Nearer the Historic Compromise

Was it a step toward the "historic compromise" that Italy's Communists have long dreamed of--a coalition government that could lead to all-out Communist control? Or was it merely a temporary liaison--a "seaside compromise," as some Italians were calling it?

After 14 weeks and 61 formal sessions, the country's major parties had reached an agreement for a common program to reinforce Premier Giulio Andreotti's minority government. The Christian Democrats were relieved to have their tenuous hold on power strengthened, and the Communists were pleased because the deal gave them a formal voice in government policy for the first time in 30 years.

For the moment at least, the agreement appeared to resolve the curious impasse under which Andreotti has governed since last year's election. The Christian Democrats won 39% of the vote and 263 of the 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (v. 34% and 228 seats for the Communists), and were unable to put together a majority coalition. Ever since, Andreotti has governed with the tacit support of the Communists and other major parties, who have consistently abstained on confidence votes. But this spring both the Communists and the Socialists (10% of the popular vote and 57 seats) demanded a more direct voice in government policy.

The Communists and Socialists first demanded a whole new governing majority. In the end they settled for a series of agreements with the Christian Democrats on specific points of policy:

>To combat rising crime the Communists agreed to extend the powers of the police to interrogate suspects and detain them without charges for 48 hours.

>To fight inflation (now running at 19%) and meet the terms of a big I.M.F. loan, the parties agreed to curb spending and freeze government hiring.

>To help bail out deficit-ridden municipal governments, many of which are run by the Communists and Socialists, the Christian Democrats agreed to support a package of new local taxes.

Both sides faced risks. By helping the Andreotti regime stay in power, the Communists risked antagonizing their own left wing, not to mention the extreme left splinter groups (including many students). The Christian Democrats, who had always vowed not to form a partnership with the Communists, could alienate some support if they seemed now to be reneging on that promise. But Andreotti said he thought the agreement "refutes the theory that Italy is ungovernable." Communist Leader Enrico Berlinguer called it "a forward step" that gave the country a badly needed "breath of relief."

Washington and many of Italy's other Western allies feared that the deal might amount to a psychological breakthrough for the Italian Communists. But for the moment the U.S. seemed prepared to accept the conventional view that the agreement was a successful tradeoff. "Each side," observed one Italian Cabinet official, "allowed the other to save face, knowing that in politics it is a mistake to over-win."

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