A refoundation still to come
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994
AT the Italian Communist Party's last congress in February 1991 it abandoned its name, symbols, and historic identity. The majority formed the Party of the Democratic Left. The minority opposition formed first a movement and then, only ten months later, a new Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC). In three years the PRC has achieved more than either its adversaries or supporters would have expected. Moreover, as opposed to what had happened before, on a much more modest scale, in the Spanish and French Communist Parties, this was incontestably a leftward split. LIVIO MAITAN* - 6 March 1994
W HATEVER the
wishes of the Party of Communist Refoundation's (PRC) founding leaders, the party was born as a pluralist formation. For sure, the overwhelming majority of members came from the former Italian Communist Party (PCI), but a significant number have emerged from other origins, and have passed through a wide variety of different expe-
Moreover, the former PCI members are no homogeneous bloc. In the final days of the old party two oppositional currents had emerged. One, the "Cossuttian" current, named after its most well-known representative, Armando Cossutta, was formed at the end of the 1970s. For more than a decade it had criticised the social democratic, and then, socialliberal-democratic drift of the leadership, going so far as to take on Enrico Berlinguer himself.
The other, called "Ingraist" or "the Ingraist left", after the old leader Pietro Ingrao - who actually remained in the PDS at the time of the split, only to leave two years later, without for all that 16
### ITALY joining the PRC - dates primarily from the time that Occhetto decided to draw the lessons of changes that had long since taken place in the party. As a result, his criticism was less radical and, more often than not, did not challenge the conceptions and orientations of the Berlinguer period.!
It is worth adding that a part of this current was made up of activists who, after a time in the socialist left, had participated in the formation of the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (PSIUP). The PSIUP originated in a split from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in 1964. A majority of this group joined the PCI after the 1972 elections.
A much smaller number participated in the foundation of the Il Manifesto current, and then of the Democratic Party of Proletarian Unity (PDUP), which was one of the main far-left currents in the 1970s. These activists did not join the PCI until the disappearance of the
Further, a number of people who had, as a result of their disagreement with the PCI's orientation, individually quit the Party in the 1980s, joined the PRC after its foundation.
Finally, following its June 1991 congress, a majority of Democrazia Proletaria — the only significant far-left tendency to have survived the 1980s — joined the PRC. broad agreement in favour of the name Communist Refoundation. The objective was to underline the need for critical reflection on the past experience of the communist movement on a national and international level, and the need for a new beginning
There are indeed those in the PRC who have been, and still are, nostalgic for the days of Stalinism. However, this is only a small current and, moreover, it does not systematically defend Stalinist methods and conceptions. Rather, it is that they are attached to what they see as a positive image of the PCI in relation to the Party's post-Stalinist drift.
For the PRC's president, Armando Cossutta, and his closest supporters, the Stalinist label is not particularly appropriate. In fact, from the beginning of the
1960s onwards, in the Milan federation, Cossutta was among the most active in the "de-Stalinisation" of the PCI. While twenty years later he criticised Berlinguer's final break with Moscow, this was not in order to defend Stalinism, but rather because he believed that the gains of "socialism" still persisted in the Soviet Union and that it was therefore wrong to break off all ties with the Soviet Communist Party leadership. He later made a self-criticism on this point.
More generally, it is useful to recall that at the time of the split in the PCI it had ceased being a Stalinist party several decades beforehand. This was not because it had developed an exhaustive critical analysis of the Stalinist phenomenon and of its own past, or because it had completely abandoned modes of functioning practised since the 1930s. Rather, it is because its policies were fundamentally determined by its integration into the institutional mechanisms of Italian bourgeois society, and by the interests of its leadership and not those of the dominant social layer in the USSR of which Stalinism was an expression.
### Formal
One final remark can be made concerning the PRC's membership. While the large majority of those with formal membership status originate in the PCI, the proportions are different on the level of the active membership, and even moreso on the level of party workers. Here the presence of those of nonPCI origin is much greater.2
It should also be recalled that following the last national congress, where three different motions were put to a vote, minorities were given proportional
*The author is a longstanding leader of the Fourth International and was also elected to the leadership (Direction) of the PRC at its recent congress.
1. As part of a self-criticism, one of the best-known representatives of this tendency, Sergio Garavini, general secre tary of the party until the summer of 1993, recognised that he had supported the trade union turn of the end of 1970s without for all that understanding the real stakes. He also acknowledged having shared Occhetto's positions until the April 1989 congress of the PCI.
2. According to PCI tradition, most members of the Party are not active and only pay for their membership card About 30% of members participate in some small way or another in the life of the Party, through its local structures.
