US embassy cable - 03ROME5547

UNCLAS  ROME 005547 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, IT, UN 
SUBJECT: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME; FINI'S RUNS THROUGH ISRAEL 
 
REF:  TEL AVIV 6798 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: Deputy Prime Minister and National 
Alliance (AN) leader Gianfranco Fini's long-awaited visit 
to Israel capped his years-long effort to wean AN from its 
fascist roots and transform it into a mainstream, 
democratic, "normal" party.  While attracting support from 
centrists and even some in the opposition, Fini's remarks 
in Israel created hard feelings among militants and the 
nostalgic in AN, who considered his statements an offense 
to the party's legacy.  Fini's position in the party is not 
for the moment in danger; if anything, his Italian 
political star shines even more brightly.  His goal is to 
create a single center-right party, with the obvious 
thought of one day being its leader.  In the meantime, 
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's brief absence from the 
public fueled renewed rumors of possible cancer, reopening 
debate on who his successor might be -- at a most 
propitious time for his Deputy Prime Minister.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.  (U)  During his November 24-27 visit to Israel, Fini 
condemned fascism, racism, and anti-Semitism in a speech at 
Yad Vashem.  He said that all must take responsibility for 
and condemn the Holocaust, not only the executioners but 
also those who stood by and watched, letting racial laws 
take their course.  Accepting responsibility not only 
provides closure with the past, but also paves the way for 
the future.  In the future, Fini said, no one could deny 
his/her role in racism and anti-Semitism, or seek others to 
blame.  The Deputy Prime Minister concluded that all should 
take responsibility.  In response to a press question, Fini 
said he had changed his mind about Mussolini's being a 
great statesman.  Fascism, he declared, was the absolute 
evil. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Fini's renunciation of fascism earned accolades 
on the center-left and among at least a few centrist or 
left-leaning "normal voters" with whom we've spoken.  It 
also generated considerable consternation in AN's right 
fringe.  Three currents coexist within AN.  The party's 
"Social Right" movement references AN's traditions, 
populism, and a degree of nationalism.  The "Leading Right" 
promotes rightist views on federalism and Europe, as well 
as development of Italy's south.  The "New Alliance" (the 
Fini wing) seeks to strengthen the Deputy Prime Minister's 
profile in a mainstream democratic party capable of 
reaching contemporary voters and to pave the way for Fini 
as a future Prime Minister.  The Fini faction, usually with 
the support of the Leading Right, contemplates AN's 
eventual merger into a single party of the center-right; 
the Social Right has no interest in such a merger. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Following Fini's statements in Israel, 
Parliament Deputy Alessandra Mussolini -- granddaughter to 
Italy's World War II fascist dictator, who has little 
independent political following -- resigned from the party 
over the "offense to her grandfather's name."  Lazio 
Regional President Francesco Storace, Social Right faction 
leader and AN co-founder with Fini, saw an opportunity to 
appeal to the party's "base" of believers in the "ancien 
regime."  (NOTE:  The most die-hard fascists arguably did 
not follow AN when it was created from the Italian Social 
Movement (MSI) in 1994.  Rather, they remained with the 
small, far-right Tricolor Flame Italian Social Movement, 
another fascist inheritor.  END NOTE.)  On December 3, 
Storace held a convention (planned before Fini's Israel 
trip) and announced that, while he had no intention of 
splitting AN or giving birth to a new internal current, he 
would create the "Storace List" to bring together party 
members who do not agree with Fini's line.  At the same 
time Storace asked for an AN National Congress to be held 
before 2004 European elections to discuss party platform 
and leadership.  Interestingly, shortly thereafter, fellow 
Social Right leader and Agricultural Minister Gianni 
Alemmano (and others) dissented from the idea of a party 
congress. 
 
5.  (U)  On November 29-30, the Leading Right faction held 
a convention in Arezzo.  The convention opened with a 
discussion of Fini's trip to Israel and subsequent intra- 
party polemics.  A debate on the future of the center-right 
coalition followed.  Participants largely joined in calling 
for a unified party of the center-right, with the first 
step being a unified list for European elections. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Meanwhile, Fini called for a National Assembly 
to be held on December 23 to test party consensus.  (The 
proposed convention has since been postponed at least until 
January.)  His intention would be to create a "restraining 
belt" around Storace by gaining the consensus of all three 
components of AN, including Storace's own Social Right. 
Fini already succeeded in verifying that Storace's move was 
not, for the moment, supported by Agriculture Minister 
Alemanno.  Fini has used this strategy in the past, 
maintaining his primacy as the party's only leader with 
national recognition and appeal. 
 
7.  (SBU)  While AN's internal foment fermented, PM 
Berlusconi was struck with what we have consistently been 
told was a case of gastrointestinal flu.  His illness 
caused him to cancel, inter alia, a trip to India at the 
head of the EU Troika and several other major public 
functions.  The Prime Minister has survived prostate 
cancer, and this illness -- as have others in the past -- 
prompted speculation that he might be suffering a 
recurrence of the cancer.  Such ruminations bring the 
inevitable question of "who after Berlusconi for the center- 
right."  With the extensive, and generally positive, public 
attention garnered from his Israel trip, such a question, 
macabre or no, could hardly have come at a better time for 
DPM Fini. 
 
8.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Fini has worked hard to prove his 
institutional credentials and enhance his image as a future 
prime minister.  Indeed, his renunciation of fascism and 
the Holocaust succeeded in winning him the praise and 
support of some center-left politicians and at least a few 
centrist or left-leaning voters.  His trip to Israel was 
the long-awaited (ten years in the making) confirmation of 
his, and AN's, emergence from their post-fascist shroud. 
The makeover of AN to a mainstream, democratic, center- 
right party brings inevitable tensions, but senior AN 
figures are aware that a split would not enhance the 
party's national standing.  Storace can be expected to 
challenge his one-time boss and ally for party leadership, 
but Fini undoubtedly holds more cards.  We predict he will 
keep the party together, with him at the helm, at least 
until the European elections.  It is unlikely he and like- 
minded colleagues will succeed in the vision of a united 
center-right prior to those elections, however -- not a 
single electoral list, much less a single party.  At that 
time, the electors will give their views on the direction 
of the Deputy PM's future.  END COMMENT. 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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 2003ROME05547 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED