ABSTRACT: In the report which opened the Federal Council, convened in Zagreb from 31 October to 3 November, the Secretary Sergio Stanzani analysed the subjects and the situation of the Radical Party's activity: the adhesions from Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo and ex Yugoslavia and Marco Pannella's fast for the recognition of the Croatian independence; the composition of the Federal Council, which is a demonstration of the party's transnational growth; the Radical Party's budget; the referendum campaign; the editorial project of "The New Party"; the appeal for the abolition of the death penalty throughout the world; the Radical Party in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, ex Yugoslavia.

Friends and comrades,

little more than a month has passed since we met in Rome, where we held the first session of this meeting of the Federal Council.

The first session - in my opinion, and I hope I'm not mistaken - marked an important moment on the difficult and tormented path towards the constitution of the "New Party", the transnational and transdivisional Radical Party.

Its importance was due to the number and the level of people who attended, the relevance to current issues of the subjects discussed, the quality of the speeches and of the debates which were held, the new enrolments in the Party (of extraordinary value and prestige), the directions and the decisions taken, and also - in particular - the contributions made by participants from other countries to the analysis of the situation of the Party and the progress of the political project for 1991, as well as to the evaluation of common perspectives and specific requirements, of initiatives undertaken, and of activities carried out or to be carried out in the future.

NEW MEMBERS FROM SLOVENIA, CROATIA AND KOSOVO, AND THE SITUATION IN THE EX-REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA. THE MOTION APPROVED.

The dramatic events which are still taking place in the territory of what was formerly the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the tragic consequences which the local populations have suffered and are continuing to suffer, and the debate held in the previous session (with the participation of prominent exponents, some of them with responsibilities for Government, from the Republics of Slovenia and Croatia and the autonomous Region of Kosovo) led to the motion approved, as well as to the enrolment in the Party of the Vice-President of the Government of Croatia, Zdravko Tomac, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Slovenia, Zoran Thaler, the Vice-President of the Christian Democrat Party, Abdullah Karjagdiu, and the Vice-President of the Liberal Party of Kosovo, Mirie Rushani. A unique event, and clearly one of great value and significance.

On this occasion, Marco Pannella decided to begin a nonviolent hunger strike for the recognition of the independence of the Republics and the autonomous regions of the ex-Republic of Yugoslavia - requested by the local populations through democratic procedures - and for the establishment throughout the territory, and therefore also in Serbia, of the conditions of democracy and the respect for individual and minority rights.

These conclusions of the Federal Council were followed by the decision to present the motion approved during the meeting in the ambit of the European Parliament and the Community, as well as in the Parliaments of European countries in which members of the Party currently sit, in order to open a debate on our requests and proposals and to work for a favourable reaction towards them and, as far as possible, for their approval.

This pronouncement, and this mobilization of the Party for "the life of rights and the right to life" in the ex-Republic of Yugoslavia, lie behind the decision to hold the second session of the meeting of the Federal Council here in Zagreb, where we had tried to hold the XXXV Party Congress, which then took place in Budapest, in April 1989.

We have therefore gathered here - having come from over 20 countries, not all of them European - at the centre of a part of Europe which duringthe tragic events of recent months has highlighted the extent to which the opportunism of the States and the incapacity of the Community have damaged the process of political unity: a process which remains, with the objective of the United States of Europe outlined by Altiero Spinelli and the institution and development of other seats of international and supernational law, the only effective guarantee against the extensionto other areas, all over the world, of the dangers represented by the violence of "national States" and the aggressive, and at times opportunist, responses of "nationalist claims", with the inevitable disintegration of justice and of the existence of democracy.

We hope that our presence in the capital of Croatia will help, to some extent, to accelerate the decisions and the formal concrete acts which the citizens of this country are waiting for determinedly and anxiously. And at the same time we hope to succeed in our project - together, with the contribution and the force of those citizens, which constitute a further step forward towards the possibility of setting up the "New Party", the Party of all and for all those democrats who believe in the united Europe: the transnational and transdivisional Radical Party.

THE INITIAL OUTLINE OF THE "NEW PARTY"

I have begun this update of the report on the "state of the party", delivered to the Federal Council last month in Rome, by calling attention to the importance which, in my opinion, that session had.

Some of you will perhaps remember that in the second of my two brief speeches during the proceedings I expressed my belief that for the first time the Federal Council discussions were characterized by the active participation of comrades from outside Italy, who influenced the progress of the debate in a direct, concrete manner.

This was evident to such an extent (despite the amount of space devoted to issues concerning the relationship of the Party to the Italian situation, which tended to dominate the attention and the interest of participants from Italy) that the points of view, the observations and the exigencies expressed by comrades from other countries on the subject of the production and the distribution of the first issues of the newspaper, on the realization, the difficulties and the progress of the "political project" for 1991, on the initiative for the abolition of the death penalty and on the activities currently being carried out in the various countries, allowed us to conduct and develop a debate in which the "New Party" began, although still in a rather undefined manner, to assume an initial outline and a certain concrete substance and weight.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL

This substance and weight can be confirmed here and now, it seems to me, by a comparison of the composition of the Federal Council in its last three meetings.