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994 representation both on the national political committee and on the leadership. Only the secretariat is composed solely of members of the majority.
As for the PRC's social composition, it is undoubtedly a party with a popular base, and a relatively high proportion of workers. Moreover, it has proved its ability to organise mass mobilisations on several occasions. It was the driving force behind two major national demonstrations of more than 100 thousand people with radical social and political demands.
In the legislative elections of April 1992, the party obtained 5.6% of the vote for the lower house and 6.5% for the senate. In the municipal elections that followed, it generally improved its standing, surpassing the PDS in Milan (11.4%) and Turin (14.6%).
Nonetheless, three of the PRC's weak points must not obscured.
Firstly, while the PRC may have the support of working class sectors and can count of a core of workers in large and medium-size enterprises — such as Alfa Romeo in Milan, FIAT in Turin and militant factories in the south - its organisational presence in the work place remains quite limited.
Secondly, the social implantation of rank and file community organisations is entirely inadequate. And even where it exists, there is no consistent activity.
Thirdly, while last year's big demonstrations — particularly on 25 September 1993 — had a satisfactory and active participation from youth, the percentage of youth in the party is very low. Up until now there has been no coordinateed effort on the national level around questions of specific interest to the younger generation. 3
Provisional
Certainly, the balance sheet of an organisation that is only three years old can only be provisional. Nevertheless, since these three years have been characterised by a general crisis of Italian society and a succession of often dramatic events on both the national and international level, the PRC has already been put through some important tests.
The PRC has emerged as the only left-wing opposition in the country. This is especially so following the decision of the PDS to accept the agreements between the government, employers and the trade union confederations - agreements which have been disastrous for working people. The PDS has also, to a large degree, supported the Ciampi government in its work of "cleansing", restructuring and conservative and antiworker overhauling of State institutions and legislation.
The PRC was the main force opposing - unfortunately without success - the anti-democratic reform of the electoral code, whose consequences have been very serious. As has already been said, unlike all the other parties the PRC actively participated in the wave of struggles in autumn 1992, against the government measures which gravely affected the standard of living of broad layers of the population.
Nor has the Party been affected by the tornado of scandals which have caused tremendous damage over the last two years. Not a single one of its national or local leaders has been charged by
On international questions the PRC has made its positions clear: against the Maastricht Treaty; participation in the mobilisation against the Gulf War, and denouncing, in no uncertain terms, the neo-colonial adventure in Somalia. It declared itself opposed to any type of military intervention in ex-Yugoslavia, and has called for lifting the embargo on Iraq, Libya, and Cuba. Solidarity with Cuba has been a central theme of its anti-imperialist propaganda and activities. The PRC condemned the August 1991 aborted coup attempt in Russia, as well as the bloody repression unleashed by Yeltsin last October.
### Relations
The organisation's relations with working class parties and anti-imperialist movements in other countries has been appropriate in the current context, that is to say its has not privileged relations with any one group or current. Rather, it has established relations with a of communist parties, socialist movements and groupings. It has also made links with working class and anti-imperialist organisations in under-developed countries, and even with certain far-left
This is why the PRC has been able to build itself as a real political force in a context which is actually very unfavourable for the building of an organisation with a class struggle approach and which lays claim to communist ideas.
With this mind, we can now examine the difficulties the party has had to confront, especially over the last year.
• There has been a problem of orientation in mass struggles, especially with respect to the chronic crisis of the
Notebooks for Study and Research
No. 13, From the PCI to the
PDS - The long march of the Italian Communist Party
Livio Maitan
• Written in 1991, as part of the
NSR's "studies" series, Livio Maitain documents the completion of the the
PC's process of social democratisation.
• At the last Party congress, in
February 1991, a majority abandoned its historic "communist identity" and launched the Democratic Party of the
Left (PDS).
• For several decades the PCI was not only the main force of the Italian workers movement but also the biggest Communist party in
Western Europe. Livio Maitain examines the fundamental points in the history of the PCI and the problems and contradictions which resulted in the party's dissolution.
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trade union movement. It should go without saying that however destructive the actions of the trade union federation bureaucracies may be, the PRC as such cannot substitute itself for the specific and autonomous role of the trade unions.
3. Rather different and vague ideas exist concerning what organisational structures should be adopted. The negative experience of the PC youth federation - where
"autonomy" gave birth to an array of centrifugal forces - has made many activists reject outright the idea of a specific youth youth organisation.
4. There have been some isolated cases of PRC members marginally implicated in a number of unclear matters.
And these affairs pre-date the actual formation of the party.
To our knowledge, noone has been formally charged up to this point.
5. For example, the PRC participated in the European initiative that took place in Paris in June 1993. See
International Viewpoint, no. 247. July 1993.
