La Stampa

May 21st 1947

A shocking turn of events has emerged out of the Presidential Office in Rome. President Enrico di Nicola acting as head of the Provisional Government in cooperation with Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi announced the formal expulsion of all members aligned with the Communist Party of Italy and the Socialist Party of Italy from the government cabinet. This includes the famed Minister of Agriculture Fausto Gullo with his agrarian reforms leading to the recent outpouring of support in the South to the PCI.

Tensions have been rising between the conservative bloc headed by the PCI and the left headed by the PCI ever since the foundation of the Republic and the cooperation agreement between the two power blocs in the aftermath of the Second World War. This coalition seems to have finally broken amidst the pressure as the ministry reorganizes with PCI-PSI members stripped of their government positions.

This is in response to the May Crisis in which political unrest and uproar from leftwing laborers and activists emerged in response to the Labor Day killings of 11 striking workers by the infamous bandit Salvatore Giulliano and recent terrorist activities performed by the mafia specifically targetting Communists. The political violence that followed sparked debate and instability between the PCI-PSI and the Christian Democrats who utilized the instability caused by wildcat reprisals by Communists to oust the PCI from government. General Secretary Palmiro Tolgatti of the PCI and Pietro Nenni of the PSI issued a joint letter of denouncement to President Nicola and Gasperi for taking advantage of the nation's instability for short term political gains. Both the PCI and the PSI leadership spoke to La Stampa over closer cooperation between the two parties as a result of their expulsion. Both parties will vote jointly on most issues in Parliament and shall become oppositional parties to the DC.