Norway's
Maoists at a
crossroads
IT has been a year of turmoil inside the Norwegian AKP (m-l), one of the few big groups of Maoist origin still left in Europe. The party congress held in December 1990 was a turning point in the party's history. ANDERS EKELAND
HE PARTY adopted a new, non-Stalinist, programme, revised its previously bureaucratic centralist statutes, and issued a "Statement on the history of the Communist movement". The congress also decided to drop the m-l (Marxist-Leninist) parenthesis from its name, thus becoming simply the AKP (Arbeidernes Kommunist Parti — Workers Communists Party). All this showed the will of the overwhelming majority at the congress to make a break with the Stalinist past. But it should be noted that the membership and the congress were severely divided over how fast and how far to make the break with the
The congress was divided into two wings/factions: the "right" — those who wanted to make a clean break with the past and with Stalinism, and build a new revolutionary party together with other left forces - and the "left", who were more reluctant to condemn Stalinist crimes and were hostile to bold initiatives with other left forces. To the left of the "left" there is a small and utterly dogmatic/nostalgic current, rejecting change, sticking with Maoism and the old centralist way of functioning. This current got about 10% of the votes at the
The divisions were not so sharp over the new programme and statutes, partly due to the very general way these documents were worded, which left much room for interpretation. There was about specific points in the "Statement on the history of the Communist movement", although both the "left" and the "right" were in basic agreement on a fundamentally critical attitude towards the kind of "socialism" built by Stalin, Hoxha and Mao.
The final document is marked by compromise and the fact that neither the "left"
its vote by 0.8% from 1989, receiving 1.5%. It did particularly well in the big cities (4.1% in Oslo, 3.2% in Bergen, 3.0% in Trondheim).
In the industrial centers of Odda and Notodden the RV scored, respectively.
9.0% and 5.5% of the vote. — Anders Ekeland *
December 23, 1991 • #219 International Viewpoint nor the "right" wanted to condemn Mao and Maoism in the same manner as Stalin. The "Statement" considers the Chinese contributions to the "Great Polemic" between the CPSU and the CCP as programmatic documents and sees the break between the CPSU and the CCP as a major turning point for the "Communist main problem is that after years of Stalinist sectarianism, party chauvinism, and so on, there was a widespread distrust towards the AKP among independent left activists. There is no longer a plethora of grouplets or organized currents on the left. The only organized forces are AMG (Arbeidermaktgruppa, Workers Power
NORWAY
The leadership of the AKP had sent a directive to all members attending the congress not to support amendments of this type. In spite of the deep disagreements the atmosphere of the congress was a constructive one, the only point of bitter controversy being the elections. The AMG did get two members out of 17 on movement". This is no surprise because
Group), the International Socialists (polit- the new leadership, but this leadership is the AKP was always much more Maoist than Stalinist in style and orientation.
The issue that really did divide the congress was that of what attitude to take towards other left forces, centering around the fate of the AKP's electoral organization, RV (Rød Valgallianse — "Red Elecically identical to the British Socialist Workers Party) and what remains of the pro-Moscow Communist Party. Of these, only the AMG, an activist group of about 40 people, has a clear orientation towards a regroupment of the left centered around the AKP/RV. The International Socialdominated by the "left", the "right" being grossly under-represented.
The current situation on the Norwegian far left is dominated by the question of the future of the AKP and RV. Even though the AKP has lost a considerable number of members over the past ten years it toral Alliance"). Although the RV was set ists, roughly the same size as the AMG, remains a party. up in 1973 as a mere front organization for the AKP (m-l), it ultimately became a place where ex-party members breaking with Stalinism and sectarianism could get together with other independent socialists. In the RV they could be politically active, escaping from the strict centralism of the party.
State support for parliamentary parties
The only problem was that the RV's statutes guaranteed the AKP the right to the name, property and income of the organization, and since the RV receives about $200,000 in the form of state support to parliamentary parties, these clauses are not mere formalities. In addition, all staff appointments and political decisions could be vetoed by the AKP. Several AKP full timers were paid for with "RV money". Actually there was no clear boundary between the two organizations at the top are as sectarian as their British sister organization.
The pro-Moscow Communists are split into various factions, but one of them is interested in the AKP/RV developments. This means that for the "right" in the AKP the AMG has been the only organized force with whom they could work, giving the latter a role in the RV out of proportion to its numerical strength.
The RV held its congress in March 1991. The congress discussed the organization's programme and elected a new leadership. The old programme was a revolutionary one, but it was flavoured by Stalinism and restricted the role of the RV to parliamentary work. The AMG presented alternative texts on a few major points and won some minor victories, but it did not succeed in persuading the congress to untie the RV from the straitjacket of parliamentary work.
Number of active members unknown
The number of active party members is still unknown to everybody except the inner circle of the AKP for security reasons. At its height the party, youth and student organizations together probably had about 3,000 members. Today it is probably about a third of that, but a large proportion of ex-members subscribe to the AKP daily paper, or vote for them. The party made a turn to industry in 197475 and has gained positions and influence in the union movement. The question of who will become the hegemonic force in AKP/RV is very important for the building of a revolutionary party in Norway. The situation today is that the "left" has apparatus and many experienced cadres, but is politically very much on the
Municipal elections show leftward shift
The "right", that is the anti-Stalinist opposition, wanted to bury the AKP - NORWEGIAN ELECTORS WENT TO THE POLLS ON September 9 for and with it the party's Stalinist past - and municipal elections which — besides their significance for local politics -get a clean start by making the RV the have become an important indicator of the popularity of the government. This nucleus for a new party. Such a move pre- year the electorate turned left, with the EEC, unemployment and ecology supposed that the RV would turn into a emerging as the main campaign issues. new organization with internal democracy The ruling Social Democrats (Arbeiderpartiet) ended up with their worst and no special privileges for the AKP. result since the Second World War - 30%. The Conservative Party (Høyre) This would also avoid a bitter power got 21.9%, which they did not regard as a defeat although it is far from their struggle inside the AKP, which could be "all time high" of 30%. The Christian People's Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) left to the "left" because all the activity, maintained its usual stable support of about 6-7%. The most encouraging new recruitment and money would be result was the drastic decline in support for the right wing populist "Progress channelled into RV. The "left", of course, Party" (Fremskrittspartiet), which got only 7% of the votes and suffered a saw the danger of RV becoming a real spectacular decline in working class areas. competitor, a stronghold for the "right" in The winners were the anti-EEC parties, the Center Party and the Socialist alliance with various other left currents. Left Party, SV (Sosialistisk Venstreparti). The former left the bourgeois gov-
The congress finally compromised on ernment last autumn because of its pro-EEC course. The latter received this point. The RV became an indepen- 12.1% of the vote, 2.1% more than in the 1989 parliamentary elections, benedent organization without special privileg- fitting from its anti-EEC stance and the rightward drift of the social democrats. es for the AKP, but its activity was to Sharp political differences are now emerging within the SV itself, with the remain strictly parliamentary until the leadership ready to shed the last elements of Marxism from the party proelections in September (see box). Then gramme and expressing doubts about the anti-EEC policy. These developthe discussion could start again.
Both "left" and "right" have implement- The Red Electoral Alliance (RV- Rød Valgallianse —see article) increased ed the compromise in a loyal and disciplined way. Soon after the congress the local organizations of the "old" RV invited other forces on the left to set up the "new" RV with individual membership in a formally independent organization. The ments could well have a split dynamic.
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19
Waiting for the
International Viewpoint #219 • December 23, 1991
NORWAY / USA
WITH the expected US economic recovery weak and stumbling, bank failures and the federal defensive.