Whilst the number of elected members has not varied since the meeting held in Rome in January 1990 (35 members, 17 Italian and 18 from other countries), the number and the composition of the members by right has altered as follows: 59 in January 1990, 76 in September of this year, and 95 today; of these, 8 were from other countries in January 1990, 23 in September of this year, and 36 now, which means that the proportion of Italians has fallen from 86% to 62%.

As you know, members by right are those members of the Party who have held executive positions in the Party or who are or have been parliamentarians, or who are representatives of recognized Radical Associations.

There are now four non-Italian comrades who are members by right because they have been members of the Party's executive organs. One is a member by right as a representative of the Radical Association of Burkina Faso. Of the remaining 31 non-Italian members by right, two have been members of the European Parliament, one is currently a member of the European Parliament, and 28 are members of legislative assemblies in their own countries (including three who hold Government posts). In 1990, there were only three non-Italian parliamentarians, whilst five non-Italian comrades were members by right of the Federal Council because they had been members of the Party's executive organs.

In January 1990 there were 51 Italian members by right, whilst today there are 59; of these, 4 are representatives of recognized Radical Associations, and 28 are parliamentarians (including one who is a Commissioner of the European Community and one who is a Minister of the Italian Government; the remaining 27 have either been parliamentarians or have been members of the executive organs of the Party. In January 1990, 21 of the 51 Italian members by right were parliamentarians.

At present, therefore, the Federal Council of the Party is composed of 57 parliamentarians - five of whom hold Government posts in their own countries - with a slight prevalence of members from other countries (29) over members from Italy (28). In January 1990, there were a total of 24 parliamentarians, 21 of whom were Italian.

If we consider the total number of Party members - and unfortunately the present total is still 600 fewer than last year's figure - we find that since September there have been only slightly more than 40 new members from Italy, whilst over 160 people from other countries have enrolled. This represents a clear reversal of the previous trend: until a few months ago,in fact, there was a much higher number of new members from Italy than from other countries.

Who are the comrades who are now members of this Federal Council?

The following are members by right who also hold Government posts: in addition to Zdravko Tomac and Zoran Thaler, Vojtech Wagner (Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Czechoslovakian Government); Carlo Ripa di Meana, Socialist (member of the Commission of the European Community, responsible for problems of the environment); Carlo Tognoli, Socialist (Minister for Tourism and the Performing Arts in the Italian Government).

The Federal Council also includes the following: two members of the Soviet Supreme of the Soviet Union, 5 members of the Mossoviet, 2 members of the Soviet Supreme of St Petersburg and one member of the Soviet Supreme of the Ukraine; one member of the Soviet Supreme of Lithuania; 8 members of the Romanian Parliament; one member of the Israeli Knesset; 4 Czechoslovakian parliamentarians; one member of the Croatian Parliament, from Dubrovnik, who joined the Party a few days ago;6 members of the European Parliament; these include the President of the Green Group, Adelaide Aglietta, the Socialist member Enzo Mattina, and the Spanish member Raul Morodo; 23 members of the Italian Parliament; 8 from the Federalist Group of the Chamber of Deputies, 2 from the PDS Group, 3 from the Green Group, one from the Mixed Group, one from the Sardinian Action Party, 4 from the Socialist Group, and 4 from the European Federalist Ecologist Group of the Senate.

Many of the members by right of this Federal Council - which also includes Basile Guissou, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation in Burkina Faso - have been members of Parliament, in Italy and in other countries. The latter include Georges Donnez, from France, and Jorge Pegado Liz, from Spain, former members of the European Parliament.

APPROVAL OF THE PARTY ACCOUNTS

Friends and comrades,

together with the Treasurer, the President of the Party, and the President of the Federal Council, I have decided to submit the accounts of the Party on 30 September 1991 for the discussion and the approval of the Federal Council.

This decision means that I will not deal with the subject of the financial and economic situation of the Party here, in this update of the report.

The subject, as far as is necessary considering the short space of time which has passed since the first session, will be discussed in conjunction with the presentation and the illustration of the final balance by the Treasurer, Paolo Vigevano.

We have also decided, with a formal resolution, that the accounts should be drawn up in consolidated form, also including funds from public financing, in order to comply with the recommendations of the auditors and to remain in line with the real situation which has come about as a result of motions of the Congress and with the content of the reports approved by the Federal Council since 1988.

THE REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN

We have also decided, on this occasion, to turn our attention, as far as possible, to the aspects of the situation of the Party which relate more directly to the countries outside Italy, in order to allow an initial attempt to consider "the state of the Party" in those countries.

As far as the Party's relationship with the "Italian situation" is concerned, I will therefore restrict myself to a few points of a general nature related to the "referendum campaign" in which the Party, as many of you will know, is committed, following the lines of thought and the indications which emerged from the debate during the first session.

