Committee of the KKE decided to dismiss all 70 members of the Central Council of the Communist youth organization, the
KNE. Following this decision, the Central Council met and reaffirmed its determination to remain as the leadership of the
International Viewpoint #172 • October 30, 1989
GREECE opposition to the party leadership by eminent members continue to be an everyday occurrence. Fifty three of the 70 members of the Central Council of the KNE have come out in support of the secretary of the organization, G. Grapsas, and have denounced the brutal and unconstitutional interference of the KKE leadership in the internal affairs of its youth organization.
The remaining 17 members have either declared themselves neutral or as supporters of "normalization". The overwhelming majority of the KNE's base organizations (amongst others, the organizations in Athens, Piraeus, Patras, Salonika and other university towns) have declared their support for the new opposilional current in the organization.
### Leadership takes direct control of youth organization
Meanwhile, the party leadership has decided to take direct control of the KNE, and has imposed a Bureau composed mainly of party cadres who were formerly members of the youth organization. The Central Council imposed from outside by this Bureau on the KNE have declared their intention to convoke a special congress as soon as possible. But whilst the Bureau considers as already expelled those who have failed to obey the dictates of the Central Committee, the new Central Council has already declared that it will institute the right of tendency, and give the minority the right to circulate its platform and be represented at the
The editorials of the Greek press one and all gave the impression that the KNE was no more than an organization of unreconstructed Stalinists who could not understand any of the realities of modern society. State television, the private radio 12 aad na, i coumal of here daentre 1 and left, including the KKE dailies, unceasingly proclaimed that the dissidents were a product of the past, nothing small-minded dogmatists. main political forces have participated in unprecedented quasi-Stalinist campaign of defamation: on the very when the members of the KNE demonstrated in the street against the massacre at Tiananmen Square, the Greek liberal press was accusing them of being supporters of Deng Xiaoping's butchers!
In reality, the dissident current within the KNE runs deep, and its disagreements with the party leadership centre as much on the key questions of domestic politics as on the situation in the countries of "actually existing socialism".
KKE in coalition with New
Democracy
For example, it is the sharp turn to the right taken by the KKE with the formation of its coalition with the Hellenic Left (EAR)', and above all its participation in the coalition Democracy, a bourgeois party par excellence, that has accelerated the process of differentiation within its ranks. Needless to say, the KNE and the oppositionists in the KKE have declared themselves absolutely opposed to this right turn.
At the same time, the events accompanying perestroika since 1985 have provoked at first questioning and later the maturation of clear anti-Stalinist tendencies, very often culminating in an overall critique of "actually existing socialism"
and of the bureaucracy in the Soviet
Union as well as in the other Eastern bloc countries. It is thus wholly wrong to portray the KNE as made up of people nostalyouth organization. N. CHAMPI gic for the Stalinist past. In reality, the positions it has taken both in theory and in practice are bringing it closer and closer to the stance of the far left, and somefimes even its revolutionary Marxist current.
Obviously, there are political differenc es between the positions of the majority of the KNE youth and the oppositionists inside the party. As one might expect, the harsh treatment of eminent members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and other leadership bodies of the KKE has created an opposition whose ideas are not very clear and whose antiStalinism is of very recent vintage.
This has a positive aspect, in that the administrative measures of the leadership have swelled the ranks of the opposition, but also a negative aspect in that the newcomers (especially the older cadres) are not quite on the same wavelength as the majority tendency inside the youth organization. However, there are differentiations within the Party opposition.
In fact, there are a number of eminent leaders who enjoy great prestige amongst the rank and file (for example, party ideologue N. Kotzias?, a well-known intellectual; professor E. director of the Centre of Marxist Studics, G. Maniatis), who are already very close to the positions of the KNE in terms of having a radical critique of Stalinism and reformism in all its forms.
### Opposition to class collaboration
To summarize, one can identify key elements that unite all the oppositionists. Firstly there is their common opposi tion to the capitulations made by the party
October 30, 1989 • #172 International Viewpoint to pelly bourgeois class collaborationist pressures within the Left Coalition, which have led to participation in a government dominated by the right.
This is accompanied by a vehement critof internal of the party's lack icism democracy and the administrative methods of its leadership. The second central clement consists of a rejection of blind obedience to Moscow and a critique of
Stalinism and the Eastern bloc countries in both their past and present forms. In the context of these rather general points of agreement, there are obviously a number of tendencies with different sensibilities.
