Germany's P.D.S.
A new socialist p
AFTER ITS GREAT ELECTORAL successes of 1994, the PDS finds itself in a strategic dead end. It does not know what to do with its success - because the contradictions which run rife in society and politics are huge and because the failure of Stalinism weighs heavily on any notion of 'another way. A Party in Transformation.
The change in identity of a state party in a so-called socialist system, into an opposition party in a capitalist system has been marked by more than just one contradiction:
* It starts with the uprising of a section of the population against rule by a one-party state and finishes with subjugation to the law of private property.
* It was originally created to safeguard the GDR as an alternative to the FRG and to reformulate it on a social basis characterised by common property and direct democracy. It ended in a negation of the whole experience of the GDR.
The development of the PDS is at the same time marked by its former state party character, by the emancipating and democratic power of the 1989 uprising, by the bourgeois domination of the process of integration with West Germany -ideologically, politically and economically - and by the marginalisation of all those who talk positively of the GDR as an example of an alternative way to
In this sense the PDS has a unique experience in Europe because it is the only party in the West which comes from a communist tradition and was a state party. This loss of power only goes back 5 years. In its makeup and identity the PDS can not be a communist revolutionary or workers party. But the commitment to a democratic regime both internally and as a political objective is a condition for its survival at a time when the democratic rhetoric of the bourgeoisie is confused with the democratic hopes of the masses.
The PDS formally came into existence on 8 December 1989, the date on which the SED extra-ordinary congress decidednot to dissolve the SED but to change its name and give it a new identity.
Up until December 1991 the major preoccupation of the PDS was to find a way out of the shadow of the SED and to give itself a face-lift. During this period its existence was more than fragile and the
party for East and West?
International Viewpoint #264 MARCH 1995 necessity of self-dissolution remained at the core of debate. Finally, at different sessions of the congresses in 1991 and 1992, the party succeeded in affirming itself as the Opposition Party - in the best position to defend the interests of East Germans and from there to establish itself as the Opposition Party of the Left all over Germany.
The fall in electoral support for the elections to the GDR parliament in March 1990 came to an end in Winter 1993 with its success in the municipal elections in the Brandenburg region, where the PDS almost installed their candidate as mayor of the regional capital Potsdam. Ever since, the PDS has had a new influx of electors, mostly young and from the East. This was followed (in the general elections in October 1994) by an influx from the West. In the East these successes led to it assuming decisive roles in regional governments, inducing it to abandon its position as the Opposition. In the West, the existence of a party (with 2,000 members at the moment) is no more important than one of the other tiny groups of the extreme Lett - if you take its presence in the Bundestag out of context.
Under the weight of the multitude of contradictions which exist in the new Germany, the PDS would do better to define itself as a party whose role and definitive identity is still in the making. The major contradiction between different policies in the East and the West occasionally risks destroying the party. On the one hand the leadership is well aware that the survival of the party is to be decided in the West. In an interview with Neues Deutschland, the director of the PDS electoral bureau, Andre Brie, explained on 27 August: 'As a socialist party, an Left alternative, we can not in the long term remain a regional party. The East German identity will disappear in the following five to eight years... On the other hand the PDS structure in the East can not see itself as a simple extension of the party in West Germany. Given the collapse in the West, spanning from the Left to left of the Social Democrats and the Greens after 1989, it is now a question of a new foundation, the original construction of a new socialist party which comes about due to the conditions and cultural policies which exist in the West. In as far as the PDS succeeds in imposing itself on the West, its identity will change completely. The PDS is still in the middle of a process of transformation with an open-ended result. Changes in social composition and internal structure.
Between May 1989 and May 1990 the party lost 2 million of its 2.3 million members. A first wave of resignations took place in 1988 due to the expulsion of those in opposition, namely Barbel Bohley, Wolfgang Templin and Freya Klier. At the time of the municipal elections and the mass exodus at the end of the holidays there was another succession of waves. The workers were amongst the first to leave the party. The discovered' privileges of the bigwigs, their corruption and the state budget deficit repulsed many members who felt deceived.
