Italy Elects Ex-Commie As President

Giorgio Napolitano, 80, has been elected the 11th President of La Repubblica Italiana by Prodi and his coalition. The Italian presidente fosters dialogue, solve disputes and represents "l'unita nazionale" -- national unity. Napolitano will also have power over the military, the power to perform diplomatic and judicial functions (including the nomination of 5 senators to a lifelong appointment) and the power to ratify treaties. The posting lasts 6 years.

Napolitano (speaking above), is a former member of the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) who was active in the resistenza against the Nazi occupation of Italy. In his owns words, Napolitano gives "full and loyal solidariety" to the USA and Nato. In 1992 he served as President of the House, and under Prodi's first government he served as Interior Minister.

Italy still has several active Communist parties, and in the past the PCI was formally linked to the Soviet Union's. Their ties were officially cut in 1981 when the Soviets repressed Solidarność, the Polish trade union federation once led by the now-famous Lech Walesa.

So, what did Berlusconi, a fervent anti-Communist, have to say about an ex-Communist being President of the Republic? Berlusconi, unlike his coalition partners La Lega Nord, recognizes the appointment of Napolitano as president of the Italian Republic, but he does promise to stage a "sciopero fiscale" -- a fiscal strike. "We too (like the Left) will do parlamentary obstructionism. Our opposition will not be like the Left's has been, however, where they opposed everything we put forward. But it will surely be carried out with all the means that the Left has taught us to apply. Our parlamentary obstructionism will be, as always, a conscious, serious and direct opposition, intended to represent the interests of the citizens."

Stormy times ahead.