Italy: Shift to the Left

"We shall certainly have some sleepless nights." With these words, Italian Premier Amintore Fanfani last week led his ruling Christian Democratic Party into a new phase of postwar politics. Concluding a five-day congress in Naples' rococo San Carlo opera house, some 2,000 delegates approved the party's apertura a sinistra (TIME, Jan. 12), the long-discussed collaboration with the left-wing Socialists.

Behind the shift was Fanfani's urge to find new parliamentary backing for an ambitious program of social and economic reforms. Despite Italy's vast new prosperity, millions south of Rome still live in desperate poverty. Fanfani wants public-works projects, stricter taxes and more...

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