ABSTRACT: Letter sent by Emma Bonino (President of the Radical Party), Marco Pannella (President of the Radical Party's federal Council), Sergio Stanzani (Secretary of the Radical Party) and Paolo Vigevano (Treasurer of the Radical Party) to 43.000 parliamentarians from the following countries: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Chile, Vatican City, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Republics of former Yugoslavia, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Repubblica San Marino, Rumania, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Republics of former Soviet Union, Uruguay, U.S., Venezuela (as well as the members of the European Parliament.

The letter contains information on the project to create the transnational and transparty party, on the ongoing political campaigns and on the Radical Party's financial situation, and invites the parliamentarians to join the party.

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Dear Colleague,

We are asking you to give us a few minutes of your time, in spite of your many appointments. We would like to give you the latest news about the project we are working on, in the hope that it might interest and involve you.

1. The Radical Party now has members in 31 different countries. The Federal Council of the RP is composed of 115 parliamentarians from 18 democratic legislative Assemblies, as well as 7 members of Governments, and supporters of more than 50 Parties or national political groups.

For us, this is the embryo of that "transnational transparty" which we believe can and must come up with more effective answers to the complex historical and political problems that threaten to destroy our society and this era in which we live. But only if we act in time.

2. This result has been achieved by undertakings as humble and modest as they are committed and without precedent, for us who are trying to see them through with the sole force of our ideas and beliefs. Starting in July 1991, we have sent three (and now four) issues of "The New Party", a small newspaper in 15 different languages, to more than forty thousand parliamentarians and two hundred and fifty other people in about 60 countries. The newspaper is subject to the risk of translations from a single basic language, to postal delays, and to the problems - often unknown - involved in delivery, in "The New Party" being just one of thousands of communications received by parliamentary representatives in the respective countries.

3. Nevertheless, in just a few months members of Governments, parliamentary groups, and exponents of dozens of national Parties, often members of Socialist, Liberal or Christian Democrat Internationals, have immediately accepted, both with resolution and conviction, our invitation to participate in a political project that had only just been explained to them, and of which they had only then become aware.

4. The only explanation for this is, we feel, that the creation of a "transnational transparty" - which is what the Radical Party purports to be, and now is, with its particular semiology, its methods and its objectives - is the answer to a request, to a lack, to a common need for historical, cultural and political situations that are apparently different, if not actually extraneous, to those of today.

5. A Party that is founded on the complete freedom of its members and not on the sacrifice of freedom in the name of efficiency; that does not wish to represent them but intends to ensure the realization of that which, at a particular moment and in particular circumstances, they themselves decide must be attempted and pursued democratically, without requiring of them - unless they have undertaken to be responsible for carrying out the decision taken, for a given period - any binding agreement or obligation to persist in that decision.

6. We want to create a Party which postulates, rather than refuses, other liberal forms of commitment, of organizational involvement in "other" national or international Parties; which does not interpret political nonviolence as a means in itself but applies it to political projects that can no longer in any way be confused, either in theory or practice, with the various forms of real pacifism that have manifested themselves throughout history.

A Party which utilizes the means at its disposal rather than indulge in intolerant idealizing, a Party which practises tolerance. A Party, therefore, which is for freedom, tolerance, the resolution of social conflict, and democratic individuals.

All this may seem very difficult to understand but also very "easy" to adopt, to put into practice once it has been understood.

7. The history of the Radical Party, which has never been committed on a political and least of all ideological basis, being an "annual" Party - whose existence is not automatically protracted but (re)constituted because of a desire for "constitution", for membership, which is expressed in the choices concerning its activites that are made congressually and democratically each year - is "objectively", or perhaps we should say "genetically", speaking that of a strong organized movement for human, civil and political rights understood as the foundation of a country's laws and the true "federal" organization of federal units, according to the principle of delegation (which is the classic form of federalism): only that which cannot be "self-governed" by the more immediate and direct democratic institutional bodies of the federal units is delegated to the "superior" central unit.

8. We are talking about "history" not "ideology", and certainly not a remedy for all the ills that, naturally, beset this world and which are now becoming more of a "health-hazard" than ever. "A right to life and a life of rights" is, we feel, a legitimate and effective slogan for the RP, but it does not constitute an appropriate and precise commitment, neither is it representative or conclusive. It is simply not enough, if one has a serious and responsible attitude towards politics. But it helps.

9. The effort required to break through the linguistic, ethnic and state barriers in order to live, research, fight for and establish today - for the future but also for the present - the "transnational transparty" concept (particularly in societies governed by a coalition of proportional representation, or a bipartisan government that guarantees "alternation" rather than "alternatives" or "Reforms") in an organized manner is tremendous and, therefore, people have abandoned the undertaking, also from an ideological point of view, ever since "internationalism" generated its opposite (imperial rule in a large part of the world and oppression of the people) and cosmopolitanism ceased to be as revolutionary as it was in the Age of Enlightenment.

10. It is imperative that we make this effort (and the human, intellectual and material investment it will cost us) even if we only want to attempt to govern, with pragmatism and intellectual honesty, the dramatic social, ecological, economic, cultural, religious and demographic problems that are today manifesting themselves with increasing seriousness, in each and all of the countries in which we live, where we were either born or have chosen to reside.

11. Armed with these convictions and strengthened by our experiences during the past decades and in recent years, which were very often crowned with relative, and unexpected, success, we have managed to secure the financial and technological means necessary, even if not sufficient, to embark on a coherent political undertaking, starting with the appropriation of government financing destined for Parties represented in the Italian Parliament, and then the contribution made, in the form of membership and subscription fees, of efforts made and dedication shown, by about three thousand party activists and other members of the Radical Party in Italy.

12. Thus, we were able to set aside approx. five million dollars to constituting the "New Party", the transnational transparty, to establishing its activities, its program, its organization, and enabling it to get off the ground independently. However, as the Radical Party cannot, for obvious reasons, participate in the Italian elections and, therefore, be represented in Parliament (otherwise it would be running against the national Parties), from next spring onwards - when the Italian general elections will be held - we will no longer receive the financing we have been able to invest, according to decisions taken at our last ordinary Congress held in Budapest in 1989, up until now in the timely and necessary creation of the "transnational transparty".

13. In 1991, we had the chance to develop - during the two sessions of our Federal Council, the first of which was held in Rome and the second at Zagreb, and thanks to the leaders of the party being invested with special powers at the Congress - a number of exceptional and extremely important projects.

14. We are now in the process of conceiving and developing a project "to abolish the death penalty throughout the world by the year 2000". This is just one example of the Radical Party's desire to get things done and, if we are able to achieve our goal, which necessitates overcoming enormous difficulties, both actual and historical, the project will have even more "historic" consequences for humanity, in that it will strengthen international law, and the law itself.

15. We have found ourselves - being a Party that is by its very nature strictly federalist-democratic, anti-Jacobin, anti-centralist, convinced that individual and national "independence" is nothing but an illusion and dangerous suicide if it does not, in effect, constitute a choice of new forms of "interdependence" - defending and supporting, both consciously and responsibly, the new forms of "national" independence created democratically with an unconditional guarantee of internal democracy. We believe, in fact, that the federal and democratic organization of this world, and its various regions, has to be the result of a free and responsible choice, and not an excuse for imposing abstract ideas, that are sometimes valid, as a form of antidemocratic oppression.

16. We are prepared to contest the warmongering, racism and totalitarianism of the usurping Army and the present Serbian leaders, and the damage inflicted on Croatia, Slovenia and Kosovo, which has been condoned by the West, the majority of European countries, and the US in particular, with an attitude similar to that which in the Thirties fostered the rise of Nazism, Facism and Stalinism (and "real" Communism up until the present years). In order to combat this situation, we have started to present identical parliamentary motions simultaneously and embarked on nonviolent undertakings such as the hunger strikes endured by numerous parliamentary colleagues, in various countries.

17. We have now used up almost all the capital we had to invest in our "transnational transparty" project. For the moment, we still have enough money to deliver the fifth issue of "The New Party" by mid-February (almost two months are needed from the time the articles are written and translated, and the newspaper itself is printed, sent out and delivered, in most countries), which will include a summary of the previous issues. If we receive an extraordinary number of positive replies to the fourth issue, which has just been delivered, and also to the fifth, we will just be able to continue with the project.

18. If only hundreds of the sixty thousand parliamentarians and important figures to whom this letter is addressed become members of the Radical Party - whose members have increased from about 20 deputies and senators to over 100 in a few weeks - the mass media will most probably feel obliged to inform the public of this "strange" phenomenon. In doing so, they will allow us to reach our target of fifty thousand "Italian" members, paying membership or subscription fees which, according to our calculations, would guarantee our being able to continue to build the Radical Party into a "transnational transparty" political force.

19. This is what is at stake.

We are, therefore, asking you, as a colleague, to let us know immediately if you will join the Radical Party (you can do this by filling in the coupon on the last page of this letter). Your membership will be for the year 1992, for a brief period of your life, of your personal history and ours. In our taking direct nonviolent action together, we could maybe create and uphold, in the Parliaments and the city squares, a different future for this planet.

We would like to thank you in advance for reading this letter and for anything you might do to help us with our project, which in itself can be considered as a favourable omen, coming from someone who perhaps up until yesterday thought our ideas too far removed, or from someone whose ideas we ourselves thought too far removed, or too extraneous.

We wish you all good things for 1992, and we also extend these wishes to the people who are dear to you, to those who love and respect you.

With very best regards.

