reactionary Islamism; two, Bertinotti has known Ferrando's positions for over two decades (proving that his outrage is nothing but a bluff); three, that all the Berlusconi's throughout the world are eager to negotiate with Hamas (as they have been doing for a long time) now they have won the Palestine Authority legislative elections.
In which sense does this campaign express an Italian political crisis? In a very straightforward one, since the Italian bourgeoisie has strapped onto the back of Unione the burden of doing what Berlusconi was not able to do, but it turns out that Unione is not even able to call itself to order because of the pressure exerted by the popular struggles. The conflict arisen from the construction of a railway to France in Northern Italy has resulted in a picket paramount to Gualeguaychu's, which could not be dismounted by President Ciampi, or Prodi, or any of the former "communists" who now make up the "democrazia de sinistra". Unione's impotence to call the shots in problems like this has led Corri�re to sentence: "Whoever wins these elections, ungovernability is guaranteed" (!!) (editorial, 2/14). The Italian dailies complain everyday about Unione's contradictions when it comes to confronting popular struggles, let alone its ability to stop them. They write editorials every day calling for order and discipline, especially in the ideological arena —government actions—, including, in the first place, the question of the wars and crises Imperialism creates worldwide. To crown it all, the bankers who support Unione are accused of fraud, some of them are even in jail, not only because of their attempt to acquire two banks, BNL and Antonveneta, but also because of dodgy operations involving Telecom, Fiat and Banca Inesa. The attack on Ferrando is the tip of an iceberg which includes all kinds of impositions and repressions aimed at quieting the ranks to develop a capitalist policy, and even taking the felon capitalists out of jail.
Unione's plan to rescue the bourgeoisie involves a thorough deterioration of labor conditions and, primarily, an austerity plan to reduce the colossal Italian public debt, which reaches €110 mn. Short of this reorganization, the Italian state could never get financing for the reconversion of the bankrupt Italian industry. For this purpose, Unione needs both the votes and the support of the left-wing and the trade unions. The imperialist bourgeoisie has already reached a compromise with Bertinotti about all these issues, as is proven by Bertinotti's support for the recent metalworkers' agreement, or for the BBV's takeover of BNL, or even for their international policy, especially regarding the negotiation with the US on Iraq question. "Communist" Bertinotti's reconversion to "non-violence" is the veil behind which he condemns the resistance to imperialism of the oppressed peoples, especially in the Mideast.
The attack on Ferrando continued to gain momentum as, in later interviews, he defended the resistance against the military occupation in Iraq (while criticizing terrorist actions against civilians). The reaction against Ferrando's statements showed Unione in its true colors, since it defended the Italian troops' "peacekeeping" mission in Iraq (on Bush's side), while, all at the same time, in opposition to Berlusconi, condemned the occupation of Iraq and called for an Italian withdrawal. Bertinotti declared that Ferrando's statements were "in-comp-at-i-ble with the party; they are," he went on to say "different strategic choices" (Corri�re, 14/2). Bertinotti's contradictions are close to being cynical, but, above all, they betray his will to capitulate to the extortion of the State apparatus and the mass media by annulling Ferrando's candidacy. Or else, how could he possibly repudiate and reject the Italian military occupation of Iraq while, at the same time, denying legitimacy to the Iraqi resistance to such occupation? Bertinotti's resentment against Ferrando can barely hide his own moral descent. Eventually, when cornered by a journalist who tells him that the whole Rifondazione has been defending the Iraqi resistance, Bertinotti shamefully mumbles that what they call "resistance" is the struggle for women's rights and the elections called by the occupants!! This clearly shows that Bertinotti and the majority of Rifondazione are well aware of the dirty work they are doing to join an imperialist government, as the future government of Unione is bound to be.
The struggle of a small yet fierce Trotskyist organization has exposed the real situation of the Italian State and political parties, like no one or no other methods could have done. The revolutionaries' positions were officially discussed in television last Monday 13, in the program "Matriz", along with those of two "former's": Foreign Affairs Minister Gianfranco Fini —a former fascist—, and former "communist" D'Alema, two real experts in State terrorism. Fini told D'Alema: “Ferrando must be expelled.” “I wonder who called him in” (La Reppublica, 2/13), answered D'Alema. They know this way they will humiliate Rifondazione Comunista and leave it no possibility of recovery whatsoever. Before, D'Alema had denounced that, whereas using phosphorous bombs was "uncivil", the ones who struggle against those who use them are reported to be the murderers. D’Alema, as a Prime Minister, had brought over to Italia the war of the NATO against Yugoslavia.
Has Italia come to the point at which a lifelong raised-arm anti-Semitic fascist imposes his policy on the Italian left wing?
For our part, we say: Bravo compagno Ferrando! �Bravo compagne e compagni de la Asociazione Marxista Rivoluzionaria Progetto Comunista. Voi stati faccendo strada.