With reference to these lines of thought and indications, it is worth remembering that the Party's attention to the Italian situation - to the Italian "reserve", as it was defined in the motion approved in Budapest - is born out of the awareness that we have to increase and consolidate the Italian contribution to the constitution of the "New Party". It is in this sense that the Party's referendum campaign and the decision to take an active and determined role should be "read", not as the mere legitimization and support of actions proposed by other forces. The initiative, it should be remembered, has to a largeextent been reinforced, and in some cases promoted and set into motion, by high-ranking members of the Radical Party.

NINE REFERENDUMS AND TEN SIGNATURES AGAINST "PARTYCRACY"

The first point to be made relates to the breadth and the importance of this undertaking, which concerns nine referendums and the collection of ten signatures against "partycracy". The campaign relates to the three referendums promoted by the "Segni Committee", which we too support, for changes in the electoral system for the Senate and for the Communes; the three referendums promoted - with the significant participation of members of the Radical Party - by the "Giannini Committee", for a reduction in the influence of the political parties in important stages of state intervention in the Italian economy; the referendum on the protection of the environment promoted, with our support, by the Friends of the Earth; and the two referendums promoted by the Radical Party itself: one for the abolition of the laws concerning the public funds distributed annually to political parties represented in Parliament, and the other aimed at abolishing the penalties laid down by the current law for users of prohibited dru

gs. Finally, the Party has also presented a bill for the extension to the Chamber of Deputies of the rules that would apply for election to the Senate if the referendums on the subject should obtain the consent of the electorate (the referendum proposes a straight single-member system, in the British manner, modified, in the Italian manner, by a proportional representation system for 25% of those elected).

It is in favour of this bill that the Radical "campaign tables" will collect the tenth signature against the political system, "real democracy", and partycracy in Italy.

In the space of little over two months, more than five and a half million signatures will have to be collected, all of them certified either by Communes, notaries, or judicial registrars.

Whilst for the six "Segni-Giannini" referendums we are witnessing, as we had predicted, a race to "jump on a bandwagon" which everyone believes to be a winner, the attitude and the conduct of the political forces and of the mass media towards the collection of signatures for the referendums proposed directly by the Party is entirely different, although the first opinion polls show that the referendum for the abolition of public financing for political parties has most public support, despite the fact that the public is largely misinformed.

The referendum on the use of drugs is gaining more and more attention, proof of the fact that this subject involves important values which strike the conscience of the public with great power and relevance.

It is also a subject which encounters undoubted and powerful resistance and opposition, but it is that which is most able to arouse a wide and detailed debate, capable of overcoming political and cultural positions that support the repressive stance of the powers-that-be and hinder the concrete need for democracy.

In this respect, it is significant that after the first, immediate declarations of support from some of the most authoritative exponents of the PDS (the ex-Communist Party), from most of the parliamentarians of "Rifondazione Comunista", and from other organizations and associations, in the last few days further support for the referendum has been expressed by a considerable number of the leaders of the "Young Socialists" and several members of Parliament belonging to the Socialist Party, which had previously been united in support and in defence of all the provisions currently in force, including those related to penalties for drug-users.

Moreover, in the last few days we have heard that the Secretary of the PDS, Achille Occhetto, has signed in favour of this referendum: there is, however, still a clear reluctance on the part of the PDS to take up an explicit and active position on the issue, an attitude which is difficult to understand considering the progressive extension of declarations ofsupport that have been forthcoming from increasingly numerous and authoritative sources in the regions, the communes, and the provinces.

A NEW STRUCTURE AND A NEW ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK

Another general point in relation to the "referendum campaign" concerns the solution we have adopted to face this commitment in such a way that it affects the realization of the transnational and transdivisional "project" as little as possible.

To this end we have decided to set up a new structure and a new organizational framework, which should allow the Party to avoid reducing the resources and the energy of the existing structure and framework and to continue "at full steam", guaranteeing the priority due to the commitment for the constitution of the "New Party". An outline of this solution is given in note (1).

Other friends and comrades, including Marco Pannella and the "co-ordinators", will speak on the political andorganizational merits of the referendum campaign.

THE POLITICAL PROJECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION OF THE "NEW PARTY"

The "political project" for 1991, as we know, involved achieving direct contact, by means of a written publication, with the politicians of the countries of Europe, above all with members of legislative assemblies, in order to publicize our political proposal, to establish a relationship and to invite them to join the "New Party", the transnational and transdivisional Party, and thus to make possible the realization of common initiatives, in different countries, starting out from the legislative sphere.

Since it involved a written means of communication, the project also necessitated the creation of a fully-fledged "publishing business" capable of producing "messages" in a number of languages (not less than about fifteen) and of distributing them in all the countries of Europe and, at a later stage, in other continents.