The SED-PDS did not succeeded in stabilising itself as a leading force in a new political base. This and the more concrete day to day perspective of integration in the FRG provoked in the majority of the nomenclatura (in the economy, administration and the army) the feeling that: The SED-PDS is powerless. It is becoming a party like the others, (Wolfgang Berghofer). A sufficient reason to abandon the sinking ship and look for a new direction under the wing of new leaders. After the siege of the Stasi headquarters in the middle of January 1990, Berghofer left the party and took with him the majority of the party leaders. Since then the SED-PDS has been called the PDS. It is no longer the party of the nomenclature.
Having said this, 90% of its members were members of the SED, the majority having had lower positions and little power. A sociological study published in 1991 by an institute close to the party, concluded that: Structurally the PDS is a different party from that of the SED. It no longer has a state party structure but maintains within its structure the heritage of having been a state party. The study underlines the following traits as particularly indicative of the social composition of the PDS: 60% of members are more than 50 years old; 10% are less than 30; 41% are retired; 45% are employees (among them a number of exstate employees); 17% have a university degree; 40% are women. The majority of members are out of work (60%), seeing the party as a place of refuge and a community of solidarity - working for the party is the essence of their political life.
For quite a time the party has been assisting the process of rejuvenation and change in leadership at all levels. The party statutes enable self-organisation for the young, women, school students, homosexuals, workers, giving them the right of representation and aiding them in the ever continuing slow movement towards a change of leadership.
With the majority of members passive, it is not surprising that pragmatism is the party's dominant trait. The 'silent majority" are standing firmly behind Gysi, who since 1993 has been the President of the Bundestag (parliament) faction, and Bisky, who succeeded Gysi as party president. Modrow (honorary president) continues to be the key person for the integration of the oldest members. Bisky represents middle-
Communist Parties in crisis Wir (niV 1169 sind das Volk D16W 291 6 209 OVST UL n nour A H 1 10 "We are the People" (1989) East German artist Matthias Gübig predicts a difficult life together for G.D.R. citizens in a aged members, often active in municipal work and in regional parliaments. His strong hold is in the Brandenburg region and constitutes the factions most inclined towards a coalition with the Social Democrats. This type of member is active, but not less pragmatic; he allows himself to be guided principally by 'electoral success"
Only three current and structured policies exist; by far the most important is the "Communist platform' which accounts for a few hundred members; next is the *Social-Democrat platform' and an 'Anarchist platform' which does not play any part. The "Communist platform' is
31
International Viewpoint #264 MARCH 1995 primarily ideological in its activity. It represents those members who view the dissolution of the GDR with nostalgia, accusing Gorbachov of having sold socialism with his speeches on democracy, whilst embracing the Maoist position that everything was fine in the socialist camp up until the 20th PCUS congress. The 'Communist platform's' political weight in day to day party politics is minimal. Pragmatism is an obstacle to the development of a strategic debate, around which firm trends could be formed. It encourages Bonapartist behavior on the part of key representatives of the
The VSP and
the PDS...
Winfried Wolf of the far-left United Socialist Party (VSP) was elected to the German Parliament (Bundestag) last year on the PDS list, but as an active member of the VSP). His election campaign marked the reorientation of the more active VSP members towards work around the PDS. At its last conference of town wards in December, the VSP decided to present a resolution describing its relationship with the PDS and perspectives on constructing a revolutionary organisation at its next conference in June 1995. The outcome of the debate was to undertake three tasks to resolve the problems implied by such co-operation with a party like the PDS: H A VSP assessment (including an assessment of the construction of a certain type of * An analysis of the PDS * The preparation of a debate on the reconstruction of the Socialist Party on the basis of class independence a programme, union reorganisation, political reorganisation, the type of party. The role of a revolutionary organisation in such a project. If there are differences in the VSP with regard to the PDS there is on the other hand agreement on the necessity for the VSP to define a construction project based on the new subjective and objective situation and on the tasks which emerge from it and may define its relationships with the PDS within the project and not vice versa. A convincing contribution in achieving this might exert an attractive influence on a left-wing faction in the PDS. *
32 leadership. Tending also to displace the political centre of gravity towards parliamentary factions, neglecting the party the predominance pragmatism shows considerable political and strategic weakness in the party's leadership.
A non-Stalinist Left does not exist in a structured form. It exists in virtue of the AG (work groups) of the young, women, the Berlin Federation and the weak federations of the West. This Left influences the party's central decisions principally by means of pressure from Gysi. It can count on a group of representatives in the national leadership. Often these 'representatives' express a certain socialisation and political culture rather than a strategic and common point of view. They are perfectly capable of using all their means to dismantle a reformist project, for example the "social contract or different coalition projects (hidden or not), working with the Social-Democrats in Lander in the East. But when it comes to it, the left in the PDS are incapable of formulating an alternative project of construction - a weakness shared by the majority of the leadership.
