Spanish state those radicals who voted Green, nationalist or even Labour-is to follow the example of the Scottish Socialist Party. That means uniting. * Source: Socialist Outlook <outlook@gn.apc.org>. Additional material from Socialist Voice, the weekly of the Scottish Socialist Party.
involved for working people, women and youth. We ask what alternative policies the left can put forward, and make a few modest suggestions of our own. * orders of 1- copies. Order from your loca postage charge tor orders of adent. or directly from International Viewpoint, PO Box 27410, London SW9 9NQ, Britain dinternational_Viewpoint@compuserve.com>
A terrible result for the United Left
These were disastrous elections for the United Left (IU), writes Jaime Pastor. The party won 5.8% of votes and four seats in the European parliament, down from 13.4% and nine seats in 1994). The United Left also did badly in municipal and regional elections. The United Left has failed to adapt to the Conservative government of Jose-Maria Aznar. In the long years of social democratic government, IU had little difficulty projecting itself as the pro-labour, pro-social alternative. But now it is Felipe Gonzalez' social democrats (PSOE) who make the loudest and most credible criticisms of the Aznar government.
In reality, of course, PSOE is little different from Aznar's People's Party (P). Both parties have convinced the trade union leadership to of the labour market. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, and 95% of contracts signed in the last four years are part time or fixed term.
IU's delay in reacting to the PP victory in the 1995 elections enabled the conservatives to take power in a number of municipal and regional assemblies. In return, PP minorities allowed IU to preside in a number of municipal assemblies.
The party also alienated some supporters by its clumsy and authoritarian expulsion of the social democratic New Left (NI) current, and its rupture with pro-PSOE partners in Galicia and Catalonia.
A conflictual relationship with the (often sectarian) trade union leaderships, and a pro-Milosevic tinge to the party's anti-war discourse have also demobilised potential supporters. IU has still not thoroughly accepted Spain's plurinational character, and is seen as "too Spanish" by voters in many national minority areas.
These limits explain the party's poor election result. Fortunately, IU is still very definitely opposed to the Maastricht and Amsterdam treaties, and NATO's self-proclaimed "new" role. The four MEPs will surely play their role in resisting the current dynamic of capitalist integration. *
• The Basque radical left won one seat in the European parliament writes Joxe Iriarte "Bikila". The Euskal Herritarrok coalition was formed after the ETA ceasefire. The profound transformation of the Herri Batasuna and ETA milieu has made possible this new alliance, which includes most of the Basque far left, and activists in the social movements (but not the United Left, which suffered a heavy defeat in these elections).
Through Euskal Herritarrok, the revolutionary left Zutik group (a 1980s fusion of the "Trotskyist" LKI and ex-Maoist EMK) has dramatically increased its representation in municipal councils, and in the provincial parliaments of Gipuzcoa, Vizcaya and Navarre.
Euskal Herritarrok intends to work with the LO-LCR MEPs and other 'class struggle' groups in the European parliament, as well as coordinating with the other 'nations without a state.' Jaime Pastor was an unsuccessful European Parliamentary candidate for IU. Joxe Iriarte was elected to the Vizcaya provincial parliament on behalf of Euskal Herritarrok.
International Viewpoint #314 September 1999 7
EUROPA?