Central Organizations of Defense by Martin Edmonds

Author:Martin Edmonds [Edmonds, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429705625
Goodreads: 44598145
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

Parliamentary Control

Parliamentary control in defense and military policy suffers from both the lack of a clear distribution of political responsibility and the long antimilitarist and anti-Atlanticist tradition of the Left. The anti-Atlanticist policy was finally relinquished by the Socialists in 1961, and more gradually by the Communist party in the period 1973–1979. The more recent opposition of the Communists to the deployment of cruise missiles and its pacifist stance should not imply that the Communist party has rejected Atlanticism. In fact, a motion calling for the withdrawal of Italy from the Alliance, proposed by the Stalinist minority at the last Communist party congress (1983) was rejected by a 95 percent majority.

Antimilitarism, though disavowed in the past by all of the political parties, with the exception of the Radical party, maintains instead a strong influence on the politics, ideology, and supporters of the left wing of the Christian Democrats, Socialists, and Communists, and of the leftist Independents. Since 1973 these political groups have given up their old policies of the 1960s in order to appoint a parliamentary commissioner to control and protect democracy inside the armed forces, along the lines of the Swedish “ombudsman” model.

The defense committees of both chambers, provided for by parliamentary regulations, generally include a few members of Parliament coming from the armed forces. In 1948 they were all Christian Democrats, but in the recent past (1979–1983), the legislature included three Christian Democrats from the armed forces: two admirals in the Senate and one officer from the Carabinieri, Bruno Stegagnini, in the Chamber of Deputies. There was also a military representative for the neo-Fascists, Vito Miceli; the Socialists, Falco Accame; the Social Democrats, Magliane; and the leftist independent parties, Nino Pasti.

In the present legislature (1984), there are only four representatives from the active armed services: two Christian Democrats, one Social Democrat, and one neo-Fascist. However, many civilian members of Parliament, mostly from the Left, have had wide experience in defense and military matters, and are supported by the specialized research institutes of their parties. The Socialists have the Institute pergli Studi di Politica 1nternazionale (ISPI); the Communists, the Centro Studi di Politica 1nternazionale (CESPI); the Radical Party, the Institute di Ricerca per il Disarmo lo Sviluppo e la Pace (IRDISP); the Leftist Independents, the Archivo Disarmo; and the left wing of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, the Instituto per la Relazioni con i Paesi dell Africa, America Latina e Medio Oriente (IPALMO). There also exists an interparty institute, the Instituto Studi e Ricerche Difesa (ISTRID), and many other private and university institutes with political connections.4

The defense committees are involved in the preliminary discussions of every bill, budget, and political activity concerning the armed forces and the ministry of defense. The less important bills, presented by the government and requested by the minister of defense, are passed by the committees following a short, formal procedure consisting of examination and discussion. The committees also meet jointly with other parliamentary committees, such as the committees of constitutional affairs, foreign affairs, home affairs, industry, and budget.

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