Rome, 2 January, 1992

Emma Bonino Marco Pannella Sergio Stanzani Paolo Vigevano

(President) (President of the FC) (First Secretary) (Treasurer)

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Information on how to join the Radical Party in 1992.

Anyone can join the Radical Party. No one is excluded, no one is discriminated against. The membership fee is at personal discretion, although there is a minimum annual payment - established by the XXXV Congress held in Budapest - of "a sum equal to 1% of the pro capita Gross National Product in the country of residence".

If you would like to receive information about the RP, please fill in the coupon (it also includes one or two questions concerning the newspaper which we imagine you have received by now), cut it out and send it to one of our offices: Brussels, Budapest, Moscow, Prague or Rome.

For countries with convertible currencies, payment of the membership fee can be made by bank transfer to Partito Radicale, account no. 10/504169 Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, Rome main branch, specifying the motive for the transfer. A crossed cheque or postal order, made out to Partito Radicale may also be sent to one of the following addresses:

Rome

Partito Radicale

Via di Torre Argentina 76

00186 Rome

tel. 39/6/689791 fax 39/6/6545396 telex 610495 PRLIFE I

(languages spoken:, English, French,Italian, Spanish)

Brussels

Parti Radical

Rue Belliard 97, 113 Rem 508

1040 Brussels

tel. 32/2/2304121-2842579 fax 32/2/2303670

(languages spoken: French, English, Portuguese, German)

For countries with non-convertible currencies, please make the payment through international reply coupon, postal order, bank cheque or cash, to one of the following addresses:

Budapest

Radikalis Part

Karoly (Tanacs) Krt.9.

1075 Budapest (H)

tel. 36/1/1229497 telefax 36/1/1226828

(languages spoken: English, Italian, Hungarian)

Moscow

Radikalnaja Partija

2-Kolobovoskij Pereulok 11/7

103051 Moscow

tel. 70/95/2998821-2998862

(languages spoken: French, English, Russian)

Prague

Radikalni strana

Krakovska 9

110 00 Praha

tel/fax 42/2/2361445

(languages spoken: Czechoslovakian, Italian, English, Slovak, Russian)

The minimum membership fees for the various countries are as follows:

Albania, 71 lek; Andorra, 727 French francs; Argentina, 17 US dollars; Australia, 250 Australian dollars; Austria, 2,540 schilings; Belgium, 7,000 Belgian francs; Benin 1,300 CFA francs; Bolivia, 7 US dollars; Brazil, 28 US dollars; Bulgaria, 58 leva; Burkina Faso, 886 CFA francs; Canada, 280 Canadian dollars; Czechoslovakia, 365 Czech crowns; Chile, 7,400 pesos; Vatican City, 250,000 Italian lira; Columbia, 7.600 pesos; Ivory Coast, 2,500 CFA francs; Costa Rica, 2,100 colons; Denmark, 1,700 Danish crowns; Egypt, 23 Egyptian pounds; Ecuador, 10,000 sucre; Estonoa, 25 roubles; Finland, 1,100 Finnish marks; France, 1,200 francs; Germany (for the following regions: Rheinald-Pfalz, Baden-Wuttemberg, Bayern, Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein), 410 deutschmarks; Germany (for the following regions: Brandenburg, Macklenburg-Vorpomme, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thuringen), 225 deutschmarks; Ghana, 1,800 cedi; Gibraltar, 69 English pounds; Greece, 13,000 drachmas; Guatema

la, 12 US dollars; former Yugoslavia, 365 dinars (Slovenia, 354 thalers); Ireland, 79 pounds; Iceland, 18,500 couronne; Israel, 270 shekels; Italy, 250,000 lira; Latvia, 25 roubles; Liechtenstein, 500 Swiss francs; Lithuania, 25 roubles; Luxembourg, 8,700 Belgian francs; Mali, 870 CFA francs; Malta, 23 Maltese pounds; Mexico, 108,000 Mexican pesos; Monaco, 1,200 French francs; Norway, 1,800 Norwegian crowns; New Zealand, 250 New Zealand dollars; Holland, 350 Dutch guilders; Peru, 15 US dollars; Poland, 73,000 zloty; Portugal, 9,500 escudos; United Kingdom, 104 pounds; Dominican Republic, 10 US dollars; San Marino, 250,000 Italian lira; Romania, 365 lei; Senegal, 1,700 CFA francs; Spain, 14,000 pesetas; South Africa, 82 rand; Sweden, 1,800 Swedish crowns; Switzerland, 500 Swiss francs; Togo, 1,300 CFA francs; Tunisia, 15 dinars; Turkey, 73,000 Turkish lira; Hungary, 730 Hungarian florins; former Soviet Union, 25 roubles; Uruguay, 63,000 pesos; USA, 230 dollars; Venezuela, 1,600 bolivars.

*The minimum membership fee for Central and Eastern European countries is provisional, and a permanent fee will be fixed by the end of February.