ABSTRACT
At the PSI Congress Craxi demanded the resignation of De Mita and proposed the formation of a new cabinet. In fact, the party which did particularly well was the PSI, whose successful electoral results were, from time to time, called by Craxi l'ondalunga, meaning the slow, but steady, process leading to the overtaking of the Italian Communist Party. The real danger for the party, the neo-revisionist argument proceeded, was that the collapse of Communism might lead to the collapse of Socialist ideals in general. The document presented by Antonio Bassolino in the run-up to the 20th party Congress due in January-February 1991, was hemmed in by this 'cross-cutting nature'. Occhetto's problem was not only the ultra-reformism of miglioristi, but also various objections put forward by prominent party cadres who finally supported his proposal in the decisive Congress in March.
