RIGHT WING OF BELGIAN SOCIALIST PARTY LAUNCH ‘YITCH HUNT from Brussels.
The Bureau (daily leadership) of the Belgian Socialist Party adopted a resolution November 23 stating that the party leadership intends to place a motion before the party congress, scheduled for December 12-13, declaring that participation in the leadership of the Walloon Popular Movement and any form of collaboration with the two weeklies, La Gauche and Links, is incompatible with membership of the Socialist Party. The news broke the next day in the Belgian daily papers. It was important news. The proposed proscription will provoke a crisis in the Socialist Party o some import.
The Walloon Popular Movement was founded by the late Andre Renard, the leader of the left wing of the Belgian trade wnions, after the general strike of December, 1960, - January, 1961, It is closely identified with the left wing of the unions in many industrial regions of the southern part of the country, especially Liege. The French-language La Gauche and the Flemish-language Links are very popular among left-wingers. ‘Their combined circulation exceeds 10,000 copies per week.
The decision of the reformist leadership to open up war on the left wing follows on the heels of a heavy defeat which the right wing suffered in awisth-hunting attempt to repress the left wing on a local or regional scale, In the Charleroi region, a right wing attempt to expat a local section with a moderately left leadership received only 40% of the votes at a regional party congress. In the Nivelles revion, the attempt of the right wing to discipline four members of the regional committee for opposit— . ional activities was reduced to six weeks suspension...as members of the regional committee, In Liege, a right winz move to expel Jacques Yerna, regional secretary of the trade union movement and legal editor of La Gauche did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority to pass. In fact the motion got less than fifty per cent of the votes, Following this, the right wing moved to suspend Yerna for six years. “hen this failed they made it four years. Then three. Next one year. Finally a motion to temporarily suspend Yerna for a few months as a member of the regional committee of the party was passed.
In addition to this, the party had to make a hasty retreat after an attempt to ban members of the socialist youth in September, The right wing has now decided to disregard all these. -defeats and to plunge ahead in its witch-hunting campaign, The reason appears to be its fear that the . left wing will score big victories in the coming primaries at the end of December. These will determine the slates to be run by the Socialist Party in the general elections in 1965. The attack has been met head on by La Gauche and Links, the Socialist Youth, the Socialist student organisations and many local sections of the Socialist Party in both Flemish and Walloon parts of the country. ‘They are mobilising for an all-out fight. In view of the determination thay have displayed, the possibility of a split looms large unless the right wing decides at the last moment to make a retreat, a turn that does not seem likely.