"Good old days" no comfort
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994
THE following article outlines the current profile of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) focusing on its past, because the development of the Party cannot be understood without some knowledge of its underground history, traditions of struggle, and attachment to
Moscow. TASSOS GOUDELIS Athens, 10 March 1994 THE KKE was created in 1917 under the name of the Socialist Workers Party of Greece (SEKE). Soon after it joined the Third International under the name KKE. It should be noted that before the creation of the SEKE there had been no workers party in Greece, that the whole SEKE joined the Communist International and that until 1974 there was no other mass workers party in Greece. Until World War Two it had a very limited influence. But during the war and the German occupation of Greece (1941-44), the KKE was the bedrock of the resistance movement. This movement attracted the most active, dynamic and conscious elements of the country's working class and peasantry. Prestige At the end of the war, power was in the hands of this movement. The fact that the KKE was at the head of this movement gave it tremendous prestige and deep roots in Greek society. In spite of the errors that it subsequently committed - above all, allowing bourgeois forces to form the government in 1945 - this prestige persisted. Even when the government began its anti-communist witch hunt -leading to the civil war of 1947-49, 20
### GREECE the defeat and outlawing of the left - the KKE still managed to maintain its influence within the working class and peasantry. This situation of illegality forced the KKE leadership to live outside the country (in Romania and the USSR) for 25 years, and it had great difficulty leading its organisations within the country. Its dependence on Moscow was accentuated. The KKE went through a serious crisis in 1956 when its old Stalinist leadership was replaced by one loyal to Moscow. In 1968, there was a split in the party, with one wing leaving to create the Communist Party of Greece-Internal (PCG-internal). This party condemned the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet tanks, the KKE's orientation towards Euro-communism and its collaboration with bourgeois parties against the military dictatorship that had been set up in 1967. Moscow The KKE continued to be very attached to Moscow, and used more radical language than the other Greek communist parties. It was legalised in 1974, but came up against the competition of other parties that were trying to establish a base in the working class from the PCG-internal and the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement The PCG-internal opted for a line of class collaboration and quickly . fell apart, scoring only 1% in elections and establishing a mediocre trade union presence. But the
PASOK quickly grew and became the first mass socialist party in the country's history. The KKE held onto its influence in the traditional working class sectors (construction, textiles) but the PASOK overtook it in the modern sectors (steel, chemicals, public sector). PASOK formed the government after the 1981 elections. Its victory was propelled by the decline of the parliamentary right-wing, in power since 1974, and the political climate in Europe - with the electoral victory of Socialist parties in To begin with, the KKE supported the PASOK, making only timid criticism of its negative policies. Afterwards, it took on a sectarian attitude, and didn't hesitate to cooperate with the rightwing New Democracy on several occasions against the PASOK. It hoped to win over the PASOK's base in this way. In 1989, following changes in the USSR, the KKE tried to go beyond the traditional framework of a Communist Party, by creating a leftwing coalition - with relics of the PCG-internal and some former cadres of the PASOK. It abandoned almost all its class references in order to be accepted as "a responsible and serious force". This evolution led to a new crisis in its ranks. A section of its intellectuals and most of its student members left - on the basis of a leftwing critique - and created the New Left Current (NAR). But in spite of the PASOK's bad image, after eight years in office, the leftwing coalition could not manage more than twelve percent in the 1989 elections, with the KKE scoring only ten percent on its own. Worse, it co-operated with
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DOSSIER
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994 the rightwing against PASOK by helping it take power and launch a major attack against the working class. A little more than one year after the creation of the leftwing coalition, the KKE quit its ranks on the basis of disagreements over the situation in the USSR. In opposition to the rest of the coalition, the KKE came out against Gorbachev's reforms, and then was in favour of the August 1991 attempted coup. But most of its intellectuals, parliamentary deputies and activists remained in the coalition. Traditional place The KKE is trying to return to its traditional place in Greek society, but nothing is as it was before. The situation of the ex-USSR has destroyed the ideal to which it dogmatically attached itself. It is seen as being responsible for the rightwing's term in office, given that it had co-operated with New Democracy against the PASOK. It lost its best parliamentary cadres to the coalition, and its student section to the NAR. It was virtually inactive in response to the rightwing's anti-working class attacks. Its main arguments in its favour revolve around appeals to its former supporters based on its role in the war-time resistance, in the civil war and on the repression blems PASOK has encountered in the running of the government. It has carried on propaganda against the current austerity policy, but its reduced forces have prevented it from carrying out a campaign. It has opposed the Greek government's embargo of the Republic of Macedonia, calling for dialogue between the two countries without conditions. But this position is not popular, given the nationalist mood that now dominates the whole of Greek society - and the KKE is in part responsible for this. On the international level, it is trying to co-operate with other Communist parties that still speak of the "good old days" of the Soviet Union. But it is very sectarian towards all other leftwing forces - even though it sometimes proposes short-term alliances whenever it experiences difficulties.
The KKE is incapable of developing a political approach which can tackle today's problems. Its ideology is in total crisis. Its history is ridden with political errors. With its diminishing influence, the KKE appears incapable of influencing the political process and seems condemned to continue its trajectory towards complete marginalisation. *
'Good old days"
it had to endure. But this is not sufficient for regaining its influen-
Its electoral score has dropped to ne. five percent. In all the trade unions it has lost a large number of its supporters; most of its intellectuals have left; and it has practically no existence among youth. Its organised membership have been reduced to a point where many of its local branches have trouble surviving. Its main rival is not the leftwing coalition, which is in an even worse state, but the PASOK which has regained its influence thanks to the policies of the rightwing and the decline of the KKE. With the return of the PASOK to power in October 1993, the KKE is trying to win back its support, focussing primarily on the pro-
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