No. 726
Editorial Note

In the municipal and provincial elections held in southern Italy on May 25, the parties of the Left and particularly those of the Right registered impressive gains at the expense of the Center coalition of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Liberals, and Republicans. Although the Center parties won about 51 percent of the vote, their total was about one-third less than it had been in 1948. The Christian Democratic Party retained control of the city administration in Rome and in about half the other cities where there was voting. The Monarchist Party made substantial gains in the cities of Naples and Bari, while the gains of Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), though not as striking as those of the Monarchists, were more widespread throughout the south. An early appraisal of the election results is in a memorandum of May 28 from Bon-bright to Bruce. (765.00/5–2852) An analysis by the Embassy in Rome of both the 1951 and 1952 local elections is in despatch 2939, June 19. (765.00/6–1952)