A number of ministers in the government opposed the whole concept. Some were moderates who favoured negotiating a peaceful solution with the partisans. Others thought the proposal was impractical. The Minister of Defence, Marshal Graziani, took the view that because the proposal came from Pavolini, who was closely associated with the Republican Fascist Party, it would compromise the "apolitical" traditions of the army, and opposed it on that basis. The involvement of the Black Brigades in the project made it unpopular with the military hierarchy.