17
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994
However, nothing prevents it from making an active intervention in this area. It can take the initiative and organise the mobilisations that trade union leaders refuse to organise themselves. And it can take advantage of the presence of many of its members in different levels of the trade union movement and in other mass organisations. Disagreements have surfaced on this question, including in debates leading up to the recent congress.
In principle, a decision was taken, which has been confirmed on several occasions, not to impose any line on Party members. In other words, it was decided to register the fact that members of the party belong to different federations (with a majority in the General
Essere Sindacato and in particular its leader, Fausto Bertinotti, current general secretary of the PRC, declared their intention to assume their responsibilities outside of the formal framework of the confederation. They argued that CGIL General Secretary, Bruno Trentin, had himself stepped outside the trade union boundaries by not respecting his mandate. Bertinotti called on Essere Sindacato supporters to resign from their positions in the various secretariats of the confederation.
### Risk
This decision was all the more justified by the fact that the risk of being isolated was limited, insofar as the huge when new struggles break out. The absence of a clear orientation, especially during the decisive events of autumn 1992, demonstrates that the PRC was not able to meet one of today's pressing needs for the development of a class struggle opposition.
• Over the past three months problems relating to the political crisis have led to the emergence of a variety of positions in the run-up to the March legislative elections. It should be recalled that these elections will be organised under new legislation that was adopted in a referendum held in April 1993. Seventy-five percent of deputies and senators will be elected in a British-type "first past the post" system, and twenty-five percent will be elected on a proportional basis.
The intention of the change is to simplify the process of alliances by reducing their number, if possible, to two. In all likelihood this objective will not
Enrico Berlinguer : The "God-father" of Euro-communism. The French CPs George Marchais grins in the background. Confederation of Italian Labour CGIL), as well as to organisations outside the federations - base committees, and groupings that call for a radical renewal or a genuine refoundation of the whole trade union movement.
Nevertheless, a tremendous effort was made to both support the activity of the left opposition in the CGIL confederation, Essere Sindacato, and to fortify the so-called "councils movement" made up of activists from various trade unions. This movement is not particularly representative and its influence is on the wane. While it severely criticises the confederations leaderships, it does not adequately address the global problem of trade union reconstruction.
This unclear orientation had negative consequences during the struggles of autumn 1992, which were the biggest in recent years. At the time, the trade union left was confronted with the capitulation of CGIL leaders, an even greater capitulation of other confederation leaderships, and the signing of an agreement that eliminated or seriously eroded a number of working class gains, including the sliding scale of wages. 18 mobilisation demonstrated the chasm between the masses and the Confederation's leaders.
This could have been a first step towards trade union reconstruction. But it did not happen. Plans remained on paper and PRC trade unionists with major responsibilities did not commit themselves to a new course. These problems were not seriously addressed at the time and re-appeared one year later during the preparatory stages of the recent congress.
Formally, there was debate over a proposed amendment to the texts presented by the national political committee.° Divisions even appeared within the majority. There were those who, while not proposing an organisational break in the current context, put forward the idea of genuinely rebuilding the trade union movement from the bottom up in the workplaces and through existing organs of self-organisation; and there were those who wanted to prioritise the ongoing battle inside the CGIL.
The latter approach was adopted by a majority, but there can be no doubt that the debate will re-appear, especially be met, but the new law has nevertheless led to the formation of blocs of rather heterogeneous forces. This could already be seen in the municipal elections held last autumn, even though the legislation for that poll was not as restrictive as it is for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The PRC has had to make a difficult choice. It could stand independently and thereby run the risk of winning a significantly lower number of seats — and objectively strengthening the right-wing, conservative, reactionary-populist, neo-fascist coalition,? or it could join a "progressive" coalition, and partially lose its independent profile. 8
As we pointed out in the last issue of International Viewpoint (no. 254, March 1994), the debate on this question was at the forefront of the PRC's 20-23 January congress. Delegates were torn between the goal of maintaining and even increasing the party's parliamentary presence and preventing the right-wing from forming a government, and the difficulties presented by the formation of a leftwing alliance.
6. The national political committee is the equivalent of a central committee, whereas the Direction is a smaller body which meets much more frequently.
7. In the elections of April 1992, the PRC won 35 deputies and 20 senators. Without an electoral agreement, and with the same number of votes, it would get much less under the new electoral code.
8. The term "progressive" is used above all because the coalition does not merely include the remains of the PSI, the Rete, the Greens. It also includes small radical Christian groups and people organised in the Democratic Alliance, which includes former members of the Christian Democrats and the Republican Party (a party which was in power for several decades).
