Italy: Racism and fascism
01 January 1991
Italy: Racism and fascism
artdoc July=1994
Five million votes for neo-fascists propel Forza Italia to power
Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia, which includes the
fascist National Alliance (formerly MSI) and the far-Right
Northern League, swept to a convincing victory in ItalyØs general
election in March. Forza Italia, which had been in existence for
just 3 months, is now the biggest party in Italy, polling more
than 8 million votes. In the section of the ballot to which
proportional representation was applied, and in which voting was
for parties rather than alliances, the MSI more than doubled its
vote, with 5 million Italians (one in seven) backing Mussolini's
heirs. The Northern League's share of the vote, on the other
hand, fell from 8.7 to 8.4 per cent. Nevertheless, a previous
deal with Berlusconi will probably secure them 100 deputies in
the new chamber. Meanwhile, the separatist South Tyrol People's
Party (SVP) won 3 places in the lower house.
The picture of Italy as a whole is of a solidly right-wing
north, a left-wing bastion in the centre, and a bitterly divided
south (Guardian 30,31.3.94).
Issues in the election campaign: Berlusconi and the media
As the election campaign kicked off, Berlusconi TV networks were
showing an average of 30 Forza Italia advertisements a day,
leading eventually to a showdown with the state broadcaster RAI
and Berlusconi's holding company, Fininvest. An agreement was
then reached whereby Berlusconi's tv channels would provide a
fair allocation of air-time to all the main parties. Berlusconi's
media empire includes the national daily newspaper Il Giornale
and 3 of Italy's 12 television channels which together have more
than 40 per cent of the nationwide audience. He also owns Italy's
biggest publisher, Mondadori, which accounts for a third of
magazine sales and a quarter of book sales, and the country's
leading cinema chain. Il Giornale's editor, Indro Montanelli,
left to form his own paper after a dispute over the direction the
paper was taking. Berlusconi's attendance at an editorial
meeting, it is rumoured, proved the final straw (Guardian
18.3.94).
Forza Italia, freemasonry mafia links alleged
The Digos, Italy's Special Branch, on the instructions of the
judiciary in Palmi, Calabria, which is investigating links
between the area's Ndrangheta mafia and masonic groups, raided
the Rome and Milan offices of Forza Italia on 23 March. Documents
seized included lists of the movement's election candidates and
officials. Mr. Berlusconi is said not to be implicated in the
raid, although the investigation is into covert masonic circles
and the P2 lodge of which Mr. Berlusconi is a member (Guardian
24.3.94). In Sicily, where the anti-mafia Network movement was
defeated in the elections, another candidate with connections to
the P2 lodge, Saverio Pacari, was elected (Guardian 31.3.94).
Film director, Franco Zefferelli, who is married to Allessandra
Mussollini's aunt, Sophia Loren, won Catania admist controversy
over his recent outbursts against Arabs and his remarks that `I
have not come across any mafia in this town' (Guardian 30.3.94).
The anti-mafia party `La Rete', which is a member of the left
coalition led by the Democratic Party of the Left, is seeking a
judicial inquiry into alleged mafia contamination of Berlusconi's
Forza Italia supporters' club in Palermo. The PDS leader Achille
Occhetto has accused Berlusconi of attracting the votes of
organised crime in Calabria (Observer 20.3.94).
A number of financial scandals involving the Fininvest holding
company and AC Milan has led to six Fininvest executives being
placed under investigation for irregular financial dealings
(Guardian 16.3.94).
Competition in far-Right ranks
The `Forza Italia' pact forced the Northern League and the
National Alliance into an alliance that neither were easy with.
Advising his supporters to vote for Forza Italia in