Victory in Sicily

For weeks all Italy had been watching the campaign for a regional legislature which has no direct bearing on the national government. But Premier Mario Scelba's Christian Democrats had declared the Sicilian elections a test of their anti-Communist program, and the Communists had accepted the challenge.

Last week 2,322,616 Sicilians voted and the verdict was a resounding victory for the Christian Democrats. They increased their share of the total vote from 31.2% in 1951 to 38.6%. They increased their seats in Sicily's parliament from 30 to 37, giving their regional government, which in Sicily acts in coalition with the Monarchists, an absolute majority. For the Communists, who had been answering losses in northern Italy with the claim that they were gaining in the south, the setback was sharp. They not only failed to gain, but even dropped some 17,000 votes since the 1953 general election. The Communist-Socialist bloc, however, held its 30 seats because. Nenni's -fellow-traveling Socialists picked up 55,000 votes.

But the Christian Democratic victory in Sicily only emphasized the divisions of the party in Rome. Rejoicing most was the faction headed by Party Secretary Amintore Fanfani, who had run the campaign, poured money and workers into Sicily to offset the Communists' $10 million election drive, and conclusively demonstrated that he could influence voters and win elections.

By increasing Fanfani's stature, the elections diminished the influence of Scelba himself. Fanfani had scored another point. Scelba has always insisted that the Christian Democrats' coalition with the small center parties (Liberals, Republicans and Social Democrats) is the only possible government in the present Parliament, and that a stable government is essential even if its disagreements result in immobilismo (doing nothing). Fanfani has argued that these splinter parties hobble any effective Christian-Democratic program. In the Sicilian elections, the small parties lost almost half their votes, giving weight to Fanfani's thesis.

Scelba was also under attack from his party's right wing, led by ex-Premier Pella. This week Scelba faces a vote of confidence, and the word was out that his days in office are numbered. The numbering is not new: it has gone on ever since he took office. As of last week, Mario Scelba's days in office numbered 487.

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