ABSTRACT: The XXXVI Congress of the Radical Party (First Session) was held in Rome from 30 April to 3 May.

1,510 people took part. More than one third of the members present (687) came from countries other than Italy. 132 deputies who are members of the Party were present. A total of 42 countries were represented: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Kazakistan, Kirghiz, Kosovo, Israel, Italy, the Ivory Coast, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Switzerland, the Ukraine, Voivodina.

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"In the light of the current situation of the Radical Party, which has now evidently achieved the objective of becoming a transnational and transdivisional force, with members in almost 50 countries, parliamentarians and members of government belonging to over 80 national parties or political groups, the XXXVI Congress believes that there now exist the political conditions for the refoundation of the Radical Party. To this end it adjourns proceedings until a second session, to be held not later than January 1993."

This was the modification of the order of proceedings decided on, by a large majority, by the XXXVI Congress of the Radical Party, which was held in Rome from 30 April to 3 May. After the meetings of the commissions on "anti-prohibitionism with regard to drugs", "the abolition of the death penalty in the world", and "European unity and a federal language", and a thorough debate of the plenary assembly, the Congress became aware on the one hand that it would be impossible to bring together the many proposals and requests to speak that had been made, and on the other hand that a further period of time would be necessary to proceed, in a second session, to the refoundation of the new transnational and transdivisional force.

The First Secretary Sergio Stanzani, the Treasurer Paolo Vigevano, the President of the Party Emma Bonino and the President of the Federal Council Marco Pannella must proceed in the next few months to draw up precise plans of action on the political initiatives in progress - this task was begun by the Federal Council, which met immediately after the Congress - and to draw up a draft statute, to be presented at the second session, for the regulation and the organization of the new political body.

(THE PARTY new - N. 7 - May 1992)

At 10.30 a.m. on 30 April, after the selection and the installation of the Presidency, the proceedings of the Congress were opened by the introductory reports of the Treasurer, Paolo Vigevano, the First Secretary, Sergio Stanzani, and the President of the Federal Council, Marco Pannella.

These were followed by the examination of the regulations and the order of proceedings, both approved after the acceptance of a proposal by a number of members from the ex-Soviet Union to add the subject "nationality and ethnic conflicts" to the agenda of the first Commission.

At the end of the morning, the three Commissions were installed: "Europe, nationality, federalism, and a federal language. The initiatives and the organization of the transnational Party"; "Drugs and anti-prohibitionism. The initiatives and the organization of the transnational Party"; "The Campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in the world by the year 2000. The initiatives and the organization of the transnational Party". The Commissions began work in the afternoon.

The first Commission was chaired by Mamuka Tsagareli, government minister in Georgia and member of the Radical Party; the vice-chairmen were Gianfranco Dell'Alba, secretary general of the Green Group at the European Parliament, and Renato Corsetti, Esperantist; the rapporteurs were Edmondo Paolini and Giorgio Pagano. 68 people gave papers or spoke during proceedings: these included Alexander Asanasiev, a well-known Russian politician, Antonio La Pergola, Socialist member of the European Parliament, former President of the Italian Constitutional Court, Pier Virgilio Dastoli, secretary of the federalist Intergroup at the European Parliament, Alexeyi Zybin, Estonian deputy, Mohamed Aden Sheikh, former Somalian minister, Erno Borbely, Romanian deputy, Alexander Kalinin, deputy in the Mossoviet, Nagy Sandor, Serbian deputy, Samvel Shagijnian, Armenian deputy, Babacar Fall, professor at the University of Dakar (Senegal), Andrea Chiti-Batelli, Esperantist and member of the "European Federalist Movement", Hans Erasm

us, co-ordinator of the "European Esperantist Union", Christopher Wells, Esperantist and professor at the University of London.

The second Commission was chaired by Marco Taradash, member of the European Parliament; the vice-chairman was Marie Andrée Bertrand, Canadian, President of the "International Anti-Prohibitionist League" (LIA), and the rapporteur was Vanna Barenghi. More than 30 people gave papers or spoke during proceedings: these included Gore Vidal, American writer, Emilie Lieberherr, Head of the Social Affairs Department of Zurich City Council, Toni Muzi-Falcone, businessman, and Slavc Gorjup, president of the "Slovenian Anti-Prohibitionist League".

