SYRIZA sets out on path to unity

[Die Neue Zeit]

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_03/12/2012_472768




SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras moved a step closer to securing a unified voice for his party, which is made of more than a dozen factions, as he received overwhelming backing from members.

Tsipras proposed at a party congress over the weekend that a central committee be formed to oversee the running of the party and the creation of a more centralized decision-making process around a core set of policies.

In results announced Monday, 74.3 percent of members supported this idea, whereas 25.7 percent backed the party’s “Left Platform,” which was led by MP Panayiotis Lafazanis and wanted to maintain the plurality of previous years.

“The new group will not be many parties packaged as one,” Tsipras told SYRIZA members.

Lafazanis was booed by some supporters when he voiced his opposition to the unification of the party’s groupings.

[Le Socialiste]

This effort has been underway for several months. A step in the right direction, I'd say.

[GoddessCleoLover]

A step in the right-wing direction perhaps. Strikes me as an attempt to disempower SYRIZA's left wing.

[Die Neue Zeit]

The Left Platform /= SYRIZA's left wing. There are pro-party SYRIZA leftists, and status quo Coalition of the Radical Left types. It would be interesting, however, to see the membership breakdown of those involved in SYRIZA's solidarity services networks / Alternative Culture, between the "political" and the "social" wing.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

What kind of policy positions will be held by a unified SYRIZA as opposed to SYRIZA with its current model? Will it be something radical like nationalization of the banks and shipping industry and amnesty for immigrants, or will it be more modest like "tax the rich" and "bolster free public healthcare"? This question is very pertinent to whether SYRIZA takes a revolutionary stance or merely adopts the role of moderate European social democracy.

[Delenda Carthago]

SYRIZA sets out on path to unity



Lafazanis was booed by some supporters when he voiced his opposition to the unification of the party’s groupings.


Some unity...:lol:



PS. Should I post some mass media comments that congratulate SYRIZA on the turn he made?

[l'Enfermé]

^That would be interesting actually.

[Avanti]

this is

the beginning

of the end

of syriza

centralism

breeds

stagnation

all those

who burns

for doing

things

will be stifled

or run away

and form

their own

micro-parties

for

if you're going

to have

a centralised

party

you need

a bureaucracy

united we fall

divided we stand

[Le Socialiste]

What kind of policy positions will be held by a unified SYRIZA as opposed to SYRIZA with its current model? Will it be something radical like nationalization of the banks and shipping industry and amnesty for immigrants, or will it be more modest like "tax the rich" and "bolster free public healthcare"? This question is very pertinent to whether SYRIZA takes a revolutionary stance or merely adopts the role of moderate European social democracy.

Well, SYRIZA already includes nationalization/socialization of the banks and other private sectors in its 40-point program, as well as withdrawal from NATO and other such agreements. We'll have to wait and see whether these positions are dropped or kept by a united SYRIZA.

SYRIZA's 40-Point Program (http://links.org.au/node/2888)

[Q]

Some unity...:lol:


Because a united party can't have disagreements?

[Q]

Well, SYRIZA already includes nationalization/socialization of the banks and other private sectors in its 40-point program, as well as withdrawal from NATO and other such agreements. We'll have to wait and see whether these positions are dropped or kept by a united SYRIZA.

SYRIZA's 40-Point Program (http://links.org.au/node/2888)

Yes, it is somewhat ironic how Syriza is being burned for being a reformist party, yet most left groups have a similar if not identical program (or rather wish-list). But then again, this is nothing new as these same left groups all acuse eachother too of being an arch-reformist.

Double standards anyone?

[Luís Henrique]

The Left Platform /= SYRIZA's left wing. There are pro-party SYRIZA leftists, and status quo Coalition of the Radical Left types. It would be interesting, however, to see the membership breakdown of those involved in SYRIZA's solidarity services networks / Alternative Culture, between the "political" and the "social" wing.

It is more or less what the PT leadership has been doing to the party in the decades past. Remove internal dissent, and secure power for the "moderates". Maybe there are "pro-party" (ie, pro-bureaucracy) leftists, and maybe there are anti-centralist centrists, but the general trust is the suppression of the left and empowerment of the right.

Luís Henrique

[Luís Henrique]

Lafazanis was booed by some supporters when he voiced his opposition to the unification of the party’s groupings.

Yes, I know these booings. The right-wing of the PT does that to us more often than not.

It is just sheer ignorantism - "we don't need your criticism, we don't want to hear your doubts, just shut up".

Or, in Orwell's words, "four legs good, two legs baaaaaaaaaaaaad".

Luís Henrique

[Die Neue Zeit]

It is more or less what the PT leadership has been doing to the party in the decades past. Remove internal dissent, and secure power for the "moderates". Maybe there are "pro-party" (ie, pro-bureaucracy) leftists, and maybe there are anti-centralist centrists, but the general trust is the suppression of the left and empowerment of the right.

Luís Henrique


Yes, I know these booings. The right-wing of the PT does that to us more often than not.

