Iceland coalition is expected to announce support for an Icelandic application to joint the European Union.
Left advances
EU membership is supported by
Foreign minister Halldor Asgrimsson
(Progressive Party), but opposed by
The new Left-Green party has prime minister David Oddsson of won 9% of the votes.
the Independence Party.
The Left-Green Party scored 9% of
Einar Olafsson the vote, winning six seats in the 63 member parliament. This new party
The neo-liberal government held its was formed as a radical left alternative to the social democratic remajority in the parliamentary elections on May 8. The (centre-right)
groupment. It is the only party that
Progressive Party declined from 23% opposes NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, NATO and EU membership, in 1995 to 18%. But its populistand advocates radical welfare and conservative coalition partner, the environmental policies.
Independence Party, increased its share of the vote from 37% to 41%.
Many activists in the new party are former members of the People's
The social democratic coalition
Alliance and the Women's Party, between the People's Alliance, the independent environmentalists and
Peoples Party and the Women's
16 International Viewpoint #312 June 1999 ted to the national conference if they ship
The had already won majority support in one sector or region.
mov ted
As a result, the national congress
Leac received hundreds of diverse amendments. A political commission, in which I the had the misfortune to serve, had to mob decide which could be accepted for
One debate. Almost all were rejected.
dele
At the very end of the congress, when most delegates were already collecting
210 n their hats and coats, a few particularly and determined authors of amendments the insisted on a discussion of their texts. All were quickly voted and massively rejected. Including my own amendment on the nature of the opposition, which had already been accepted in Milan,
Turin, and several other federations. Our current was also associated with amendments on party functioning, on the nature of the anticapitalist dynamic, and on the tactics the party should adopt.
After considerable effort, the electoral commission proposed a list of
375 names for the National Political
Commission, the 250-member leadership group. The electoral commission was presided' for the organisational secretary
(a member of the secretariat). His opening statement informed us that 62 seats were "reserved for the central apparatus." But he refused to give the names of these comrades, or the criteria by which they had been selected until the absolute last minute.
Not surprisingly, this provoked considerable unrest on the conference floor.
But all the counter-proposals, proposed, notably by the women delegates and by the leaders of the youth section, were rejected with hypocritical speeches and ideological acrobatics.
The current I identify with finally won 30 seats in the CPN, which is rather less than our weight in the party would justify. At the higher levels of the leadersocialists, and ex members of the
Maoist and Trotskyist organisations active in the 70's and 80's.
While the consolidation of a social democratic bloc represents a shift to
In the right in the Icelandic progressive scene, the new Left-Green Party re does represent a fresh new current kil in Icelandic politics. They lacked a party apparatus, or any real camto paign funds. But their impressive
Ri electoral result reflects their energy and the space for honest, radical politics. * wi
La
* In International Viewpoint #303, September 1998, we av wrongly said that the socialist People's Alliance joined a of coalition with the Independence Party in 1991. In fact, the
Peoples Alliance never adopted explicit neo-liberal lis policies, and was always against membership of EU. It was the social democratic People's Party which formed a coalition with the Independence Party.
m
Contact: Vinstrihreyfingin - grant frambod, Vonarstraeti
12, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland, Web: http://www.vg.is
----- photo credits and running heads -----
PAR
ship, this imbalance is even more visible. The various tendencies and the social movements are seriously under represented in the higher, smaller National Leadership (DN).
But the vote contained a warning to the leadership current, which failed to mobilise and convince all its supporters. One third of the majority tendency's 600 delegates abstained or voted against.
The party's daily newspaper Liberazione didn't even produce a full report and analysis of the various votes. Hardly the transparent politics we aspire to!
This congress confirmed the leftward reorientation of the party since the Cossuta split and the end of our support for the centre-left government. It creates more favourable conditions for our future struggles, and improves our ability to intervene and build roots in the social reality of the Italian working class.
But there has been no improvement in the conception and internal func-
/ 11
Seberazione Ripartiamo dai bisogni toning of the party. This is particularly regrettable since the coming months will bring a number of serious challenges which we would have been better able to deal with if we were more democratic and transparent.
The membership of the PRO fluctuates around 120-130,000. The losses connected to the October 1998 split have been more than compensated for by new membership applications. It also seems that a higher proportion of members are renewing their membership on time.
But there is still a considerable turnover of membership (up to 30% in some years).
The challenge facing PRC militants is to redouble their efforts in the social and labour movements, to reinforce our presence, and in doing so compensate for and overcome the practices and habits which still prevent the party from achieving its full potential. * * Livio Maitan is a supporter of the Bandierra Rossa current within the PRO and a leading member of the Fourth International. Maitan and Bandierra Rossa comrade Franco Turigliatto were elected to the CPN and the DN. A much longer version of this report has been published in Inprecor, the French edition of International Viewpoint. A series of background articles by Livio Maitan and other PRC militants can be accessed at our website.
www.internationalen.se/sp/ivp.htm Nelson and later heard from Diana
REMEMBER
Hamill whose brother Robert was kicked to death by loyalist thugs in Portadown in 1997.
Testimonies by family support groups from all corners of the country followed. They gripped and
STEPHEN
AHRANCE moved the audience with their harrowing accounts of the doubleinjury inflicted upon them. First in losing a loved one and then in having to campaign "not for sympathy or pity but justice".
There were also asylum-seekers facing deportation, miscarriage of justice cases and those subjected to
A common theme was how racist violence and state racism interact and reinforce each other. Another was the isolation and desperation of the families pitted against the