In Italy, Romano Prodi's governing coalition was brought down following a vote in the Italian parliament in late February.
Rifondazione Comunista senator and Fourth
supporter Franco Turigliatto abstained in a vote to continue funding Italian troops in Afghanistan. According to the rules of Italian Senate an abstention is counted as a vote against.
Turigliatto's stance was welcomed by thousands of activists in the antiwar movement in Italy and internationally, including many members of Rifondazione.
After all Rifondazione had long supported the anti-globalisation movement, most notably on the streets of Genoa, and been central to the construction of an extremely combative anti-war movement in Italy.
But turning their back on the historical positions of the party, the leadership announced that Turigliatto's vote was incompatible with his continued membership and expelled him.
Rifondazione Comunista has made a sharp turn to the right so that in can stay in Romano Prodi's governing coalition. The party voted to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan. It also supported the expansion of the United States military base in Vicenza a few days after thousands of its members had participated in large demonstration against the same base.
Party leader Bertinotti has indicated that he will support
series of government reforms of the welfare and pension system. The finance minister says he wants new arrangements that will encourage insecure, flexible working and he wants to raise the age at which workers receive their pension. The Berlusconi government had backed off from similar neo"communist refoundation" liberal reforms.
At the heart of the opposition to this move to the right were supporters of Sinistra Critica, in particular Franco Turigliatto.
Sinistra Critica describe themselves as association of those "who want to create an alternative and anti-capitalist left for the radical transformation of society" and explain on their website that many of them have held key positions both in Rifondazione Comunista and in the mass The Critical Left association must demonstrate that it is possible to build another movements.
They supported a break with the Prodi government and engaging actively with the struggles and social movements. Many, but by no means all of them, are supporters of the Italian Fourth International group Bandiera Rossa.
Turigliatto controversially voted to allow the government to fund the Italian intervention in Afghanistan a few months ago. He made it clear, however, that if the troops were not withdrawn he would not support the funding for them next time it came up.
According to the rules of the Italian Parliament and Senate war credits have to be re-endorsed every six months.
When Prodi put the issue of funding the troops in Afghanistan on this occasion it was against a context of long planned and SLESSEVE mobilizations against the expansion of the America base in Vicenza. This made a decision not to support the administration more comprehensible both inside and outside the party.
For reason that have not been made clear, Turigliatto ", one that does not abandon its anti-capitalist vocation. has declared that he intends to resign as a senator. This looks like a tactical error since the Senate gives a useful platform for his politics.
Following a conference at the end of January of more than 400 supporters, Sinistra Critica agreed to found their own association while not splitting with Rifondazione.
They intend to oppose the right-leaning decisions of the last congress by taking part in the struggles of the social movements and building links with the international ant-capitalist movement. In effect they are proposing building class struggle opposition to neo-liberalism. Turigliatto
Flavia D'Angeli from Bandiera Rossa explained it like this: The Critical Left association wants to be an instrument for autonomous political initiatives. In the coming period it must demonstrate that it is possible to build another "communist refoundation", one that does not abandon its anti-capitalist vocation.
As was said in the debate, "the present line of the PRC is only justified to the militants by the lack of an alternative and the spectre of the return of Berlusconi. It is up to us to demonstrate, with our forces which are not enormous, that such an alternative can exist!"
Such a project will quickly bring them into conflict with Rifondazione Comunista's leadership, a leadership which increasingly sees its role as being to "limit the damage" of the Prodi government.
In a public statement they say that they will disobey "actively and en masse...by not following the line of unconditional support to the government but practising another, the social opposition line."
Rifondazione Comunista's current development is a big setback for the European anti-capitalist left. Sinistra Critica may be expelled as a current. It acknowledges that it is about to enter into a very difficult period in which the class struggle left in Italy will have to be reconstituted.
But from the wreckage of Rifondazione Comunista has emerged a group of socialists who remain committed to what they describe as "anticapitalist, feminist, environmentalist, anti-racist, internationalist and revolutionary politics". From an open letter to those who supported me Franco Turigliatto, Rome February 27 "The twelve points presented by Prodi are the approval of a neoliberal turn, and a clear desire to affirm a policy of sacritices and multilateral war.
The purpose of the attacks directed at me, the scarecrow of the return of Berlusconi to the government brandished by my accusers, were precisely to hide this simple reality: the balance sheet of the Prodi government during the last few months is very negative, and what is likely to come will be even worse.
This judgement, obviously, is not shared by my party, which on the contrary strongly supports the new government"
"Because I respected my convictions and my links with the movement, I apparently betrayed my commitment to my party and forced the government to resign. I do not think 1 am so important, that I had such a fundamental role...
"For my part, I can only continue what I have said and done in these last days. If the Senate rejects my resignation, and thus as long as I will be in the Senate, I will vote against the war, because not to war and the relationship with the labour movement are the guiding force of my political action: they have always been the alpha and the omega of a class and anticapitalist perspective.
To read the full text and more on the Italian situation go to
http://www.internationalvie wpoint.org
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