The PDS is probably the most democratic reformist party in Western Europe. In its statute, the right to form movements outside the party is expressly recognised. These movements, once recognised, have privileged rights: they can claim particular representation in the party congress and have the right to special group budget status. Non-members have the right to attend meetings and except in certain cases, they can even be delegates and participate in elections.
This internal democratic regime, unusual for a reformist party, is partly explained by the weakness of the party structure. The former SED structure has been completely destroyed. Today the party has 130,000 members and only 150 permanent officials. The 3,000 basic organisations, work groups and interest groups has to rely on 30-40,000 unpaid activists. In the final analysis these are the people who are developing party policy and determining its image in the outside world.
The regional federations are also very strong. The central leadership can no longer count on a strong central structure to impose its point of view. It can only use the personal authority of its members and its capacity for integration as a basis. It has to discuss and convince.
The PDS no longer has a newspaperbut publishes a monthly magazine, Disput. Its editorial, along with the majority of its contributions, reflects a left-wing point of view. Apart from this, the party sends out a great many brochures, frequently organises conference debates on all sorts of subjects and maintains an institute for political
These activities are proof of a true culture of debate. At the same time, the PDS is the only party which continually preserves its revolutionary and communist German traditions. Proof of this fact is in parade to commemorate the assassination of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht on 15 January, in which there are more participants every year (this year more than 100,000 marched past the
The party's statute and conception have not been created by the party alone. They have come about due to a sharp conflict between the conservative majority and the current anti-Stalinist movement of the Left (from here on referred to as the 'movement') which in 1991-92, the formative years of the PDS, played a key role in the renovation' of the party. This movement aimed to transform the PDS into a left-wing socialist, movementist party - in practical terms, the sum of the lessons learnt from the fall of Stalinism. During the years which were marked by the dismantling of the GDR, the party resisted all temptation to withdraw into itself and merely defend its organisation and its ideological, material heritage. The PDS was emphatically asked to formulate a socialist critique of the GDR regime and not abandon the Stalinist critique to the forces of the bourgeoisie.
In the end, at the hour of its dissolution in 1992, the "movement' demonstrated the failure of its project admitting that transforming a former state party into a socialist party of the Left was an illusion. All the same, it was able to impose the two important results of its work:
* a motion touching the heart of the party, which took the risk of adopting it: the motion on members who collaborated with the Stasi. It states: 'Comrades who are preparing to work for the party in high positions can no longer consider the material contained in their personal biographies as private... PDS members who were active collaborators, official or unofficial, with the ministry for state security and who are putting themselves forward as candidates for the party mandate in the election of a people's representative have the duty to make public their activities for the state security so that an analysis of particular cases can be made. These activities will have an effect on the decision on candidates. Representatives who turn out to be dishonest and unworthy on this question are asked to abandon their candidature. A similar decision was taken for comrades preparing to take up an important position in the party. Between Socialism and Capitalist Reform.
International Viewpoint #264 MARCH 1995
Surrounded by a democratic bourgeoisie, the PDS must keep on proving that it has 'truly abandoned' Stalinist heritage.
At the same time this democratic bourgeoisie is extremely hostile to the party, to the point that the ban on it is openly debated. What is more, the integration of the former GDR has been accompanied by the violent destruction, not only of any positive political reference to the SED but also of all the social and cultural value that ultimately emphasizes the point that society can be better organised and in a different way from the existing capitalist one. In being pushed to integrate into bourgeois society, the PDS finds itself, at the same time repulsed, marginalised and treated like a pariah.
The PDS has found itself a place in this evident contradiction which reflects a contradiction between two lines pursued by the dominant political forces towards it: simple attendance or integration.
The elected programme of 1992 left this question open. It states: 'In the PDS there is a place for those who want to form a resistance to capitalist society and fundamentally oppose the current conditions and for those who combine this resistance with the goal of changing the conditions in a positive sense, overcoming them gradually. This contradiction runs through the whole programme. It leaves -like the PC reformers in the West - huge challenges to humanity which are steeped in the class character of a capitalist society and layers of society exploited as a subject for social upheaval. At the same time it denounces 'the capitalist system of production, distribution and consumption in the world centres of economy and domination of the patriarchy' as 'the principal causes of global problems' . A bureaucratised, competitive and consumer society is the major social problem of our planet'.