As we have explained - and the subject was discussed during the first session - the newspaper "The New Party" was born: consisting of 12 pages, it is written for the moment in Italian, translated into 14 other languages, and distributed in 53 countries (34 of them in Europe) to slightly under 40,000 members of legislative assemblies. So far three issues have been printed, at the approximate rate of one per month.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE THIRD ISSUE

The third issue of the newspaper (the "blue issue") should have been distributed in the days immediately preceding this meeting.

In note (2) I have described in some detail the system of distribution of the newspaper, which naturally makes use of a number of different carriers, with different means of transport and distribution. This outline should give a more precise idea of the size and the complexity of this aspect of the operation, which only now, after the experience gained so far, is beginning to reveal its true magnitude.

A NETWORK OF "REFERENCE POINTS"

The outline in note (2) gives a clear indication, for example, of the difficulties in establishing control over the distribution system, in such as way as to monitor its efficiency through regular and systematic checks on mailings, transport, and addresses, and to be able to evaluate overall efficiency and the success of each mailing on the basis on replies from readers.

To this end we have already begun to set up a network of reference points which already covers all the federal and national Parliaments (with the exception of the Soviet Union). The network is formed mainly of parliamentarians who are members of the Party or who have already contacted the Party, and who are willing to report back on the success of the distribution operation in their own assemblies. As far as regional assemblies are concerned, at the moment the monitoring process is only partial and at an early stage.

Since we have not so far been able to check whether the newspaper has reached its addressees, it is not possible, at the moment, to provide even an initial evaluation - on reliable and reasonable bases - of the success of the mailings carried out.

There are many doubts about the distribution of thefirst issue (the "red issue"), due to the fact that delivery coincided with the summer recess of many Parliaments and the consequent interruption of activities, with difficulties in the distribution operations which continue to cause doubts about their success, as well as considerable delays and, above all, the accumulation of post for the attention of parliamentarians: such an accumulation of material inevitably meant that our publication did not receive due attention.

The distribution of the second issue (the "green issue") seems to have been more successful: it was sent out during September and, as far as we know, was received almost everywhere, although in some places it was only delivered to addressees in the first half of October.

REPLIES RECEIVED

Despite these difficulties, however, up to last week 239 replies to the first two issues had been received in Brussels, Budapest, Moscow, Prague, and Rome: more than 80 of these were sent by members of legislative assemblies or by authoritative figures in the field of politics, culture, the mass media, and science.

As far as the members of legislative assemblies are concerned, we have received replies from England, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, Argentina, Senegal, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, the Soviet Union, Brazil, and the United States. The letters express the desire to continue to receive the newspaper, and demonstrate interest in the Party's "undertaking". Amongst these, it is worth drawing attention to those sent by county councillors from Great Britain; by the President of the Italian Senate, who expresses his hope that the Radical Party will "contribute towards the building of a new Europe based on civil and democratic values"; by the Vice-President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies; by Ernest Valko, the Vice-President of one of the two Chambers of the Czechoslovakian Federal Parliament, and by a number of Czechoslovakian parliamentarians from the autonomist Movement for Moravia and Silesia, who see federalism as the only way to overcome nationalism. We have also received a letter from

the International Secretary of the People's Socialist Party of Denmark, and from the International Secretary of the Workers' Party of the Ivory Coast.

The replies from exponents of the world of science, culture and art, to whom the newspaper is sent, include those of Mairead Maguire, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1976, and Hans Walter Janitschek, former Secretary General of the Socialist International, both of whom have joined the Radical Party.

Finally, 23 replies have been received from people on the register of Esperantists.

THE SOVIET UNION

It is worth giving particular attention to the Soviet Union, where the problems of communication create obstacles and difficulties that we have not yet managed to overcome, or even to begin to face with practicable and adequate solutions. These problems, moreover, also prevent us from setting up checks on the distribition system.

From what we know so far, there are still serious doubts about the delivery of the first issue (the "red issue"), not only due to the fact that it coicided with the summer break but also due to the negative effects of the coup on the efficiency of services. In the Soviet Union, too, the distribution of the second issue (the "green issue") seems to have been more successful: most of the addressees seem to have received their copies, although with considerable delays in some cases.

MAILING TO PRIVATE ADDRESSES

In view of the difficulties and the setbacks met so far in the distribution to members of legislative assemblies, we are considering the possibility of sending the newspaper to private addresses instead of to offices in the various assemblies. The main obstacles to this change concern the possibility of ensuring the regular updating of lists of names and addresses.

THE CHARACTER OF THE MESSAGE

Another important aspect currently under consideration is that of the character of the "message".

Some of you will remember that the ideal form of the "message" was originally seen as a more "weighty" publication than the newspaper produced so far: a publication in a different format, with more pages, able to deal more fully with the themes that have been and continue to be part of Radical initiatives, partly to allow readers to choose the themes they are most interested in. With the possibility of choosing in this way, readers would be more likely to enrol in the Party and join forces, allowing the mobilization and the co-ordinated action of all those who hold the same views and ideals.

In terms of the "quality" of the message, this is our most demanding task and objective.

