Freedom in the World 1998 - Italy

1998 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 1.5
Civil Liberties: 2
Political Rights: 1

Overview

After securing Italian participation in the first round of European Monetary Union (EMU), Prime Minister Romano Prodi fell victim to the political infighting that has characterized Italian coalition governments since World War II. He succumbed in October, when Fausto Bertinotti's Communist Renewal (RC) voted against the government's draft 1999 budget. Meanwhile, constitutional reform, seen as the most important item on the political agenda after EMU, died at the hands of opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi in May.

Modern Italian history dates from the nineteenth-century movement for national unification. Most of Italy had merged into one kingdom by 1870. Italy allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary at the outset of World War I, but switched to side with the Allied Powers. From 1922-43, the country was a fascist dictatorship under Benito Mussolini. A referendum in 1946 replaced the monarchy with a republican constitution.

Ongoing tensions between Prodi's center-left government, led by Massimo D'Alema's Democrats of the Left (DS) and the far left, on whom it depended for parliamentary support, largely centered around government efforts to bring the economy into line with Maastricht Treaty criteria for EMU. While economic austerity had been Prodi's top priority since he took office in 1996, Bertinotti consistently opposed measures that would cut into Italy's bloated welfare state. After the European Commission declared Italy eligible for the first round of EMU in late March, hardline leftists increased pressure on Prodi to reward their cooperation with his economic policies. Demands included aid to the underdeveloped south, where unemployment reaches 25 percent, and implementation of a 35-hour work week.

Relations fell into crisis in late June, when the RC voted against the government on NATO expansion. A new center-right grouping led by Francesco Cossiga helped pass the measure, but the viability of the coalition was thrown into doubt. On October 4, the RC voted against the 1999 draft budget, sparking a vote of confidence in the government as well as a rebellion within the RC. Opposed to splitting with the government, RC chairman Armando Cossutta resigned, taking 21 of the RC's 34 members with him. Despite their support, Prodi lost the vote of confidence and resigned on October 9.

After nearly two weeks of political wrangling, Massimo D'Alema formed a new center-left government and took office on October 21 as the first former Communist to lead a major Western European country. D'Alema's government, which comprises his DS along with Cossiga's centrists and Cossutta's Party of Italian Communists, declared its commitment to stay Prodi's economic course, develop and boost jobs in the south, and continue to participate in NATO. D'Alema also announced his intention to cooperate with the conservative opposition on electoral reform.

The bicamerale, which was set up in 1997 to tackle constitutional reform, collapsed in early June when center-right leader Berlusconi withdrew his support. Berlusconi, beset by corruption allegations and handed two jail sentences in July for bribery and illegal political donations, had demanded a complete overhaul of the judiciary. Analysts expressed concern that the failure of the bicamerale would jeopardize a range of economic and structural reforms necessary for Italy's effective participation in EMU. And only electoral reform will do away with the system of proportional representation which allows the influence of numerous small parties to destabilize coalitions.

D'Alema faced his first test of foreign policy in November, when Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was arrested at Rome's Fiumicino airport on an outstanding Turkish warrant. Italy's leftist politicians campaigned for asylum, while Turkey demanded extradition. Because of a policy prohibiting extradition to countries which practice capital punishment, Italy refused to send Ocalan to Turkey. Despite Turkish threats of retaliation, a Rome court in December declared Ocalan free to leave the country.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Italians can change their government democratically. The president, whose role is largely ceremonial, is elected to a seven-year term by an assembly of parliamentarians and delegates from the Regional Councils. The president chooses the prime minister, who is often, but not always, a member of the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament. Members of the upper house, the Senate, represent the regions.

Italian citizens are free to form political organizations, with the exception of the constitutionally forbidden prewar fascist party. The postwar constitution, designed to prevent another Mussolini-style dictatorship, sharply restricts the powers of the executive in favor of the legislative and judicial branches. The result has been unstable governing coalitions, political deadlock, and heavy reliance on the referendum as a political tool.

Italy's judiciary is independent but notoriously slow. A 1995 law allows for preventive detention as a last resort or in cases in which there is convincing evidence of a serious offense, such as a crime involving the Mafia or related to drugs, arms, or subversion. A maximum of two years' preliminary investigation is permitted. The average waiting period for a trial is about 18 months, but can exceed two years. In Italy, a defendant is given two chances to appeal a guilty verdict, during which he is presumed innocent and not jailed. Some 93 percent of people convicted in a first trial never go to jail. The average civil trial lasts between three and five years.

The Italian press is free and competitive, with restrictions on obscenity and defamation. Most of the 80 daily newspapers are independently owned. The main state-owned network and the three main channels of Radio Audizioni Italiane (RAI) provide Italians with most of their news. Their boards of directors are entirely parliament-appointed.

In June 1997, the government instituted an 18-month trial period during which bars, petrol stations, supermarkets, and other businesses were granted licenses to sell newspapers and magazines. Traditionally, these items are sold only at kiosks or shops with exclusive licenses, and the newspaper vendors' association has lobbied to protect its monopoly. The result has been poor availability of print news outside major town centers.

An authority created in 1997 to monitor privacy issues may censure the media for violating citizens' right to privacy, and may impose fines for repeat offenses. A privacy law also introduced in 1997 requires that information be published in a "lawful and correct" manner and carries penalties of up to three years in jail.

In November 1998, Reporters Sans Frontiers reported that at least five Turkish journalists were beaten and arrested by police on their way to cover the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan.

Freedom of assembly and association are guaranteed by the constitution, though fascist and racist groups are accepted. Unions are active, and labor groups have been bolstered recently by the increasing influence of leftist hardliners in government. However, unions were weakened by a 1995 voter referendum and government legislation aimed at restricting their power.

Religious freedom is guaranteed in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Italy's first grand mosque opened in 1995. North African migrants comprise many of the estimated 650,000 Muslims residing in Italy.

Under pressure from EU partners, the Italian parliament approved a new immigration law in February 1998 which would allow police to detain people who enter the country without applying for asylum. Until now, those denied asylum were given 15 days to leave Italy, a period used by many to travel north to countries like Germany and France. Others have found jobs in the black economy.