Debate on workers' party
International Viewpoint #248 September 1993 result and that the creation of the BBWR has the goal of letting him get out of such an extreme situation: "I would be obliged to oppose [such a result]. I want to serve the nation and protect it from the cataclysm that threatens it. I am in a situation that forces me to introduce a new horse, which will unblock a blocked Poland. "22
Bogdan Borusewicz, a former Solidarity deputy who left the union in June after its congress had censured him for acting in contravention of decisions of the union leadership bodies, was invited to join the BBWR. He ended up joining the Democratic Union, explaining that
Mit he tole the veng
and found a new presidential party. "Elections are not always organised to guarantee democracy, but sometimes to give legitimacy to an un-democratic regime," he said to Gazeta Wyborcza after his private meeting with Lech
Neutralise The appearance of the BBWR is dividing the political elites which emerged from Solidarity and reviving the
"war at the summit". . However, it has already allowed Walesa to neutralise the union committees in Solidarity's bastions. And if the results of the elections are not too unfavourable for the liberal option, it will allow him to support the new governmental coalition while dictating his own terms. And if the results are wholly unfavourable, he will have an instrument to legitimise presidential strong-arm tactics.
Whatever the result of the September 19 elections, the pre-election campaign has already shown that the young
Polish democracy is sick. Sick from having been founded in an undemocratic agreement between Solidarity leaders — who didn't see the need to consult their base — and the heirs of Stalin. Sick from having neglected the interests of those who brought it into this world.
Sick from the unending struggles that divide its elites cut off from reality. For this, Walesa along with those who are today denouncing his undemocratic projects bear the greatest responsibility. *
22. Quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza, No 163, July 15, 1993.
23. Quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza, No.168.
Amidst the continuing violence and, in many respects, because of the disapointments of the negotiating process, important sections of the South African left are discussing the need for a mass workers' party. This debate will be of central importance in the run-up to elections and beyond. We report on the opening round. GERRARD - August 28, 1993
T a special delegate conference in July the Workers Organisation for Socialist Action make the campaign for the formation of a mass workers' party a central priority in the run up to the pro-
In a press statement issued following the conference, WOSA declared that: "Only an independent mass workers' party can halt and reverse the wholesale compromise of the interests of the working class by the negotiators at the World Trade Centre."
WOSA had discussed the campaign for a new party previously, at their Easter 1992 Conference. They believe that the platform for such a party should revolve around basic working class demands: jobs for all, a living wage, no retrenchment, free education and health care, decent housing, women's rights, self-defence and environmental issues.
### Major affilates
The timeliness of the campaign and its potential impact is no flight of fancy on the part of WOSA. The 23 July Weekly Mail reports that support for the proposal can be found amongst the
Congress of South African Trade Unions' (COSATU) major affiliates.
In particular, the National Union of
Metalworkers (NUMSA) - the coun try's biggest union — has called for the formation of a workers' party and for COSATU to convene a conference on socialism. They envisage a party with a federal structure whereby the Communist Party (SACP) could join alongside other leftwing organisations such as WOSA.
Other unions thought likely to support the move are the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) and the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccaw).
A recent discussion document written by the TGWU's national education officer was vociferous in its criticism of COSATU's current political direction, especially its proposed reconstruction accord with the ANC, SACP and others. While the officer was disciplined for writing the paper as if it were the formal position of the union, it has been supported by a number of local branches.
### Reaction
The SACP's Jeremy Cronin has responded by saying: "The call for a workers' party is an understandable reaction, but it is the wrong one. There is confusion and demoralisation at negotiations which have dragged on for three years. Working class formations and workers need to assert themselves more."
He added that this needs to be done "inside the movement... or the ANC will be handed over to non-working class currents." Cronin believes that if COSATU were to break with the ANC, it would become an economistic and corporatist entity.
This view is shared, at least in part, by the Mineworkers Union and the Food and Allied Workers Union. The latter pledged it support for the "principles and objectives of the SACP" at its congress in July.*
1. "Retrenchment" involves the forcible movement of workers, often to areas miles away from their family.
35