Gauche’ appeared. It contained these significant words:— “This newspaper takes as its starting point the defence of the social and economic programme of the Belgian T.U. Federation, which it defined in the two declarations of the 1954 and 1956 Extra-ordinary Congresses. The two governing ideas of this programme were economic and financial planning and economic democracy — the necessary complement to political democracy. Economic democracy implies the dissolution of the financial groupings, and the transfer of their prerogatives to the Nation. It assumes also the establishment of workers’ democracy in the heart of every enterprise.” This manifesto, signed by Andre Renard, sums up the campaign we have led for cight years, the path we have followed, even after the Belgian Socialist Parties decision of the 12th and 13th of December 64 to gag the left wing by presenting it with the choice of holding its tongue or being expelled. Many difficulties faced those who fought for the ideas of the Manifesto. In 1958-9 these ideas seemed on the point of winning inside the Belgian Socalist Party. We know now that most of the Party’s leaders had only paid lip service to them, and were ready to bury them in some dusty corner as soon as a chance of ministerial collaboration presented itself. The fight for structural reform of the State was started by the metal workers’ strike in Summer 1957; it was re-inforced by the shock of the socialists’ electoral set-backs in 1958; strengthened by the coal crisis and the Borinage strikes, stimulated by the fight against the “Loi Unique’; it reached its climax in the strike of 1960-61. At that moment, had all the movement’s energies been concentrated on this one goal—as they very “ed were in Wallonia—a whole
rampart of the capitalist fortress would haye crumbled before it.
From the fact that an entire wing of the workers’ movement, paralised by its ever increasing links with the capitalist regime, refused to join in the struggle, the left wing of the Walloon workers’ movement concluded that henceforth it would have to add the aim ‘federalism’ to its other demands for reform of ‘the State. This is how the Walloon Popular Movement was born. The way the right wing had messed up a number of these reforms by emasculating them and then applying them in a way perfectly acceptable to neo-capitalism, could only widen the ‘gap.
The vote on the anti-strike laws and the obligation it imposed on the Walloon socialists to give up for the moment its struggle for federalism accomplished the rest.
Today it is not ‘La Gauche’ or its ideas which are ‘incompatible’ with the Belgian Socialist Party; it is the Party’s socialist programme and the resolute, uncompromising pursuit of it, that has become ‘incompatible’ with the right wing leaders’ own programme of permanent collaboration with the bourgeois ministers in the Government.
That is also why the open witch-hunt, which began on the 12th December, 1964, is merely a prelude to the official abandonment of the Party’s socialist programme, including the Quaregnon Charter, which certain speakers at the December Congress did not hesitate to attack.
But ‘La Gauche’ goes on; the left wing of the workers’ movement goes on, all the socialists who remain faithful to the Programme in the true spirit of the Great Strike, will continue, and nothing will stop them. Because what the Programme expresses in their hearts, in spite of all its imperfections of which they are quite aware; what urges them
forward is nothing but the un-
shakable will of the Working Nation
to grasp its ultimate liberation, to
become the master of society and
the State. And against this will, no
force, no obstacle, can prevail.
Editor’s Note: Since this article was
written we have learned that the sup-
porters of ‘La Gauche’, Links, and
the M.P.W. have formed the Social-
ist Workers’ Party of Belgium, This
party will have a number of M.P.s,
very considerable trade union sup-
port (especially among the metal-
workers and miners) and important
positions in a large number of
municipalities.
* Translated from December 19th
issue of ‘La Gauche’.
FRONT IN
FRANCE :
HE following resolution, adopted
unanimously by the National
Council of the French Socialist
Party (SFIO) at its last meeting,
shows that the party leadership now
officially supports the idea of a bloc
- with the Communist Party to beat the
Gaullists.
The National Council lays down
the following tactics for the cam-
paign for the municipal election to be
held on March 14th (first ballot) and
21st (second ballot), with the object
of maintaining those citadels of
democracy which localities must
represent:
(1) In constituencies of less than
30,000 inhabitants the voters pre-
serve the possibility of clearly exer-
cising their choice. Thus the Socialis:
Party adheres to its usual policy: the
presentation of Socialist or predomin-
antly Socialist lists, whenever this is
possible. On the second ballot the
order of the day is to defeat the
U.N.R. (de Gaulle’s Party) and its
allies;
(2) In towns of over 30,000 in-
habitants the Government has
brought in a provocative law which
the Socialist Party condemns. By
this law the second ballot has become
meaningless since no new list or
coalition can be constituted between
ballots. | Consequently the Party
approves the creation at the first
ballot of coalitions with democrats of
the Left.
Wherever it would be absolutely
necessary, in order to defeat the
U.N.R. which is the prime aim of the
campaign, the Party recognises agree-
ments with Communists or Republi-
cans who, though they are distanced
from Socialism, are unequivocally
opposed to the present regime.