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SV PAN & CU Police watch as people outside cinema listen to Fanfani's voice over loudspeakers (2 shots)
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CU PAN INTERIOR FROM "Libertas" slogan TO Fanfani speaking from restrum
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SV ZOOM INTO CU Umberto Agnelli listening
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TV Audience applauding PAN TO Fanfani talking and reporters taking notes (2 shots)
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Communist Party leader Enrico Berlinguer has recently declared his party independent of Soviet communism. In a television interview on 5 June, Signor Berlinguer said: "We are still trying to follow a way towards socialism in Italy which fully corresponds to the peculiarities and the characteristics of our country. So this is what makes us independent and gives us the capacity to develop in our own way as a Communist party." The need for a general election in Italy came when the minority Christian Democratic government resigned on 30 April this year. The government lost the support of the Socialists and the Social Democrats.




Initials CL/1825



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: With the Italian general elections little more than a week away (20 June) Christian Democrat Party leader Amintore Fanfani has stepped up his campaign.

SYNOPSIS: The Voice of Senator Fanfani is becoming a familiar sound to Italians as the Christian Democrat leader intensifies his campaign. He's been making as many as six major speeches a day. On Friday (11 June) Signor Fanfani addressed a huge party rally at the Metropolitan Cinema in Rome.

The biggest task facing Signor Fanfani's party is to convince Italians that they've never had it so good. The theme is that there have been some economic setbacks, similar to these in other countries. But the Christian Democrats are pressing the line that the people have had 30 years of liberty which would be endangered by the Communists. The Communists, under the leadership of strongman Enrico Berlinguer, have made big gains in the popularity stakes. In the early days of the campaign political forecasters picked a victory for them - creating the first Communist government in the West. But now opinion is changing.

The Christian Democrats still have the massive support from the industrial sector, in particular from Fiat Corporation President Umberto Agnelli.

While Signor Fanfani continues to shout the praises of his party, the Communists are tempering their campaign. Some of the more moderate members are saying things not heard in past elections, such as their willingness to govern the country together with the Christian Democrats. The Communists have spoken out against any strong links with Moscow saying they are independent and will mould their politics to fit the people. The issue of the withdrawal of NATO bases from Italian soil has been given a low profile. Political observers now say what's more likely than an outright victory is for the Communists to make smaller gains than first thought and the Christian Democrats, on the strength of their platforms of prosperity and freedom, to make smaller losses.