of Italian communists) sought to resist the attempt to establish a provisional government. Years of opposition After the failed attempt at a coup in 1957, the PCS remained an opposition party in San Marino, excluded from the government coalition. The new non-communist government won reelection in September 1959, with the PCS's parliamentary delegation falling to 16 members, joined by 8 Socialists. The PCS remained a recognized independent member of the international communist movement, sending delegations to international conferences in 1957, 1959, and 1960 and to the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in October 1961. With the split of the world communist movement into pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese factions during the 1960s, the PCS remained firmly pro-Soviet. In national elections held on September 8, 1974, the PCS received 3,246 votes (23% of those cast) and won 16 seats to the Great and General Council — a gain of 1 seat from the previous election, held in 1969. Return to government In 1978 the PCS returned to government as part of a coalition with the Socialist Party and a new organization formed three years earlier, the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU). This made San Marino in 1978 the only country in Western Europe with a Communist Party as a participant in a governing coalition. A scheduled election held on May 29, 1983 saw the PCs receiving 24.3% of the vote cast for the General Council (parliament), thereby electing 15 Communists to the body. These were joined by 9 Socialists, and 8 members of the SUP — a total of 32 of the 60 seats as part of a new Communist-Socialist unity government. This government remained in power until a 1986 corruption scandal shattered the Socialists, with the Communists remaining in government through an unlikely coalition with the center-right Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party (PDCS) until 1992. At the national election held on May 29, 1988, the PCS garnered 28.7% of the votes cast, winning 18 of 60 seats on the General Council. Structure The PCS was governed by a 17-member Central Committee, elected at periodic party congresses. This body selected a 10-member Executive Committee from its ranks to handle daily party governance. The General Secretary of the organization from its 1940 reformation until the early 1970s was Ermenegildo Gasperoni. In 1973, Gasperoni was moved into the more ceremonial role of party chairman, with Umberto Barulli (1921-1993) taking the helm as