THE FOURTH ISSUE

The fourth issue of the newspaper is currently at the translation stage: it should be published during the first ten days of November, and delivered before parliamentary activities are suspended for the Christmas break. However, the attempt to bring about modifications in the present form of the newspaper may well result in delays, with the postponement of delivery until the first half of January. To this end we cannot ignore the fact that our aim to produce a monthly publication involves an operative system that requires "strict" planning, with the result that production rhythms are sometimes incompatible with those imposed by the demands of political activities.

THE INITIATIVE FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE WORLD BY THE YEAR 2000

The Radical Party initiative to launch a Manifesto-Appeal for the abolition of the death penalty in the Soviet Union a few hours after the end of the coup, which we described in the first session, is meeting with great success. Up to now almost 500 parliamentarians, from Eastern and Western Europe, have signed the appeal, as well as 54 members of the European Parliament and two African parliamentarians. Hundreds of personalities from the world of culture, science and art, throughout the world, have also signed the document. These include, to cite only two examples, the Nobel prize-winners Abdus Salam and Elie Wiesel.

It is our intention to organize a delegation, formed of at least one representative of all the democratic Parliaments of the world, to deliver the signatures in February 1992, in Moscow, to President Gorbachev and to the Presidents of the Republics of the Soviet Union. If you are interested in taking part in this event, please let us know as soon as possible.

Our aim is to turn this initiative, which at the moment is mainly an Italian and Soviet concern, into an undertaking of historic value capable of confirming the abolition of the death penalty as a definitive victory - at least in terms of the law. For this reason we have decided to organize a People's March in Rome, to take place at Easter of next year, at the conclusion of a world Conference (this, too, to be held in Rome). The aim is to set up a "Parliamentary League for the Abolition of the Death Penalty by the Year 2000". One of the hypotheses that can be worked on is the drafting of an "amendment" to the Charter of Human Rights in order to affirm the right of the individual not to be killed by force of law - an example of positive and progressive (rather than negative and "prohibitionist") regulations.

This is only a hypothesis, a project: it is up to us, to all of us, to the Transnational and Transdivisional Radical Party and the future "Parliamentary League" associated to the Party, to organize co-ordinated action on the part of the "specialized agencies" of the United Nations, Leagues for Human, Civil and Political Rights, religious Institutions, Universities, State Institutions, and major Foundations. We must be fully aware, however, that in order to create the Party - and therefore also this Project - we need new members and financial contributions, not symbolic support but active participation capable of arousing militant commitment and producing funds and initiatives.

THE RADICAL PARTY IN THE SOVIET UNION, HUNGARY, CZECHOSLOVAKIA ROMANIA AND YUGOSLAVIA

At things stand at the moment, the transnational dimension of the Radical Party is reflected most noticeably in a number of countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have confirmed their high levels of activity on the occasion of the Party's Appeal for the abolition of the death penalty in the Soviet Union.

In the Soviet Union itself - where Marino Busdachin co-ordinates Party activities - a few days ago the number of members had reached 437 (including ten deputies). Most of these are in the Republic of Russia, though there are members in other Republics: the Ukraine, Arzebaijan, and Georgia, as far as Siberia and Vladivostok.

One Lithuanian deputy has also joined the Party.

The high number of enrolments has been achieved partly as a result of the excellent organizational framework in Moscow, St Petersburg, Baku and Kiev, with offices in a number of other places. Through this framework, the Party carries out its initiatives by means of the press and the distribution of "Radical Newsletter", which still plays an important role in support of the campaign for conscientious objection and the subsequent anti-prohibitionist campaign. With the launch of the "political project for 1991", by means of this framework the Party has intensified relations with other political forces, including informal groups, and organizes the distribution of the newspaper across a territory which is larger than the rest of Europe put together and whose system of communications, as I have mentioned, is both complex and inadequate. These tasks have recently been added to by the work related to the Appeal for the abolition of the death penalty: the signatures collected in the first few days of activity in

clude those of 62 parliamentarians and 40 leading figures from the world of science and culture.

These activities are naturally carried out with the aim of allowing the direct involvement of activists in the various cities and Republics, who are able to operate independently, in situations that often involve very different needs, although maintaining a strict and productive relationship with the overall, unified activities of the Party.

In Czechoslovakia, where Paolo Pietrosanti is in charge of the local structure, the Party can count on the Prague office, amongst the most efficient and best-equipped we have, as well as two other offices in Zdar and Karlovy Vary.

Intense and prolonged political activity has resulted in a total of 110 members on 20 October, including 4 deputies, and has also allowed us to establish a lasting and profitable relationship with the Presidency of the Republic and with other high levels of Government and Parliament: amongst other things, this has meant that a large number of influential figures have signed the Appeal for the abolition of the death penalty. The local press also follows Radical initiatives with great interest. The theme of drugs and anti-prohibitionism is one of the areas in which party members in Czechoslovakia have been most active. In this respect, it is worth remembering here that the Czechoslovakian Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Fight Against Drugs has recently rejected the Radical Party's proposal to jointly promote an international Conference on drugs policies in Central and Eastern Europe - this decision, which was taken despite the repeated statements by the Vice-Prime Minister Miklosko in favour of the i

dea, was the result of continuous and insistent pressure from the United States.

