ABSTRACT: The Assembly of Parliamentarians stated the top-priority initiatives of the Radical Party in its final motion. The parliamentarians have also decided to take on the responsibility, also as regards financing, of the creation and administration of new Party offices in the various countries, in order to expand autonomous transnational structures and services; and to publish and distribute "Parliamentary Agency", a newsletter directly linked to the principal party organs.

(THE PARTY new, N. 11, 27 july 1993)

Two hundred and forty-eight of the more than 500 parliamentarians and ministers - from almost 50 countries - who have already joined the Radical Party, took part in the Assembly of Parliamentarians which met for four days in Sofia. Many of them came from the new Republics born from the break-up of the Soviet Union and its empire: Russians and Byelorussians, Armenians and Kazakhs, Ukrainians and Lithuanians. Then there were the Poles, and about twenty Romanians. The Bulgarians numbered more than forty. Alexandar Jordanov, Speaker of the Bulgarian Chamber of Deputies, took part in the proceedings and announced during his speech that he had joined the Radical Party. The other major group of parliamentarians came from the regions of the former Yugoslavia, and included Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, Macedonians... French and Bolivian parliamentarians rubbed elbows with deputies from South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali and Somalia. Adem Demaci, Sacharov Peace Prize laureate, who has served 28 years in jail, was also there.

So were Mohamed Aden Sheik, former Somali minister, and Basile Guissou from Burkina Faso, who have also been imprisoned in their own countries. "Pannella's UN" (thus ran the headline in one Italian newspaper) announced its transnational initiatives, four years after the Budapest Congress held in April '89, which opted for the transnational and transdivisional/cross-party choice. The Bulgarian gathering, therefore, represented the departure point for verifying to what extent the transnational initiative can take the form of political action in the various countries and in the individual parliaments. For this reason, the Radical Party set itself five objectives: to ensure that the commitments taken, and the deadlines set regarding the constitution of the UN International Court to judge war crimes in the Ex-Yugoslavia - and particularly those connected with the ethnic cleansing and genocide now in progress - are respected; to take action so that the recognition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Mon

tenegro) is dependent on the absolute guarantee of people's rights in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo and Vojvodina; to campaign for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide by 2000; to implement an anti-prohibitionist policy on drugs and to modify the international Conventions which bind the various countries to a prohibitionist policy; to work towards the adoption of an international language. Action will also be taken to have the new Macedonian Republic recognized by those parliaments which have not already done so.

Only five months previously, the possibility of the Party's having to disband was avoided, thanks to the remarkable efforts made by Italian activists who, last February, brought the number of members up to more than 30,000 (there are now almost 42,000 members, of which about 4,500 are non-Italian) and collected over thirteen billion lire in subscriptions, etc. Now, we will see to what degree the parliamentarians who have joined the Radical Party are capable of become the "ruling class" of the transnational Party, with regard to their capacity to take action, in their individual parliaments and governments, concerning a number of specific objectives. "Unlike so many nongovernmental organizations which pursue the laudable aim of bringing serious problems to the notice of public opinion, our goal has always remained the same - also at a transnational level - that is, to realize specific objectives," explains Bonino. "To create new laws via the democratic reform of national institutions, via political, parliamen

tary and nonviolent campaigns. We will only succeed if the Radical Party instrument is equal to the task." The majority of non-Italian members are from Eastern Europe and from Africa... "At the present time, we have almost no members in industrialized countries. We would be mistaken in thinking that we can help to solve international political problems, if we are unable to create even the smallest pressure groups in the countries which have most clout.

The Radical Party created a number of new organs, each with different responsibilities, at the Sofia meeting. Thus, the Assembly of Parliamentarians was created to coordinate political initiatives in the individual parliaments. It is led by the President of the Radical Party. Marco Pannella was elected to this office, despite his earlier decision not to accept further appointments. The Office of the Presidency of the Assembly is formed by: Russian deputy, Sergej Sheboldaev; French Euro MP, Jean François Hory; Zdravko Tomac,former Deputy Leader of the Croat Government; Jean Claude Bouda from Burkina Faso; Adelaide Aglietta, Euro MP and Leader of the Green Group, and Francesco D'Onofrio, Christian Democrat elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

Olivier Dupuis, a Belgian aged 33, who has played an important role in Radical activities and in the construction of the transnational Party for many years, was elected President of the General Council. Bruno Zevi was appointed Honorary President. Despite the fact that he was re-elected as Treasurer in February '93, Paolo Vigevano has chosen to return as full-time manager of Radical Radio, after an absence of five years. The Treasurer of the Radical Party is Ottavio Lavaggi, Republican deputy elected to the Italian Chamber, who was Head of international relations for the Republican Party for more than 15 years. He was also Secretary of the Liberal and Democratic Group in the European Parliament.

Having set themselves the above objectives and assumed the above responsibilites in the new structure, the Radicals are ready to meet the challenge, which includes facing the economic difficulties that will once again present themselves in a few months, and proving their ability to create policies for inividual countries and to finally "make it" in the "well-off" countries, including member states of the EC and the United States. In the meantime the Radical leaders, strengthened by the fact that they have created an autonomous political instrument which departs from the out-moded concept of a "party" or an "international", and having so many parliamentarians on their side, have asked that the Party be allowed to join the U.N. Not merely as observers, but in an advisory capacity. The request will be formally presented in just a few months. Furthermore, Bonino has met with Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General of the U.N., several times in recent months; and the Secretary General's representative, Nadia Younes, mad

e a speech at the Sofia meeting.