The programme states: "the crisis of existence felt in civilisation makes the upheaval in the method of production and capitalist life a question of human survival'. At the same time it believes that the type of productive force newly emerging (flexible automisation, work groups) is replacing the assembly chain more and more. It offers new possibilities to participate in the organisation of the work process and saving resources'. It primarily criticises 'the antisocial imposition of a new type of productive force,' which destroys jobs on a massive scale.
The programme defines socialism as a "movement' and 'system of values", at the same time stating that: 'a socialist and democratic society, which is not dominated by principles of profit, can only establish itself on the communal effort of social forces and diverse policies ... Strategic decisions on development... make conscious and democratic planning on the part of producers, municipalities and social movements necessary.
The programme contains immediate and advanced claims (based on the most radical positions of social movements), but replaces the demand for the expropriation of large capital by demands for control of
*a constitution of economic and social advice at all levels and 'the increase of communal property'. It gives off a fundamentally positive attitude vis a vis the market economy and side-steps the question of property and power quite well - this has also been inherited from the fall of the Stalinist regime. However it persists in defending the legitimacy of the GDR as an attempt to put forward an alternative to capitalism and admits that many things were regulated there in a more progressive and social way. Finally the programme portrays a fundamentally positive attitude vis a vis the state ('a civilising body') and of the nation. Between Coalition and Opposition.
There is also confusion in deciding what attitude to take to social democracy and the unions. The PDS has always avoided all public criticism on the subject of the unions. With regards to social democracy it would like to take its place as a reformist party - given that the Social Democrats are right of centre.
So the possibilities of realising such a strategic option differ massively between the East and the West. In the East the Social Democratic Party has a weak membership, although it is stronger in electoral support. The Christian Democratic Party is the minor party in a few of the Lander; although it is also the case that the Liberals and the Greens are no longer represented in any of the Lander (with the exception of Berlin). The Social Democrats are burdened by the contradiction that on the one hand they want to present themselves as the true way for change. On the other hand the majority of their members and voters are of the old school of the regime (like the Christian Democrats); they have often seen themselves surpassed by a PDS who succeeded in expressing the preoccupations and feelings of East Germans much better, often sharing their own preoccupations. Many have ignored their party's banon cooperation with the PDS.
Putting aside the fact that such events would not take place for 4 years (at the time of the next elections), the Social Democrats' capacity to take control and maneuvre events so that it would not be the PDS who gains a part of the SPD but the SPD who gain a part of the PDS has also been underestimated. What is more, it should be taken into consideration that there will be more posts and positions for disposal which would unite the dissidents.
In the West however, the weight of social democracy is such that a party to the left of it can only win with a profile that is clearly in opposition to it (as the Greens once were, with in addition, the beginnings of a vision for how to lead an alternative life, which was much clearer than that of the PDS. They were also very strong on ecological matters).
At the moment these politically and socially diverse pressures have produced a strong debate in which the option for a social contract presents itself as the most logical course of action, but by and large only for the minority. As a left-wing
Communist Parties in crisis Wir sind das Volk opposition party, it outlines a 'prolonged opposition' option which has the drawback of wanting to favour to social movements and base itself on extra-parliamentary forces which are weak anyway. In principle this Left ought to produce a rebuttal/ opposition document but it is difficult to engage in debate when it is in itself heterogeneous. There is the National Directive (Gysi, Bisky) in the middle, who fall between both camps, answering the pressures of all sides and hiding their weakness through violent attacks against the communist platform and "programme" type documents which try to satisfy everyone and in fact satisfy no one
Angela Klein, 18.1.1994.
33
Despite Fini's superficial proclamations of anti-racism, the The potential power of the new-style party is shown by Fini's 47.5%
National Alliance is composed of 99% neo-fascists and one percent score in municipal elections in Rome in December 1994. Alessandra only of recycled failures from other parties and last minute Mussolini, daughter of the wartime dictator Benito, won 46.8% of opportunists. The 2,000 local branches ("circles" in Fini-speak) do not votes in Naples for the MSI in the same elections.
