Professor Fanfani's Experiment
Our Rome Correspondent Writes:
Professor Amintore Fanfani's formation of a new Christian Democratic Government means a critical experiment in imposing some sort of movement on the dangerously immobile hulk of democracy in Italy. In practice no real Government has been possible for a year. The fall of Signor Pella's ' care- taker ' cabinet was hastened when a series of local election results confirmed the continuing increase in Communist strength. At this point the Christian Democrats split into at least five distinct groups, the biggest of which was that called Iniziativa Democratica, headed by Professor Fanfani. It was this group which deliberately caused the fall of Signor Pella by blocking his attempt to cement his parliamentary alliance with the Monarchists. Professor Fanfani's acceptance of the premiership showed him prepared to accept full responsibility for this action. He won the tacit support of Signor de Gasperi and the other chief office-holders of the party, but the powerful Catholic Action movement, and even the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, lost no time in showing that they would have preferred a premier who would engage in no risks. The Pope himself declared (in his Christmas Eve address): " The Christian statesman does not serve the cause of national. or international peace when he . . . transforms himself, as it were, into a divinely inspired herald of a new social order, helping to confuse even more minds that are already uncertain." The delicate balance of forces in the Christian Democratic party and in Parliament are likely to restrain Professor Fanfani from venturing beyond the bounds of safety set by the Pope.
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