Word: fanfani
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Just before leaving for a good-will visit to the U.S., Italy's careful little Premier, Mario Scelba, faced trouble inside his precarious four-party coalition government. Two small groups in the coalition were quarreling, and the Christian Democrats' own ambitious and powerful secretary-general, Amintore Fanfani, was demanding an immediate showdown (TIME, March...
...some negative votes to abstention. Carefully, they picked the men to switch-no Deputy wanted to be the only one in his area to vote for German arms. The Catholics of the M.R.P. had already heard from their Christian Democrat colleagues in Germany and Italy (Amintore Fanfani, boss of the Italian Christian Democrats, made a missionary trip to Paris). In their caucus, "good European" Robert Schuman announced that he intended to vote yes, and was greeted by jeers from the unforgiving followers of Georges Bidault...
Though Scelba is Premier, the head of the party (and its real organizational strongman) is Amintore Fanfani. Fanfani, who wants to be Premier again himself some day, has supported the Scelba government publicly. But he has been careful not to identify himself with it, and is not in the Cabinet. He has often been privately critical. Fanfani could bring down the government now. But he would rather wait until he judges the moment ripe, and his own political machine ready, for a new election. Fanfani's temporizing contributes to immobilismo...
Last week, as Fanfani took the desk, he moved with the smooth punctilio that Italians appreciate and practice. Some pleasant "understandings" were quietly arranged. First Fanfani "urged" De Gasperi to continue as party secretary, and professed to be surprised when the old man said no. Presumably Fanfani then promised to back De Gasperi for President of Italy, a job with more prestige than power, which will probably fall vacant when 81-year-old Luigi Einaudi finishes his seven-year term next May. Fanfani also reportedly gave assurances of continued backing to the government of fellow Demo-Christian Mario Scelba...
...meeting of the National Council, Fanfani called De Gasperi "our teacher and guide," Scelba "my dear friend," and proposed that the council elect to membership his two chief opponents, Giuseppe Pella of the Demo-Christian right wing, and Giovanni Gronchi of the left, who had been passed over at Naples. In his short acceptance speech, Fanfani used the word friend 50 times. His friendliness proved contagious: the changeover was completely harmonious...