A Bad First Day

CARLO AZEGLIO CIAMPI, ITALY'S NEW PRIME MINister, hit the ground running last week -- and almost stayed there. Hours after swearing in his Cabinet, Ciampi faced his first crisis. The lower house of Parliament voted in a secret ballot to let former Prime Minister Bettino Craxi avoid trial on four of the most serious of six charges of corruption and election-law violations. The votes came either from his old cronies or from opposition legislators who want to force new elections. Thousands of people took to the streets in Rome, Milan, Genoa and other cities to protest that cowardly display of cynicism. Ciampi, 72, who has no party affiliation and who is an ex- Governor of the Bank of Italy, vowed to soldier on.