To understand the bitterness and the breadth of the conflict within the KKE and the KNE, it is necessary to put these historic events in context. For example, the unprecedented press campaign against the oppositionists is manifestly attributable to the fact that the Greek Communist
Party is participating in government for the first time in its history.
of the
Thus, the questioning policies of the Party leadership by tens of thousands of its members has direct implications for the bourgeoisie's management of its evcryday affairs, as well as for its project (now very clear) for incorporating the reformist leaderships into the system, with a view to applying a very severe austerity policy. In short, the crisis that has broken out complicates the grand manoeuvres of the bourgeoisie and could even put in question their long term plans.
KKE's servile attitude towards PASOK
Al the same time, it seems unlikely that ex-prime minister Andreas Papandreou's
PASOK party will gain much from the crisis in the KKE, as today's oppositionists are precisely those who previously criticized (against the advice of the party leadership) the servile attitude of the KKE
Icaders towards the PASOK governments
On the contrary, although this is not for the moment evident, the opposition in the
KKE could represent an alternative for at least a fraction of the PASOK base who have felt frustrated by the scandals and the
- aberrations of their party, but who at the same time have felt no attraction for the collaborationist politics of the Left Coali-
However it is clear that, even if indirectly, PASOK is exploiting the crisis within the KKE, demagogically attributing it to the refusal of the parliamentary parties of the left to cover up for its scandals and get into the mud along with it. Indeed it is exactly this aspect of the politics of the and the Left Coalition which the oppositionists have criticized, arguing that the blind desire for vengeance against PASOK on the part of the KKE/Coalition leaders has momentarily cemented the unity of PASOK instead of contributing to the hoped for break-up.....
The crisis inside the KKE has broken out at at a delicate moment and its broader ramifications even threaten the very props of the established political game. As well as possibly putting into question the medium to long term projects of the Greek bourgeoisie, it could also complicate the classic game of alternation of power berween the political forces that is central to the management of the crisis of the sys-
The small Greck far left, as well as the Communist Party of the Interior (KKEes), have already begun to direct their political work towards the events inside
Thus within a few weeks the possibility anti-capitalist and anti-bureaucratic pole of attraction has acan unprecedented credibility. In the present circumstances, the fact that the various organizations of the far left, as well as a number of independent revolutionary militants, have for the past year been able to overcome their traditional sectarianism and unite in a common front 1. The Hellenic Left originated from a split in the Communist Party of the interior which had itself originated from a split in the Communist Party in 1968. After having followed a broadly Eurocommunist line of march, the Hellenic Left and its Icader, Leonidas Kirkas, are today the foremost advocates of class collaboration and the govemmental coalition with the major party of the right, New Democracy. Its forces are very limited and amount essentially to a few hundred "modernizing" intellectuals who have already carved out careers for themselves in the administration
GREECE with stable structures, the Anti-Capitalist Alternative Regroupment (the EAS, in which the Greck section of the Fourth International, the OKDE, participates) is not unimportant.
This unitary dynamic amongst the far left is evident also in the decision of the great majority of the leading members of the small Communist Party of the Interior to work towards the presentation of a single anti-capitalist list for the November 5
Obviously, a great deal depends on what happens over the coming weeks and above all on the results of the clections. A debacle for the KKE and the Left Coalition could accelerate the crisis and draw thousands members into the ranks of the opposition. It is quite possible in this case that the party leadership, headed by the chair, Harilaos Florakis, and the secrewould decide to strike hard and quickly without having prepared the ground in advance and at the price of taking grave tactical But whatever happens. already clear that loday's crisis has opened a new chapter in the history of the Greck left. This time it does not involve a few hundred dissidents with merely tactical differences, nor the app carance of an opposition attracted by the mirages of Eurocommunism or the rightist "moderniz.ation" of the workers' movement. Opposition has high morale
It adds up to the biggest split in the KKE since its foundation (with the possible exception of the 1927 split led by the then secretary of the party and eminent revolutionary Marxist Pantelis Pouliopoulos. But at that time the KKE numbered no more than some thousands of members).
It adds up also to the appearance - if still embryonic - of an anti-capitalist and anti-bureaucratic communist opposition that seems to have a very high morale and which sees itself as participating in a movement for the reconstruction of the revolutionary left not only nationally but also internationally. From this viewpoint, what is happening today inside the Greek Communist Party has an importance extending beyond Greece and should interest the whole European left. * and management of the state.
