The parties born from the ribs of the Christian Democrats, PPI and CDU, with a final sentence passed by a Rome court, were legally acknowledged not to be heirs of the Christian Democrat Party. This sentence was passed so they would not have to pay the debts of the DC. At the request of a group of party members, the Rome law court has recently acknowledged the existence and legitimacy of the DC and appointed Professor Alessandro Duce as guarantor for the next congress, when the members will decide on the future of the “White Whale”. To learn more about it, we interviewed Professor Alessandro Duce. This interview is shown below. Alessandro Duce received me in his office on the third floor of the historical building in P.za del Gesù. The secretary acted as filter between the professor and the numerous persons waiting; the telephone was ringing without interruption and so after greeting the professor, I come directly to the point.

D. Professor from what I have seen, you have taken on a very hard task, removing the DC from intensive therapy will not be easy. My first question is this: hadn’t the DC been liquidated by Hon. Martinazzoli?

R. No, no, members have never been called upon to decide the future of the party, never mind it’s being wrapped up.

D. “How come the mass media failed to provide coverage of the press conference given by you in a room at Montecitorio to inform about the Court decision? Almost a conspiracy of silence?

R. It takes time……..of course those who had hoped that the DC had been cancelled from Italian and European social life have been disappointed and are now concerned. We are in fact alive and well. There is a lot of excitement among members and the number of new members is rising daily. The regional press gives wide coverage to our initiatives.

D. What will the parties who have shared out the DC’s assets do? Who will the highly contested crossed shield go to?

R. All you need do is read the court sentence to know what will happen. Everything returns to the rightful owner - as you see, the shield is on our writing paper and everything relating to the DC belongs to us.

D. Doesn’t the risk exist of creating yet another little party?

R. Quite the opposite. First of all we are not a new party. Over the years, as director of the DC, I have always conformed with all bureaucratic and economic requirements and consequently the DC is totally in order, with all relevant rights and powers, while the parties created by the leaders of the various currents are gradually breaking up, with traumatic divisions also in terms of line-up. Ours however is the home of all those who were and are DC; a welcoming home, with doors and windows wide open. There are no pre-established hierarchies, there are no occupied executive “posts”. My task is to organise the congress, guaranteeing transparency and smooth operation. The Congress will indicate the instruments of organisation and political representation able to open up new and dynamic paths for participating in the debate and in the decisions affecting the country’s future.

D. What is your development project in the current politics of our country?

R. Alessandro Duce points out: ”I have already mentioned social market economy, combining efficiency and solidarity. I could add that it is necessary to achieve a transition from a logic of ideological representation of the State and society to a planning and management logic without, however, losing sight of the fundamental references to the specificity of the Italy system.

D. But who will you join up with? This is my final question – or in more simple terms, are you with the Casa delle Libertà or the Ulivo? Anyone intending to join the party must know this, and this is also true for potential electors”.

R. The DC has always been a centre party. Personally, I believe we have more in common with the Casa delle Libertà on well-defined programmes. In any case, the future of the party and its political line will be established by party members. Naturally, it is highly unlikely that a real Christian Democrat will co-exist and join up with Communists like Cossutta, or currently in the centre-left, very left and little centre, but even more so with Rifondazione comunista and the no-globals. We have to clear up an important point. First of all, we have a crucial duty: to restore political and moral dignity to all DC members who have been wrongly deprived of affirming and defending the values in which they believe. We must give them the possibility of freely deciding the party’s political future. This is the ruling of the Rome court’s sentence and this is the road we intend following without risk of deviation.

D. “Deviation? – I interrupt. Do you mean you are under pressure to withdraw?

R: Don’t let’s exaggerate - replies the professor smiling. No one can force us to withdraw.

This is what the guarantor of the Christian Democrats said, a man of few words, but of deep culture. How can we contradict him? Just a quip to lighten up a very serious interview. Historical nemesis: Duce will be guiding the White Whale through the stormy seas of Italian politics. We can only wish him every success.

Translated by Interpres sas