In Hungary, where the Budapest office continues to co-ordinate activities in Central and Eastern Europe, and where operations are directed by Olivier Dupuis and Massimo Lansi, there were 72 members of the Party on 20 October.

The political activities carried out in the country have led to the constitution of ARCO (Radical Anti-Prohibitionist Committee), headed by Anna Tothfalusi, which has undertaken an important information campaign followed by the national press, and which already has around 20 members. Relations with the parties and with parliamentarians have also been resumed, made possible partly by the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in the Soviet Union, which up to now has gathered the signatures of over 50 deputies.

In Romania, there were 79 members, including 8 deputies, on 20 October.

In this country Radical proposals still encounter diffidence and suspicion, which are directed in particular towards organizations that have links with other countries or that make federalism an essential feature of their policies. Our work is hindered even further by the difficulties created by the system of communications, which here, too, is inadequate and inefficient.

However, the Bucharest authorities are in the process of granting recognition to ARA (Radical Association for the Introduction of an Anglo-Saxon Electoral System), promoted, in particular, by Alin Alexandru and Peter Barabas. In Timisoara, on the other hand, the "Radical Association for the United States of Europe" is currently being constituted - a theme, as we have seen, that causes heated debate and opposition in Romania.

In this country, too, the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in the Soviet Union has allowed us to establish new relations with members of Parliament, members of other political forces, and leading figures in other fields: more than 30 have already signed the Appeal.

The attention of the Party has been turned to Yugoslavia since before it was remotely possible to predict the developments of the situation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It is the country, as I mentioned earlier, in which we attempted without success to hold our 1989 Congress (the first we had dedided to hold outside Italy), which subsequently took place in Budapest. The decision to hold the Congress in Yugoslavia wasa coherent political choice, aware as we were that the country lies ina crucialregion of Europe and that the European Community should already have been devoting greater commitment and attention to its problems. With the help of our friends and comrades in Slovenia -- including Zoran Thaler, who was not yet the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs in his country - we later held our Federal Council in Bohini, Slovenia.

These events are a sign of the Party's active presence in the country: under the direction of Sandro Ottoni and Marino Busdachin, this led - first in Lubiana and then in Zagreb and, to a lesser extent and with greater difficulty, in Belgrade - to important and significant results, subsequently almost entirely thwarted by the internal conflicts in the Republics and by a misreading of the role and the aims of the Party on the part of some of the comrades who had been entrusted with the task of keeping alive the Party's presence in their country. On 20 October, there were only 20 members, but with the development of recent events we are hoping for a considerable upturn in enrolments and in the activity of the Party in these countries, in this region.

THE BRUSSELS OFFICE

For many years Brussels was the only place outside Italy in which the Party operated, as the city is a permanent seat of European government and the Radical Party has been present in the European Parliament since the first elections in 1979. In line with our methods, what for other political forces and other groups has been merely a "place foroccasional services", of practical or bureaucratic use, for us has been an opportunity for permanent political initiative and full-time organized activity.

During this period, a number of important initatives have been developed from Brussels, including both the campaign to save

three million people from famine in the underdeveloped countries and the campaign for the United States of Europe.

As the Party's interest has moved towards Central and Eastern Europe, a result of the attention due to the development of the situation in Europe, and as the Radical members of the Parliament now belong to a number of different groups (Federalists, Greens, and Anti-Prohibitionists), the Brussels office has come, to some extent, to lose its political and operative centrality.

Currently, the Brussels office is continuing to print and distribute "Radical Newsletter" in French, and now also in Spanish (until recently the Spanish edition was distributed from Rome). Brussels also continues to be responsible for the updating of the Party's mailing list, as well as thedistribution of convocations and invitations to the meetings of the Federal Council,for the countries of Western Europe. With the launch of the "political project" for 1991, the Brussels office also helps to ensure the distribution of the newspaper and to collect signatures for the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty, again in the ambit of Western European countries. This campaign, in the light of initial results, seems to offer a very good chance to resume relations with groups, movements, and leading figures from the world of politics, culture, science and the mass media - relations which augur well for the constitution of the "New Party" in these countries.

Friends and comrades,

it seems to me to be necessary, at this point, to draw the conclusions of this update of the relation on the situation of the Party.

I believe, in fact, that it is incontestable that, despite enormous difficulties, the journey towards the possibility of constituting the new, Transnational and Transdivisional Party has not only been begun, but has taken its first, significant and important steps.

To the first positive signs that emerged in the previous session of this meeting of the Federal Council, held just over a month ago in Rome, we can now add the significant growth, in terms of both quantity and quality, of our assembly. As I mentioned earlier, the Federal Council now includes 57 parliamentarians from 12 different States and Republics, with 5 members of 5 different Governments: parliamentarians who belong mainly to countries other than Italy. This situation was inconceivable only a month ago.

