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PARTISAN REVIEW
Communists and radicals who accused him of being a minimalist
and a social-democrat, those Christian-Democrats who perceived
him as too "socialist," and big entrepreneurs who disliked his egali–
tarian slant - now attacked him for pushing his own career. He
might have made a few more friends recently, by actively backing
the Spadolini coalition , and by biding his time . Chances are that he
will be asked to form the next government (the present one
is
shaky) ,
or that the PSI will continue to gain adherents should the "antici–
pated" elections be necessary .
In any event, much will depend upon what happens under
French socialism. For Craxi , who was summoned back from
Mitterrand's inauguration, is likely to embrace the latter's policies ,
and to learn from his successes and failures . Because not only is Italy
linked to the dollar , but Italians are sensitive to declarations by the
American government, much will depend on the ability of our
officials to refrain from foolish pronouncements. The perseverance
of the prosecutors and the judges in the corruption trials also will be
most crucial. But the real decisions, ultimately , are with the Italian
electorate , with the same people who, in the recent referendum and
in the administrative elections, voted with their conscience and
intelligence . The question , basically , is to what extent a maturing
electorate can eradicate the chaos and corruption at the top which
has been going on for decades.
August 1981