It is just sheer ignorantism - "we don't need your criticism, we don't want to hear your doubts, just shut up".

Or, in Orwell's words, "four legs good, two legs baaaaaaaaaaaaad".

Luís Henrique

The right wing in that example focused on electoralism, though. They wanted to build a "party" geared towards electoral campaigns. The "pro party" leftists in the PT probably also had an electoral sniff or two, instead of what I wrote above: mutual aid / solidarity services networks / Alternative Culture, mass ballot spoilage campaigns, principled "electoral" opposition with concrete policy alternatives on all levels.

[Red Enemy]

Why is there no talk of ANTARSYA?

[GoddessCleoLover]

Why is there no talk of ANTARSYA?

ANTARSYA has minimal electoral support. Are they doing some productive extra-parliamentary mass organizational efforts?

[Die Neue Zeit]

ANTARSYA has minimal electoral support. Are they doing some productive extra-parliamentary mass organizational efforts?

No. They aren't organizing the same mutual aid / solidarity networks that SYRIZA is doing.

[Yuppie Grinder]

lol at nationalized industry being radical
i guess 70s labour party is radical

[Le Socialiste]

lol at nationalized industry being radical
i guess 70s labour party is radical

This kind of policy must be assessed within the context(s) in which it is presented as a goal or demand; in this instance it happens to be made amidst deteriorating conditions for vast sections of the Greek population. Considering this demand was made against the backdrop of privatization and the gutting of public social services, an argument can be made that yes - nationalization of certain sectors is a radical (and necessary!) goal to have. SYRIZA has also made an argument in favor of workers' control over specific industries (the details of which may even be found in its 40-point program).

Now, problems certainly exist within the coalition. The recent drive for unity amongst its members has its drawbacks, namely that its been pushed by Synaspismos, the largest of the member groups within SYRIZA. Synaspismos is notoriously reform-oriented, and has drawn a number of groups to it that happen to be more or less in agreement on the unity question. This process has served to highlight the divergent interests emerging between the coalition's right and leftwing, creating a situation that absolutely must be addressed in the immediate future in order for it to effectively respond to whatever arises around it.

Of course, unity in the form of centralization is necessary in the long run if SYRIZA is to grow into a mass party, but it needs to be the coalition's leftwing that heads this effort in order for it to be pulled off correctly. Given the sociopolitical and economic atmosphere in Greece, the Eurozone, and the wider European continent, the group's nationalization goals are understandable. They show that at least parts of the coalition appear to understand the period they're in, and know how to respond accordingly. In this period, one marked by intense austerity and privatization, it becomes reasonable for the left to call for the nationalization of industry, aided in part by the activity and participation of the masses. The problem arises when proponents of nationalization utilize a tone of finality while discussing the process; I have yet to hear this from SYRIZA, though it certainly could lean that way depending on which direction it ends up heading.

[Le Socialiste]

Why is there no talk of ANTARSYA?

The Left Platform, which consists of a number of different groups within SYRIZA, issued a statement at the coalition's last conference calling for more cooperation and collaboration with group's like ANTARSYA and the communist party.

http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/19/where-is-syriza-headed

[Die Neue Zeit]

Well, SYRIZA already includes nationalization/socialization of the banks and other private sectors in its 40-point program, as well as withdrawal from NATO and other such agreements. We'll have to wait and see whether these positions are dropped or kept by a united SYRIZA.

SYRIZA's 40-Point Program (http://links.org.au/node/2888)

Here are the really good planks:



8. Abolition of financial privileges for the Church and shipbuilding industry.
9. Combat the banks' secret [measures] and the flight of capital abroad.
10. Cut drastically military expenditures.

[...]

12. Use buildings of the government, banks and the Church for the homeless.

[...]

18. Nationalisation of banks.
19. Nationalisation of ex-public (service & utilities) companies in strategic sectors for the growth of the country (railroads, airports, mail, water).

[...]

22. Limitation of precarious hiring and support for contracts for indeterminate time.
23. Extension of the protection of labour and salaries of part-time workers.
24. Recovery of collective (labour) contracts.

[...]

28. Abolition of privileges for parliamentary deputies. Removal of special juridical protection for ministers and permission for the courts to proceed against members of the government.
29. Demilitarisation of the Coast Guard and anti-insurrectional special troops. Prohibition for police to wear masks or use fire arms during demonstrations. Change training courses for police so as to underline social themes such as immigration, drugs and social factors.

[...]

36. Nationalisation of private hospitals. Elimination of private participation in the national health system.
37. Withdrawal of Greek troops from Afghanistan and the Balkans. No Greek soldiers beyond our own borders.

[...]

40. Closure of all foreign bases in Greece and withdrawal from NATO.

[Delenda Carthago]

^That would be interesting actually.


well, Tsipras met with the Shipowners Link some weeks ago. and all of the sudden, the neolilberal newspaper Kathimerini, owned by the shipowner Alafouzos, discovers the "national role that SYRIZA can play".

http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathpolitics_1_20/12/2012_475328

:rolleyes: