JORGE EDWARDS
123
to secure the app li ca ti on onl y o f those parts of the Pacts tha t were in its
own interests.
Readi ng the recent edi torials in
Mundo Obrero,
Ihe Communi st
week ly tha t has o nl y recentl y begun publishing openl y, one di scovers
that th e ma in po liti ca l concern o f the Spani sh Communist Party seems
to be the impl ementa ti on o f the Pacts of La Moncl oa.
Mundo Obrero
often accuses the government o f delay ing the appli ca tion o f the more
progress ive measures contemp la ted in th e Pacts. But these editoria ls
also accuse the Sociali sts of no t ta king the agreement seri ously. T his is
another stage in the difficult democra ti za ti on of Spain , a p rocess tha t hs
required a t every step a rea ffirma ti on of the genera l consensus in favor
of democracy.
T he mu n icipa l electi o ns, whi ch could take p lace between Ma rch
and Jun e 1978, wi ll con stitute the next decisive phase in th is p rocess.
The evo luti on of the economi c cri sis, and of the dil emmas tha t face
both the oppos iti on and the government , and the internal situa ti on of
PSOE (the Socia li st Wo rkers' Pa rty), deepl v di sturbed a t the moment
by the cr isis in Po rtugese soc ia li sm, will all affect the success of the
modera tes. wheth er ri ght or left -w in g. T hese factors will also affect the
voting of the mo re impa ti ent sectors of Spani sh sociali sm and the
extreme Left as they will the vo tes of those who a re nos ta lgic for the
Franco regime.
- Tran slated from th e Spanish
by Virginia
-'
arret
