Departing from the Script

Communist party congresses are usu ally thoroughly predictable, ritualistic affairs, and for a time last week the Twelfth Congress of the Italian party in Bologna observed the punctilios. The valiant North Vietnamese delegation was vigorously applauded, exiles from Greece were sympathetically received, and representatives from 34 other na tions were recognized. But then, for the 1,041 delegates and 4,000 observers in Bologna's overheated sports arena, the ritual ended. Secretary-General Luigi Longo, 68, signaled the change with some curious additions to and omissions from his four-hour keynote speech. He praised, of all people, Pope Paul VI, say ing that he entirely agreed with the Pope's view that too much of the West's economy was based on profit motives rather than social obligation. And Lon go, in the course of 20,000 words, never once "invoked the name of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Greetings from Dubcek. Russia, it be came clear as the meeting progressed, had joined imperialism as a target. It aly's Communist party, the biggest in the West with 1,500,000 members, had protested the August occupation of Czechoslovakia; last week's meeting quickly developed into a forum in which the Russians were reproached anew in some of the most forceful language ever used against them. Longo main tained that "the authority of the Czecho slovak leaders is a precious patrimony for all their people, for all Socialist countries, for all men in the world who believe in socialism and struggle for it." Rumanian Delegate Paul Niculescu-Mizil insisted that the Russians "lacked any justification" for their actions against Czechoslovakia.* Czechoslovak Representative Evzen Erban, delivering a speech that had undergone three new drafts before the Russians finally cleared it, was under a ban not to mention the name of Czechoslovak Leader Alexander Dubcek. But when Erban defied orders and conveyed Dubcek's fraternal greetings, the hall erupted into a 90-sec-ond standing ovation.

Continuous Gain. The Russian invasion, as far as the Italians are concerned, could scarcely have occurred at a worse time. Italian Communists have made steady political progress in 25 years. In the most recent national election last May, the party won 8,500,000 votes, or 26.9% of the total cast. Its bloc of 177 members in the Chamber of Deputies is the second biggest, after the Christian Democrats, and makes it impossible for the Christian Democrats to govern except through a coalition. The coalition--Christian Democrats and Socialists--is increasingly shaky, and the new government of Premier Mariano Rumor is beset by accusations of disintegrating education and welfare programs, widespread unease over the increasing power of government and private corporations, and a general charge that Christian Democrats have lost touch with the people. Even in the midst of "II Boom" of Italy's thriving economy, the Communists continue to increase their popular vote. The party is eager to put together a new coalition of the left; the slogan in Bologna last week was "a political alternative to overcome the crisis." Praise for Pope Paul from Longo was meant for the ears of progressive Catholics who might join such a coalition. The party is also seeking ways, without watering down its power, to give more attention to the new left, the young radicals who are entering Italian politics. One instance of such attention: election to the party's Central Committee at week's end of university student Fabio Mussi, 21, the youngest person ever to sit with that august group. Finally, the attack on Russian actions in Czechoslovakia was meant to show Italian voters that the party is unfettered by strings from Moscow. On that score, Bologna provided a convincing demonstration that doubtless raised fresh hesitancy in Moscow about the wisdom of convening a summit of world Communist parties any time soon.

* The most preposterous counterview of the week was expressed in Sofia, where Todor Pavlov, a member of the Bulgarian Politburo, declared that "the entry into Czechoslovakia by the fraternal Socialist armies saved the peace in Europe," and brazenly proposed that they be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this accomplishment.

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