The third Commission was chaired by Basile Guissou, former minister in Burkina Faso; the vice-chairman was Tomaso Staiti di Cuddia, former deputy in the Italian Parliament, and the rapporteur was Sergio D'Elia. 31 people gave papers or spoke during proceedings: these included Giandonato Caggiano, professor of International Law, Antonio Marchesi, president of the Italian section of Amnesty International, Henry Schwarzschild, leader of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Adelaide Aglietta, president of the Green Group at the European Parliament, Nikolaj Arzannikov, president of the Human Rights Committee of the Russian Parliament, Dennis Sammut, Maltese deputy and secretary general of the "Organization for Peace amongst the Peoples of the Mediterranean" (P.O.P.E.M.), and Jacov Ghilinski, professor at the University of St. Petersburg.

The proceedings of the Commissions were interrupted for speeches by guests and messages sent to the Congress, including those of Giovanni Spadolini, acting President of the Italian Republic, and Rovshan Mustafaev, Vice-President of the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan and member of the Federal Council of the Radical Party. Speakers included Zdravko Tomac, Vice-Premier of the Government of Croatia, and Joseph Di Porto, president of the "Cultural Movement of Jewish Students".

The Commissions suspended proceedings late in the evening, and resumed at 9 o'clock on the morning of 1 May. They continued until the beginning of the plenary assembly, where speeches were made by guests of the Congress: these included Igor Mozco, Russian deputy, Orlando Gutierrez, secretary of the "Directorio Rivolucionario Democratico Cubano", who announced his enrolment in the Radical Party, and Mike D'Amico, representative of the "Apaches Survival Association" (the Congress sent a telegram to the Pope asking him to intervene against the construction of an astronomical observatory on the sacred mountain of the Apaches in Arizona). After reports on the progress of the proceedings of the Commissions, the general debate was opened. In the evening the delegation of the French "Mouvement des Radicaux de Gauche" arrived: Jean Francois Hory, member of the European Parliament, announced the enrolment in the Radical Party of the French government minister Jean Michel Baylet.

Marco Pannella expressed the difficulty of Congress of bringing together the various feelings of such a wide-ranging Congress in a single document.

On the morning of 2 May, Emma Bonino, the President of the Party, spoke to propose two possible political solutions to the Congress: the convocation of an extraordinary Congress in the near future or the adjournment of the present Congress to a date to be fixed.

A message of warm wishes to the Congress arrived from Carlo Ripa di Meana, EEC Commissioner and member of the Federal Council of the Radical Party. This was followed by speeches by Mario Zagari, former Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Reza Sabri, an anti-Khomeini Iranian, both of whom announced their intention to join the Radical Party.

Following the tragic events in Sarajevo, on the evening of 2 May a delegation from the Congress - including Marco Pannella, Sergio Stanzani, and the Croatian Vice-Premier Zdravko Tomac - visited the President of the Council of Ministers, Giulio Andreotti, to ask for rapid and effective intervention on the part of the European countries to put a stop to the Serbian attacks on Bosnia Hercegovina and the neighbouring countries.

The general debate continued until 10.30 a.m. on 3 May, by which time 112 people from 27 different countries had spoken, including many deputies (whose names are listed on this page). After brief replies from the Treasurer, the First Secretary, the President of the Party and the President of the Federal Council, Lorenzo Strik-Lievers, former Italian deputy, illustrated a procedural motion which, reforming the order of proceedings, established the refoundation of the transnational and transdivisional Party by January 1993, convening the Second Session of the XXXVI Congress for that date. The motion was approved by a large majority.

The First Session came to an end at 1 p.m. on 3 May.

In the afternoon there was a meeting of the Federal Council: the issues on the agenda were the necessity for a wide-scale membership campaign and the preparation of the Second Session of the Congress. A proposal for militant action was approved: each parliamentarian is to make efforts to persuade at least ten colleagues to enrol in the Party. At the same time, paid advertisements are to be placed in the newspapers of each country.

There was seen to be an urgent need for an immediate working group to draw up a draft statute for the new transnational and transdivisional force, to be submitted to the Second Session of the Congress.