In April, Gianni Alemanno of Alleanza Nazionale was elected Mayor of Rome — the first rightwinger to hold the office since the Second World War. Recently, critics have accused Mr Berlusconi — who last week announced plans to merge his Forza Italia with Alleanza Nazionale next year — of encouraging racist attacks on immigrants by blaming gypsies and illegal immigrants for street crime.
What is at stake for Mr Fini is his calculated transformation of the postwar remnants of the Fascist Party into a mainstream, democratic, conservative party — and a springboard for power. He has visited Israel several times, praying at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and has forged close ties with Rome’s Jewish community.
He faces formidable resistance, however, in the form of Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the Duce, who is heading a grassroots revolt. Ms Mussolini, a former model and actress who has forcefully defended her grandfather’s reputation since entering politics in 1992, and who is the niece of Sophia Loren, appeared in Parliament recently wearing a striking T-shirt reading “Proud to be on the wrong side” — a reference to those who fought for Fascism rather than Resistance during the war. -link
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