As for the programme of the new party, it formally rejects two of the cornerstones of Italian post war neo-fascism - continuity with Salo (Reprinted from the French weekly Rouge)
International Viewpoint #264 MARCH 1995
Martinique: General Strike during Carneval Striking bank workers in the French colony of Martinique lifted picket lines outside banks so as not to damange strong public support for their strike, which had entered its sixth week when the island's three day carneval drew closer at the end of February. But by blocking the processing of cheques and credit card payments, they reminded the island's richest inhabitants and businessmen that carneval or not, the strike for a modest wage rise and for management respect of trades union rights would continue. According to local militant Philippe Charles, municipal counsellor in Fort-deFrance, "over a two week period, three general strikes were called. While none of them mobilised a large majority of workers, the first and the third did make their mark on the life of the country. Three thousands demonstrators at the first mass rally, and 2,000 at the second, resisted intense anti-strike propaganda, which could not help but have some effect on the marginalised groups of society. The position of the banks in our economy is obvious... "The trades union movement in Martinique is mostly animated by the radical left. And in this campaign, militants of all seven groups worked together, accepting responsibility for the success of the united action. The general level of consciousness among the workers is one step higher as a result". to contact the several hundred workers still on strike, or for more information on the situation in Martinique, contact Group Revolution Socialiste (GRS), B.P. 103197200 Forte-de-France Cedex, Martinique. GRS published a fourtnightly Frenchlanguage magazıne "Revolution Socialiste," available at the same address.
Nicaragua Sandinistas finally split A number of leaders of the Sandinista Front (FSLN) left the organisation in December and January, led by Sergio Ramirez, leader of the social democratic opposition to the 'traditionalist' faction arround Danel Ortega. Ramirez has since set up the Movement for Sandinista Renewal (MRS), which promotes cooperation with the centre-right in order to win the middle classes to a more reformist programme than that of the present Lacayo government. While Ortega still insists that the FLN must "defend the interests of the masses" he has been reluctant or unable to propose alternatives to the I.M.F-backed structural adjustment programme which is destroying the country's health and social security systems. He has also been implicated in the pinata scandle, concerning the privatisation of many nationalised companies into the hands of leading Sandinistas in the days after their electoral defeat in February 1990, but before they handed over power. The bitterness of the public accusations of both sides in the fight for the soul of the FLN have damaged the image of the organisation, and disoriented or dissillusioned a number of militants. Presidential elections will be held some time in 1996. Given the state of the Sandinistas, the demagogic right wing mayor of Managua, Aleman, is the pollsters favourite. * Paquita Marqués.
12 January-12 October 1995 European March for nuclear disarmament Nuclear power and weapons plants in five European states are being'visited' on a ten month march for a nuclear-free world After visiting France and Great Britain, marchers are now in Belgium, and will cross into Germany on 19 March. Route plan Germany 19 March - 28 April Czech Rep.29 April - 18 May Austria 19 May - 25 May Slovakia 26 May - 18 June Ukraine 19 June - 8 August Belorussia 9 August -12 August Russia 13 August -12 October The "12 countries in 10 months" event is coordinated by Mother Earth. In 1992 the group organised a nine month march which terminated, on Indigenous People's rights day, on a traditional territory of the Shoshone people in Arizona, U.S.A,, now used as a nuclear test site. For more information contact Perline Gsien, 2 place Croix-Paquet, 69100 Lyon, France. fax (+33) 78 28 10 70 and Mussolini, and corporatism as a model for society. While the
MSI (Italian Social Movement) leader Gianfranco Fini has economic programme has been completely rewritten to please proclaimed the dissolving of Italy's neo-fascist party into a "National supporters of the democratic right-wing parties, Fini has enough
Alliance" which he describes as a common home for the Italian authoritarian policies - a total ban on absolutely all non-medical drugs right." Traditionalists accused Fini of being and agent of masonic
(except alcohol), or the expulsion of unemployed or paperless forces for seeking to abandon the MST's flame symbol, and its immigrants - to maintain most of his "hard right" militants.
historical references to the fascist "Republic of Salo," a short lived independent a teen the "Post-fascism" in Italy
North of Italy towards the end of the
Second World War.
seem to exist independently of the MS structures.
34
René Fougerolles
The MSI won 13.4% of votes in
Italy's 1994 parliamentary elections, making it the country's third largest party.
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