The report's authors could count on the backing of one of the HSWP's leaders, Imre Poszgay, the President of the Popular Patriotic Front, a mass organization traditionally under the thumb of the Communist Party. The leader of the retormers was 1o make it an instrument of his desire to change Hungarian society. He had decided that the status quo of the previous period could no longer be maintained.
Kadar leadership fails to grasp situation
Things speeded up in 1988, with the preparation of the party congress for May. The leadership, unable to grasp what was going on, pretended that nothing was happening. Kádár increased his output of soporific speeches.
Meanwhile, new organizations were coming into being on the fringes of the official institutions. Examples were the Hungarian Democratic Forum or the Democratic Union of Scientific Workers. The party reformers spoke out publicly. They
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of crisis
October 30, 1989 • #172 International Viewpoint set in motion the formation of the March Front with non-Communist figures. Signs of ferment were evident in the country. On March 15 thousands of Budapest people demonstrated on the anniversary of the uprising in 1848 against Austrian domination. This demonstration took place without any authorization.
This was the background to the HSWP conference of May 1988. It marks a decisive turning point in the history of the parthe removal of most of the members of the Politburo. After thirty years at the head of the country, Janos Kádár found himself "promoted" to the figurchead post of party president. A new leadership team took over, whose memone extent or another, The most determined of them was Poszgay who had links with the Democratic Forum oppositionists. He enjoyed real prestige with the public.
After 1988 everything changed. The HSWP still controls three quarters of the National Assembly and dominates the country. But other currents are tolerated and the reformist leaders of the HSWP openly accept the idea of a multi-party sys1cm. In September 1988, the CC agreed to enter into discussions with various groups, including the Democratic Forum.
Re-emergence of political
The end of 1988 and the start of 1989 saw a remarkable flowering of new political movements as well as the rebirth of pre-1948 parties such as the Social Democratic Party and the Smallholders' Party. At the same time critical left currents emerged in the HSWP.
This led to a reaction from the Kadarists in the CP, who formed associations such as the Ferenc Münnich society. Founded in November 1988, this brings together clements of the party's "old guard" as well as pensioners from the army and the police, opposed to the liberalization.
A new turning point was reached in February 1989. The HSWP CC officially accepted the perspective of a multi-party system. In March the opposition groups came together in the Opposition Round Table. Discussions took place with the CP 10 establish a means for the transition to
On March 15 a huge unofficial demonstration took place in Budapest organized by the opposition to mark the anniversary of 1948. On June 16, the official funeral of Imre Nagy — rehabilitated at last — provided another symbolic occasion. The ceremony was broadcast on the TV, but between 100 and 200,000 people still came out to take part.
In autumn 1989, as developments in other Eastern European countries speeded up, the party took stock before of its Special
Congress. Although weakened (the
HSWP has lost 15 to 20% of its members in two years) it retained some 750,000 members — 17% of the total population. It was more divided than ever between currents ranging from the most audacious reformers to Kadarist conservatives. Inside the HSWP, debates raged over the acceptable degree of economic liberalization as well as on how to relate to other political currents. This last question had become urgent. In the spring or summer of next year, free elections — the first in the Soviet bloc — are scheduled. If the HSWP were to find itself in a minority, would it give up or share power?
This has ceased to be an abstract question, as is shown by a poll by the Hungarian Institute for Research into Public Opinion in March and April last year. The poll recorded 50% support for the HSWP in the countryside, but only 24% in Budapest. Since more than 20% of the Hungarian population live in Budapest and trends there tend to reflect what will happen in the rest of the country where the opposition groups are as yet largely unknown, these results are worrying for the party leadership. All the more in that a new poll on the eve of the Congress gives the party only 9% against 52% support for the Democratic Union. Even if these figures need to be taken with a pinch of salt, they are
This summer a number of by-elections were won by candidates of the Democratic Forum. This has fostered the debates in the Hungarian CP: Will they have to accept a coalition with an opposition party? This is the path preached by Poszgay, who with 34% support in the polls is the frontrunner for the presidential election
Seven platforms put to vote at congress
This was the atmosphere in which the last congress of the HSWP met. Seven platforms were put to the vote by delegates unused to this kind of choice. There are three main currents, each with their
Firstly, there are what are now known as the "reform socialists", led by Imre Poszgay. Advocates of democratization, but also of an explicit reference to social they are enthusiastic supporters of the development of a market economy. In foreign policy which would take their country out of the Warsaw Pact, while continuing to recognize the special relation with the USSR and the "influence" of the latter. In spite of their weight party, the reformers need allies if they are to lead it.
Their chosen ally is a current that identifies itself with the Communist heritage, the People's Democratic
Platform. The president of the new party (as of the old), Rezsö Nyers, has worked for this rapprochement.
Finally, there are the "traditional-
HUNGARY ists". Here the leaders are Berecz. and Kádár's short-term successor in 1988, Károly Grosz. There are nuances here as well, between those who want a return to the old system and those who merely think that the reforms have gone too far too fast.
Here there may be a base for a continuation of the Communist Party, although a minority in the new party. But nothing is decided yet. Things will become clearer when the 700,000 to 750,000 members of the ex-HSWP decide whether or not lo enrol in the new HSP. Observers estimate that about 500,000 will do so. Established facts thrown into
The last two years have thrown all the established facts of Hungarian political life into question. Multi-partyism and the holding of free elections are now certain. For the past 18 months they have formed the premises of the debates, both inside and outside the HSWP.
Now, the discussion is going to take a new direction. The issue of Hungary's foreign relations and, above all, the issue of the country's economic and social structure will come to the fore. An example was the discussion on the whether the new party should have factory cells. The social democrats were against, but Nyers torpe doed their proposal.
The big problems of the coming months and years will be determined by the introduction of the market economy and its social consequences. There is one big unknown, outside of the framework, the reactions of the working class. So far, the workers have remained more or less passive during the developments we have
Directly involved in coping with the economic problems, the workers for the moment are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude. This fact leads us to predict new recompositions inside the new Hungarian Socialist Party, as in the other political forces in the country. The divisions in the future will not necessarily be the same as those two years ago. *
ЛЕНИМ
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7
From the Soviet Republic to the jails of Stalin
ON JUNE 20, 1989, a public meeting on the
Fourth International was held at the
University of Budapest with Ernest Mandel.
This was yet another sign of the spectacular acceleration of democratization and moves
International Viewpoint #172 • October 30, 1989
Trotsky in our publications when the campaign against him was launched in the Russian Communist Party and in the Comintern. It