25.04.2008
April 21, 2008 (the date of publication in Russian)
Ruslan Kostyuk
THE FAILURE OF "KOMSOMOL VETERAN" VELTRONI
Attempts to imitate British "new Labourists" has driven continental leftists into a deadlock
The results of the recent parliamentary elections in Italy, not the smallest country of the "Old World", are significant for the whole of the continental Europe. On the one hand, Italy is going to acquire one of the utmost rightist governments in the EU; on the other hand, this shift is favorable for the Euroatlanticist vector in the European community. The Apennine elections demonstrate that the right-centrist political tendency dominates in today's Europe. Berlusconi's success reflects the general weakness of European leftist parties.
Only one third of EU countries, nine of 27, are presently ruled by leftist governments, while in late 1990s, the proportion was reverse.
The political fiasco of Italian leftists is unprecedented. For the first time in postwar history, neither Socialists nor Communists will be represented in the Parliament. The coalition of leftist parties, entitled ambiguously "Leftist Rainbow", failed to gain the necessary 4% to pass the barrier, though as recently as in 2006 a smaller coalition of the Communists and the Green Party garnered 10%. In fact, the European leftist parties were washed away with the rightist wave that repeatedly elevated Silvio Berlusconi to the Premier's position.
The 30% result of the major opposition force, the Democratic Party, allows its representatives to enter the Parliament, but its role in decision-making will be low-key. Assembling his coalition from former career Communists and Christian Democrats, DP leader Walter Veltroni had emphatically identified himself as 'a reformist and not a leftist". In his public statements, he more frequently referred to Kennedy, Clinton and Blair than to the founding fathers of Italian Socialism. At the same time, he deliberately tried to reduce the potential of traditional leftist parties, featuring himself as the only alternative to "populist Berlusconi".
This chameleonic performance of Mr. Veltroni, once a top figure in ICP youth organization and editor-in-chief of Unita daily, did not gain him more popularity. At the same time, the moderate leftist DP failed to propose new ideas and initiatives to the society. Lack of ideas is typical today for leftist parties of Europe generally, both in the south and the north of the continent.
The picture is the same everywhere: the leftist political establishment alienates itself from the trade union movement, fails to attract youth, and loses its mass media potential. Meanwhile, their political agenda in domestic policies is far from original. Generally, it is trying to follow the guidelines of Tony Blair's "third way" of social liberalism. Meanwhile, Blair owed his success rather to his personal image than to his views.
Social liberals have favored primaries and "mediatization" of public policy. However, the practice of this change unexpectedly brought success to their opponents, particularly Sarkozy and Berlusconi, who proved to be more individual, more capable of proposing new ideas, and thus more convincing.
Are the European leftists able to find a way out of their crisis? Much depends on the situation in the Party of European Socialists, currently dominated by rightist social democrats. A prominent French political scientist recently indicated that the triumph of Blairism in the United Kingdom greatly benefited the British but turned catastrophic implications for the continental leftists. This judgment, made public several years ago, was repeatedly confirmed in Rome.
Blairism, as a workable political model, was obviously acceptable for Great Britain. But what is good for a Brit is not necessarily preferable for a French or Italian.
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