A Moderate Tendency

It was the first popular test for Italy's new center-left coalition government, which grew out of Premier Amintore Fan-fani's apertura a sinistra (opening to the left) last February. In a heavy turnout, 3,000,000 voters cast ballots in municipal and provincial elections. Result: a sharp defeat for political extremism, both right and left.

In Rome, a fleet of 200 sound trucks blared the strident propaganda of the neo-Fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano (M.S.I.), and in the air relays of planes zoomed over rooftops, trailing the names of M.S.I, candidates. The heirs of Mussolini reportedly spent more than $3,000,000 during the four-week campaign, but when the votes were counted it was clear that the Missini (the nickname derived from the party initials) had misspent their lire. The Fascist share of the total vote rose slightly from 9.7% in 1960 to 10%; a mere 19,000 new M.S.I, voters (new total: 248,000) were recruited at the expensive rate of about $160 per vote.

On the extreme left, the Communists also were drubbed. Minor gains in the booming industrial north failed to compensate for defections in the poor agricultural south, cost the Reds about 1% in the total popular vote. The shift was small but significant: it was the first time since 1948 that the Communist percentage had shrunk.

The biggest gains were scored by the Liberals, a small party (membership: 190,000) with a right-of-center, free-enterprising program which had opposed the apertura a sinistra. The Liberals' strong showing suggested a distrust of the left, a belief that free-enterprise capitalism can do most for Italy's new and growing middle class. Despite this slight pull to the right, Premier Fanfanrs alliance had weathered its first test at the polls. His Christian Democrats' vote dipped a bit, but their coalition partners did well. As Red Boss Palmiro Togliatti complained, the elections reflected an unmistakable "moderate tendency."

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