Word: frondisti
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...Gasperi's Christian Democratic Party is composed of widely divergent political factions, held together in the past by a common fear of Communism and by De Gasperi's skill as a compromiser. One of the factions that has been acting up is the Frondisti* who are left-wingers and want a faster program of social reform. At the other end of the Demo-Christian spectrum is a right-wing faction which wants less social reform (notably, less land reform). Its members are known as the Vespisti, because they meet in the club-rooms of Rome's Vespa...
Last month the extreme wings of the party began to flutter dangerously. Both the Frondisti and the Vespisti started maneuvering for more seats in the cabinet. Last week De Gasperi called a meeting of all Christian Democratic Deputies, outlined the government's program for the next few months, and demanded a vote of confidence. After 40 hours of stormy debate, he got it. But in the Chamber of Deputies later in the week, on a relatively minor issue (a Communist-sponsored amendment to a bill calling for a nationwide inventory of critical raw materials), De Gasperi was defeated...
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