We have gathered here, in Zagreb, as we had planned, overcoming many difficulties.

The range of people attending this meeting is extraordinary, not only due to the presence of those who are members of the Federal Council, but also due to the presence of the guests who have accepted our invitation: in particular the President of the Republic of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, to whom we extend our warmest and most fraternal welcome, committed as we are to supporting, with the force of nonviolence, "the life of rights and the right to life" of this country.

Marco Pannella has reached the 27th day of his hunger strike, with which he intends to affirm this principle, with his own body and his own health, against the murderous, Stalinist-Fascist, armed violence of Milosevich and his army, who have betrayed and continue to betray the Serbian people, as well as damaging and destroying the State in whose name they claim to legitimize the oppression and the destruction of peoples and populations who should, in their opinion, be part of it. And this, as well as being despicable, is absurd.

Marco has been joined in his hunger strike by Ivo Jelic, a deputy from Dubrovnik who has joined the Party and is a member of this Federal Council, and by 150 young people who have found, in nonviolent action, the strength to be active and useful in the drama of their city: they provide the Party with a strong and vital example for more active commitment, with new and deeper hope.

The "political project" for 1991, with the first positive replies to the newspaper and the initiative to uphold the right of the individual not to be killed by force of law, with the results achieved and the objectives we have set, is concretely underway.

In Italy the Party is actively committed to the campaign for "9 referendums and 10 signatures against partycracy", in order to ensure the contribution of the "reserve" of resources which is still indispensable.

The observation on the situation of the Party, as things stand at the moment, is unquestionably confirmed by the facts.

I believe, however, that it is equally incontestable that the journey undertaken so far does not allow us to believe that we have exhausted and completed our verification of the real possibility of giving life and force to the Radical Party, the transnational and transdivisional party.

We are certainly not yet able, in fact, to evaluate the efficacy of the message transmitted by the newspaper. We know that we will have to adapt it further to the demands made on us by the constitution of the "New Party", by improving its format and its contents, by ensuring continuity and frequency, and by extending distribution and guaranteeing delivery.

Beginning with what we are able to achieve through the initiatives in Moscow next February and in Rome next Easter, we will have to promote new initiatives besides that for the abolition of the death penalty, in order to draw large groups of people to the Party, including groups that are associated to the Party, capable of independent action and movement.

The increase in prestigious new members of the Party, although it is sudden and surprising, is still not enough to provide the increase in the number of new members (tens of thousands) and in militancy which is essential to ensure the continuance and the development of the political initiatives and the activities of the Party, also from a financial point of view.

In Italy, the referendum campaign brings us a greater hope, but also involves serious difficulties and the uncertainty of the result. Moreover, we cannot ignore the problems and the uncertainties related to the approaching elections.

I believe, therefore, that the second consideration about the situation of the party cannot seriously be questioned.

As I mentioned in the report presented to the first session of this meeting of the Federal Council, the task and the undertaking entrusted to us with the assumption of "statutory powers" at the Budapest Congress requires a longer period than was initially foreseen or foreseeable in order to be able to evaluate and establish whether it is possible to continue the attempt to relaunch the activity of the Party or whether, on the other hand, it is necessary to bring an end to our existence as an organized political force.

There is, consequently, only one problem that we have to consider at this meeting - to examine and evaluate the choice to be made in order to gain the time which the party still needs.

A choice due only to political opportuneness, since the legitimate path has already been indicated by the Budapest Congress and to question it now would be a pointless waste of time.

In Rome, in September, at the end of the first session of this meeting, we undertook to examine the logistic and economic conditions under which it would be possible to hold a Congress of the Party at the end of January or the beginning of February next year, in a country in Central or Eastern Europe, should we decide

that it is opportune to make such a choice.

Our examination has led us, for now, to exclude Moscow and the Republics of the Soviet Union, either for climatic reasons or because of the difficulties of communications and transport, as well as of accomodation.

We have concentrated our attention on three possible choices: Bucharest, Prague and Lubiana. The differences relate to the technical solutions possible, accomodation and transport facilities, and also to costs.

Bucharest is the most economical, but least convenient choice. Lubiana has the best facilities, but is the most expensive. As far as Prague is concerned, the only problems relate to accomodation for the participants.

It should be born in mind, however, that the cost of the Congress would not be less than one billion lire (around 750,000 dollars).

Dear friends and comrades,

I will conclude this update with an excerpt from the editorial which will be published in the fourth issue of the newspaper:

"We are certain that we express and illuminate real, profound and literally vital exigencies, urgent needs felt and frustrated in the consciences of many of the ruling classes of all types and in all places, who discover the tragic impotence of their "power", and - even more so - of the great masses of men and women supported by the myth and the hope of democracy, of the right to life for everyone and of the life of justice and rights, of adequate rules and laws.