International Viewpoint #255 April 1994
In the end, a seventy percent majority approved the position of the outgoing leadership — an electoral bloc, which includes the perspective of forming a "progressive" government. Twenty percent of delegates argued that there was no programmatic or political basis for such an agreement, and that it was not possible to form a purely pragmatic agreement aimed at limiting damages caused by the new electoral legislation. The remaining ten percent supported another motion which criticised the majority for abandoning a part of their ters in Brussels and declared his "Atlantic" convictions, explaining to the "allies" that there would not be any big changes in the foreign policy of a "progressive" government.
Finally, the official opening of the election campaign coincided with the signing of a disastrous agreement by the trade union confederations with FIAT - which employs a significant sector of the country's working class. The PDS, along with the trade union bureaucracies, applauded while the PRC distributed a leaflet calling for
PCI to PRC
THE PCI was founded in January
1921, by a minority that split from the
Socialist Party, Its first congresses were characterised by the political and ideological influence of its main leader at the time, Amadeo Bordiga, whose ultra-leftism was criticised by Lenin and the Communist International. It was only at the Lyon congress in
1926 that Bordiga was defeated and
Antonio Gramsci's approach were on the ascendancy — but only for a short
Forced to work underground and in exile while the fascist regime was consolidated, the PCI played a major role in the resistance during the war and emerged afterwards as a big critical analysis of the PDS and plans in mass party.
the trade union field which the political committee had adopted in October
In 1956, at its eigth congress, it made a turn that went in the direction of a
1993.
break with Moscow -fully formalised
While the congress vote supported at the beginning of the 1980s - and the position of the outgoing majority, an evolution towards ideas similar to this did not resolve problems relating to those of social democratic parties.
the elections. The "progressive" coali-
At the February 1991 congress, a tion was formed on the basis of a platmajority led by Antonio Occhetto deciform that is partially in conflict with the ded to abandon communist ideas and conceptions of the PRC any class struggle approach. It even changed the name and symbols of
Explicit the party, which thereafter became known as the Democratic Party of the
Left (PDS). The minority which oppo-
Moreover, after the adoption of the sed this turn of events gave birth to common platform, the PDS released its the Movement for Communist own programme, in which it's moderate
Refoundation, which formally became approach was even more explicit. When a party, the PRC, at its first congress the PRC released their programme a few days later, everyone could see just how wide a gap there was between the two organisations. The result was that from the beginning the election campaign was characterised by rather open and often severe polemics between PRC and PDS leaders.
PDS leader, Occhetto, declared, for example, that the PDS is not in favour of a leftwing government, but a government of "national reconstruction", and has already approached the political centre, represented by the heir of Christian Democracy, the Italian Popular
Party (PPI) and the forces around Mario
Segni, enemy number one of proportional representation and proponent of an openly conservative line.
Clearly, the PRC cannot participate in such a government, all the moreso because, according to Occhetto, it would pursue the policy of financial "cleansing" of the current government and even include members of the current government. It would even go so far as to have Ciampi as the prime minister.
When Bertinotti proposed to tax
Treasury bonds beyond a certain limit,
Occhetto contemptfully rejected the proposal. A few days after the PRC re-stated its opposition to NATO membership, Occhetto visited NATO headquarrejection of the agreement.°
All of these difficulties will deepen and grow in number if the "progressives" secure a parliamentary majority. The
PRC would be faced with even more arduous decisions; new and deeper differentiations would be inevitable.
The party is not adequately equipped to confront the difficulties that we have analysed. Since its foundation there has been a major negative element which no in December 1991.0 one seems to be challenging. The project of programmatic, political, and even organisational refoundation has yet to really see the light of day.
No one can ignore the objective obstacles, or deny that the postponement of attempts to undertake some kind of critical reflection (for example, on Eastern Europe)
has been due primarily to the succession of dramatic political events, and by the pressing need to mobilise the party. But this does not change the fact that there is a void that the PRC must begin to fill. It cannot continue to indefinite put this off to some future date.
The idea is not to satisfy the intellectual curiosity of historians and theoreticians, however legitimate it may be.
Rather, it is to understand that in a period of deep-going social and political crisis it is, in the last analysis, impossible to make the necessary choices, even in the short-term, without the compass of a strategic orientation. And such a strategic orientation cannot be formulated without providing answers to the major questions that the crisis of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s presents to the working class movement as much on the national as on the international level.*
9. One problem for the PRC is that in certain districts elected on a "first past the post" system its members and electorate will have to vote not only for PDS, Green and Rete members, but on occasion also for ministers from the current government, representatives of the industria employers' association, the Confindustria, and other bourgeois political figures who have always fought the working class movement.
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DOSSIER