Resurrection of Craxi Government Seen

Prime Minister-designate Bettino Craxi appeared Tuesday to have succeeded in resurrecting the five-party government that collapsed two weeks ago in the wake of the Achille Lauro affair.

Craxi was reported to have won the agreement of all five parties to employ an unprecedented constitutional shortcut that would reinstate his old government, in effect, as if it had not fallen.

Under pressure from President Francesco Cossiga to hasten a resolution of the government crisis in order to get to work on pressing economic legislation, Craxi and the party leaders devised a scheme that will bypass the time-consuming formality of interparty negotiations normally needed to form a new government.

Instead, Craxi will simply retract the resignation he submitted to Cossiga on Oct. 17 and ask Parliament for a vote of confidence to sustain his old coalition of Christian Democrats, Socialists, Republicans, Social Democrats and Liberals.

Constitutional Hedge

Constitutional experts said that although the shortcut has not been attempted before, it is permissible because Cossiga accepted the Craxi government’s resignation with “reserve,” a constitutional hedge meaning it was not considered final until a new government was formed. Thus, withdrawal of the resignation and a vote of confidence would have the technical effect of restoring the old government to life.

Although one coalition partner, the small Liberal Party, voiced reservations, the only outright objection to the plan came from the opposition Communists, who complained that the constitutional shortcut was undemocratic.

“The exhumation of the resigned government appears to be a clear concession of inability to overcome internal contradictions,” said the Communist floor leader in the Senate, Gerardo Chiaramonte.

The government crisis began when Craxi’s minister of defense, Giovanni Spadolini, and two fellow Republicans withdrew from the Cabinet to protest the government’s release of Abul Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization official the United States wanted arrested as the mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking.

Closer Consultation

As the price of the Republicans’ return to the coalition, Spadolini demanded a policy declaration from Craxi promising closer consultation on major decisions such as the Abbas release, a more vigorous anti-terrorist program and a clear restatement of Italy’s foreign policy goals.

At a conference of the five party leaders Tuesday night, Craxi read an 11-page policy document designed to meet Spadolini’s demands. Nonetheless, Spadolini reportedly intends to seek a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the Achille Lauro affair.

After another meeting of the party leaders today, Craxi is expected to meet with Cossiga and seek a parliamentary vote of confidence by next Monday or Tuesday.