2. It is indicative of the breadth of opposition that the recent attempt by the KKE leadership to expel Nikos
Korzias, the C.C. member responsible for idenlogy, was rejected by an overwhelming majority. The base organizations which have disobeyed are above all those of the naval shipyards at Elsefina and the surrounding industrial region which bears the same name:
this area is by far the biggest industrial area of the country and is a traditional bastion of the Communist 13
Communist youth opposition resolution
International Viewpoint #172 • October 30, 1989
GREECE WE publish below extracts from the resolution adopted by the Young Communists (KNE) after the decision of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) to Impose a leadership on the KNE. DOCUMENT
T ODAY a number of problems are
showing up regarding the spread of the impact amongst broad masses of youth of working class values expressed by the KKE. This situation is reflected in an intense way in the KNE's intervention, but also in its own functioning and in the problems that exist amongst its members and cadres.
We believe that we must directly confront the causes of these problems, which pose acutely not only the question of the effectiveness of the KKE's work, but more generally the question of the relationship between the left and today's youth, and the ability of the former to inspire the ideals of the latter.
Position of youth within society modified
And above all these questions are related to changes that have taken place in our country and in the capitalist world generally, which have modified the position of youth within society on an international and have changed the terms in which the latter approach the mass movement, politics and the left. They relate also to the changes taking place in the socialist image that today's youth have of the kind of future that com-
Certainly, there are divergences and disagreements on the part of the cadres of the KNE — and not only amongst the KNE — on the orientation of the Union of the Left, and they have been expressed within the framework of the internal procedures of the party. But this has not stopped the KNE from working within the framework of the Union of the Left, including at the last elections. If our disagreements have been made public, this is not the fault of the Central Council of the KNE. But what is more important is that, despite the efforts of sections of the press to present 14 'dogmatic ossification" and 'an inability these disagreements as stemming from to keep up with contemporary changes", they actually have a different point of departure - the concern of a section of the cadres and members of the KNE about how the KNE should respond to today's needs, to the questions and problems facing the new generation. How, on the basis of the fundamental principles that underlie the politics and tactics of the KKE, is it possible to link up with the radicalism and combativity being displayed by broad masses of youth? Unity in action and different opinions
The existence of these differing opin ions does not reflect the existence of any majority or minority group. Rather they reflect the diversity of reality itself, and it would be impossible for them not to
Moreover, the existence of more than one opinion is not contrary to the basic governing principle of both the KKE and democratic centralism, since the latter exists precisely so that differences of opinion can be resolved in unity
On the basis of the preceding, the Central Council of the KNE: Believes that the members of the KNE can and must "take into their own hands" the future direction of the organization. This is the only solution that can assure the unity of
Extracts from an article which appeared in Odigitis, the weekly newpaper of the
KNE, on 13 September 1989
The author, S. Antonakakis, is a member of the Bureau of the Central Councii of the
KNE.
(In reply to the question *are we witnessing the death of socialism?")
It Is more worthwhile to exam-
Ine what has "died". In doing that, one is faced with a number of questions: for example, what relationship can there be between the forms of property existing today in the countries that are called socialist where state ownership of a hypercentralized form dominates, In an authoritarlan and anachronistic fashion (as the official docu ments of the CPSU have repeatedly observed) - and the society of freely associated prothe KNE through democratic procedures.
Thus, the Central Council has decided to organize an extraordinary Congress of the KNE, in the course of which it will report on its own activity. The elected Central Council is the only body that can, according to the statutes, open such a procedure. Any other procedure would be politically and organizationally arbitrary and would violate the essence of our statutory principles of functioning.
Methods worthy of condemnation
Already in the past such methods were injurious and worthy of condemnation, as the experience of the communist move ment has shown. Today, they have the effect of making the left seem even more incapable of grasping the message of mod ern events, and oblivious to the spirit of creative investigation and discussion that perestroika has aroused throughout the communist movement.
The Congress will have as its theme the development of a more advanced analysis, in today's conditions, of the political situation of youth and also its future direction, with the central goal being to rally the new generation more rapidly around anticonservative left positions. *
Central Council of the KNE, Athens, September 21, 1989.
ducers" described by the Marxist classics. Moreover, because the structure and evolution of such economies have revealed their bankruptcy, does this mean that the abolishing of private property la no longer a precondition for creating a free society?
Again, what relationship can there be between soclalist democracy, based on the principle of the participation of the masses In administration and political power, and these bureaucratic monsters that have become allen to society and its needs and that constitute a parasitic and reactionary army of bureaucrats living off the backs of society?
And how can the democratic and collective development of theory go hand in hand with perlods of active censorship of thought and extreme authoritarian repression, all in the name of the detence of soclalism? *