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INTERNATIONAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY: 1980 |
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1 JANUARY - Italy - Hunger, Nonviolence 3/8 JANUARY - Italy: Rome - Hunger FEBRUARY - Strasbourg - Hunger FEBRUARY - Cambodia - Human Rights, Antimilitarism MARCH - Italy - XXIII RP CONGRESS (Extraordinary) MARCH - Italy - Hunger in the World APRIL - Italy: Rome (St. Peter’s) - Hunger, Nonviolence NOVEMBER - Italy: Rome?? - XXIV RP CONGRESS NOVEMBER - EP; Strasbourg - Hunger
The Radical Party collects over 500,000 signatures on a referendum for the legalization of soft drugs, which was to have been held in 1981. In January of that year the Constitutional Court declared that it was unconstitutional. 1 JANUARY - Italy - Hunger, Nonviolence First collective Gandhian satyagraha held in Europe. Hundreds of Radical activists commit to an action of malnutrition (an intake of less than a thousand calories per day: the average in underdeveloped countries) until April, asking the various Governments to undertake extraordinary actions against hunger. 3/8 JANUARY - Italy: Rome - Hunger Debate in the Chamber of Deputies, and approval of a motion in which previous commitments are simply confirmed. Malnutrition action continues. (NR NO. 2/84 P. 19) FEBRUARY - Strasbourg - Hunger On the initiative of the Radical Party the EP organizes two public hearings attended by SAOUMA, Director General of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), TANGO, President of the World Food Council, and various international experts. (NR no.2/84 p.19) FEBRUARY - Cambodia - Human Rights, Antimilitarism Radical delegation takes part in an international march to protest against the conditions endured by Cambodian refugees. (NR no. 2/84 p.16) MARCH - Italy - XXIII RP CONGRESS (Extraordinary) Motion analysing the Party and its prospects. "The Preamble to the Statute of the Radical Party" is presented. Congress also decideds to darken the symbol of the Radical Party as a sign of mourning, until the politics of death by hunger and war are overcome. (NR no. 2/84 p. 16) MARCH - Italy - Hunger in the World Translation and publication of the report drawn up by the Commission on Hunger in the World set up by newly-elected U.S. President Jimmy Carter. (NR no.2/84 p.19) APRIL - Italy: Rome (St. Peter’s) - Hunger, Nonviolence Easter March in which 40,000 people and delegations from all over Europe participate. The satyagraha - malnutrition action undertaken by hundreds of people - ends with a week-long fast. (NR no.2/84 p. 16) Marco PANNELLA presents various reports from important authorities and international institutions to the President of the parliamentary working group set up to deal with hunger in the world. He proposes that the allocation of 0.7% of GNP be made a legal obligation for each country, and indicates under "food strategies" (multiple intervention in specific regions and territories) the most effective approach, also requesting the Community to call a meeting of the UN Security Council to proclaim a state of crisis in areas where hunger prevails. None of these recommendations are accepted during the debate, and the generic final document is approved by everyone, except the Radicals. (NR no. 2/84 p.19) NOVEMBER - Italy: Rome - XXIV RP CONGRESS The RP Congress adopts the Preamble to the Statute of the Radical Party, proposed at the previous Congress: "proclaims the rights and the laws, also in a political sense, of the Radical Party; proclaims that the legitimacy of institutions originates, unfailingly, in their being respected; proclaims an obligation to civil disobedience, non compliance, and conscientious objection, and to the supreme forms of nonviolent struggle for the defence - with life - of life, rights, and the law. Affirms the Christian and humanistic imperative: "do not destroy the value of historically independent laws, not even the law of self-defence." NOVEMBER - EP: Strasbourg - Hunger Budget debate. Radical proposals once again rejected. (NR no. 2/84 p. 20) |