To give life and force to these exigencies which are, I repeat, literally vital, to attempt to organize them in order to increase the liberty of all men, and to make this full liberty a means and a method rather than an end, the obligation and the duty of all men for all men, is the proven basis on which to build the "New Party", transnational, transdivisional, libertarian, and therefore a stimulus to responsibility and duties."

This is the reason behind our commitment over the years, the commitment to which we have devoted ourselves, and to which I have devoted myself, up till now with all the force of conviction and hope.

(1) The co-ordination of this structure and the relative organizational framework has been entrusted to two comrades with a long history of militancy and wide experience in the organization of previous campaigns: Rita Bernardini and Renč Andreani. Bernardini is the President of the Federal Council of the Radical Anti-Prohibitionist Committee, whilst Andreani is a deputy in the Green Group, elected on the Radical ticket. They will both work full-time on this task for the entire period of signature collection, together with the Vice-Treasurer of the Party, Maurizio Turco, who will return to his activity for the transnational cause once the campaign has been organized and set into motion. Marco Pannella will assist the three co-ordinators as far as the political management of the campaign is concerned.

The decision to set up this new structure was taken in view of the positive response given in particular by Italian members, who for a long time have not had the opportunity for active commitment due to the suspension of the Party's activities in Italy. Although the response was positive, it is still inadequate in terms of the resources necessary for the success of the campaign.

(2) Like the two previous issues (the "red issue" and the "green issue"), the third issue (the "blue issue") was sent to the members of legislative assemblies in 33 European countries (national, federal, and regional assemblies), to members of the European Parliament and to many other people. The total number of addressees is 258,709: 34,109 are members of legislative assemblies in Europe, and the rest are from other mailing lists (163,000 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, 50,000 in Western Europe, 4,600 in the rest of the world, and 7,000 speakers of Esperanto). If we consider the copies reserved for a second mailing in the Soviet Union, the copies for the archives of Party offices, and the copies which are being stored for future use, the total print-run for the third issue was 300,018 copies, divided into 15 languages.

The translations, the page layout and the printing were carried out in Rome, with the exception of 100,000 copies in Russian, printed in Moscow for addressees who are not members of the various Parliaments of the Soviet Union. For the third issue, copies that for the first two issues had been printed in Budapest were printed in Rome, as this solution proved to be more economical.

Mailing to parliamentarians was organized directly from Rome, with the help of the offices in Brussels, Budapest, Moscow and Prague. The Rome office also organized mailing to other addresses in Italy (41,000), Spain (1,000), Portugal (1,350), the ex-Yugoslvia (5,000), Albania (350), South and Central America (2,550 in 13 countries), North America (550 in the US), the Middle East (200 in 2 countries), New Zealand (100), and a number of special mailing lists, with a total of 55,150 copies.

The Brussels office, as well as being responsible for distribution to parliamentarians in the countries of Western Europe, sent 3,000 extra copies in French, 3,500 in English, and 500 in German.

The Budapest office is responsible for distribution to parliamentarians in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, and also mailed copies to other addressees (32,000 copies in Hungarian, 18,000 in Czechoslovakian, 3,500 in Polish, and 2,150 in Romanian).

The Moscow office, as well as distributing copies to parliamentarians, sent out 100,000 copies (printed in Moscow) to other addressees throughout most of the territory of the Soviet Union.

The Prague office has sent the newpaper to the members of the Federal Parliament and the national Parliaments.

In all, the third issue of the newspaper has been sent to around 270,000 people in more than 50 countries around the world.

(3) The following Eastern European parliamentarians have signed the Appeal: 62 in the Soviet Union; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the representative of the Latvian Government in Moscow and Aleksej Zotov, member of the Soviet Supreme and of the Radical Party; 48 in Czechoslovakia, including the Vice-Prime Minister, the First Vice-President of the Federal Parliament, the President of the Czech Parliament, three Vice-Presidents of the Slovakian Parliament; 44 in Hungary, including Ferenc Joszsef Nagy, Minister without portfolio, and Reszo Nyers, former Minister; 30 in Romania, including Vasile Mois and Karoly Kiraly, Vice-Presidents of the Senate and Constantin Ivanovici, Secretary of the Defence Committee and member of the Radical Party; 60 members of the European Parliament, including Adelaide Aglietta, President of the Green Group and rapporteur for a proposed resolution on the death penalty, and Ken Coates, Socialist, President of the Undercommittee on Human Rights.

In the countries of Western Europe, the Manifesto-Appeal has been signed by: 119 Italian parliamentarians, including two Vice-Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and many Party Secretaries; 29 members of the Houses of Parliament in the UK and over 85 members of parliamentary assemblies in France, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Belgium, Israel, Luxembourg, Malta, the Isle of Man, Switzerland, and Germany. These include the entire Labour Party Group in the Dutch Senate; Desmond O'Malley and Robert Molloy, Irish Ministers; Michel Dreyfus-Schmidt, Vice-President of the French Senate; Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Maltese Minister; Elie Deworme, Belgian MInister, and Jean Mottard, Vice-President of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies.