ABSTRACT: With only a little more than a month before the decisive vote in Parliament on divorce, the Naples Congress in November presents two different and contradictory faces. On the one hand it is the congress of the party that more than any other had fought for this great civil reform, a minority party that was in essence victorious in achieving a goal of general interest; on the other hand, the insignificant numbers of its participants shows how scarce was its following even among active Radicals.

Nevertheless the Congress indicates new objectives that in the following years, and even only months, would erupt and impose themselves on the attention of the political forces and public opinion: women's "liberation" and the "legalisation" of abortion.

Taking part in the Congress as a federated movement of the Radical Party was the Movement for Women's Liberation that had brought up the women's issue in a new and disturbing way from the time of its first congress last January.

The Congress elects Roberto Cicciomessere as secretary and Marco Pannella as Treasurer.

("The Battles, the Victories and the Proposals of the Radicals as Seen in the Documents of Their Congresses and Their Statutes" - November 1985 - Edited by Maurizio Griffo - Pamphlet Published by the Treasury of the Radical Party)

GENERAL MOTION

The VIIIth National Congress of the Radical Party held in Naples on November 1,2,3, 1970, with the participation of Radicals and non-Radicals, federated groups, the LID, the ARLI, the republican youth and the liberal left, after ample discussion on the political significance of the federation and the continuing scarcity in the party of means of communication, information and the press,

notes that the analyses and the essential objectives defined in the motions approved by the Congresses of Ravenna and Milan have been fully justified and strengthened by developments in the political struggle in Italy;

determines, therefore, to consider them as current indications for the whole party;

notes that the not-yet-ended battle for the approvation of the Fortuna-Basilini-Basso-Spaniel Bill and the necessity for asserting and defending the the lay character of the fundamental civil rights to be guaranteed to the country, still involve the responsibility of the Radical Party and even more so after the recent events in Parliament;

notes as well the ever more urgent need for a concrete political mass action to acquire essential civil rights such as those regarding the liberation of women and of society, and, in particular, the liberalisation of contraceptive devices and the legalisation of abortion. This battle must be based on a strict, active collaboration between the party's statutory organs and the federated movement for the liberation of women.

The Congress indicates the following objectives to be achieved in 1971:

1) continue organising the referendum to abrogate the Concordat and extend it above all towards the field of work, offices, factories, the countryside and the schools, getting political commitments from the lay and democratic unions and soliciting the action of those individuals and groups of believers who intend to fight against clerical abuse of the religious conscience;

2) promote disagreement with the February 11 holiday and its abrogation as well as the rejection of religious instruction in the schools, both of which are issues and ways for a united fight against the Concordat;

3) strengthen the party's anti-militarist commitment:

a) by sponsoring the 5th Anti-militarist March and considering the possible transfer of the event from its traditional Milan-Vicenza route to Sardinia in particular to accommodate the needs of the Sardinian Radical groups fight against authoritarianism;

b) by convening the 3rd Anti-militarist Congress;

c) by assuring the connection of the Radical Party's anti-militarist activities with their corresponding international and foreign organisations;

4) by imposing in the chambers of Parliament a discussion of the bill on conscientious objectors and introducing the clearly anti-militarist amendment that sanctions the detraction of expenses for civilian service from the Defence Ministry's budget;

5) by assuring the publication of a white book on military structures and the colonialist actions that characterise the Sardinian situation;

6) by organising precise tools of action together with political groups outside the party such as the LID, the ARLI, the Liberal Left, the FGR and the libertarian groups that have further indicated their desire to fight along with the Radical Party during the VIIIth Congress.