The Stangata Dilemma

Like firemen dashing to douse a blaze, dozens of Italian Communist Party leaders have been fanning throughout Italy to calm rising discontent among the party's rank and file. For a long time, it seemed nothing could go wrong for the tightly disciplined, well-organized P.C.I., as it racked up increasingly impressive results in one election after another. But so many Communists in recent weeks have openly displayed skepticism or outright disapproval of their party's policies that the P.C.I, leadership faces its most serious internal problem in years.

At issue is the decision of Party Secretary Enrico Berlinguer to assure survival of Premier Giulio Andreotti's minority Christian Democratic government by a sophisticated tactic of "non-opposition" in the Chamber of Deputies. Berlinguer has had the P.C.I. Deputies (227 of 630) and Senators (116 of 315) abstain on key votes, thus lending implicit Communist support to unpopular government programs, including the stangata (sting)--the tough austerity measures that, among other things, have hiked the price of gasoline by 25% (bringing it to $2.25 a gal. for super) and increased postal, electric and telephone rates. Communist leaders argue that giving passive support to Andreotti is an important step toward the party's goal of participating officially with the Christian Democrats in the government, the historic compromise.

Militant Action. Bewildered and sometimes even angry, an increasing number of Communists argue that they did not vote Communist in order to prop up the hated Christian Democrats. What most worries party leaders is militant action beyond their control--the scores of brief, unauthorized strikes and protests that have been taking place across the country. This discord reached even into the highest echelons of the party. At the mid-October session of the central committee, the frail, 76-year-old Luigi Longo, who was Berlinguer's predecessor as party boss, challenged the tactic of non-opposition because it put "the interests of the party in second place [merely] in order to show our national responsibility." He was countered by Giorgio Amendola, 69, a noted historian and essayist, who emphasized that Italy's current crisis (17% inflation, a $20 billion budget deficit and $16 billion in foreign debts) required the party to put the national interest and the fight against inflation ahead of anything else.

It was up to Berlinguer to find a tolerable compromise. He stressed that the P.C.I, had to prove that it could act responsibly. He added, however, that his tacit support of the government would continue only as long as the stangata 's sacrifices were accompanied by basic economic reforms that would significantly alter Italian society. Said he: "There cannot be an austerity policy to return to things as they were." To no one's surprise, the central committee formally endorsed the Berlinguer line and, in accordance with the Leninist dictum of "democratic centralism," formally closed ranks. It also ordered up the current grass-roots "popularization" campaign to win support for austerity and the party line. As a consequence, rank-and-file comrades across the country have been heatedly discussing the issue with representatives from the party's central headquarters.

The P.C.I, faces the dilemma of a powerful Communist movement that is neither in opposition nor inside the government. On the one hand, if Berlinguer demands that Andreotti remove too much of the sting from austerity, the country's economy could collapse. On the other hand, if Berlinguer becomes too accommodating toward the government, discontent will multiply within P.C.I, ranks.

Tempted as they might be to savor the spectacle of open dissent within Communist ranks, the Christian Democrats and other parties are not congratulating themselves. They know that if the Communists cannot put across austerity measures to the workers, nobody can. For their part, the Communist leaders are unlikely to change tactics, despite the unrest. To start voting against the Christian Democrats on key issues would only guarantee the collapse of the government and could lead to another national election. Much of the electorate could blame the Communists for adding a political crisis to the economic one. Instead, Berlinguer hopes to intensify his demands that the party be given a more direct and visible role in making national policy. This might help resolve the stangata dilemma by demonstrating to skeptical party members that they in fact are gradually winning the political power they seek.

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