Norway's Maoists at a crossroads IT has been a year of turmoil inside the Norwegian AKP (m-l), one of the few big groups of Maoist origin still left in Europe. The party congress held in December 1990 was a turning point in the party's history. ANDERS EKELAND
HE PARTY adopted a new, non-Stalinist, programme, revised its previously bureaucratic centralist statutes, and issued a "Statement on the history of the Communist movement". The congress also decided to drop the m-l (Marxist-Leninist) parenthesis from its name, thus becoming simply the AKP (Arbeidernes Kommunist Parti — Workers Communists Party). All this showed the will of the overwhelming majority at the congress to make a break with the Stalinist past. But it should be noted that the membership and the congress were severely divided over how fast and how far to make the break with the past.
The congress was divided into two major wings/factions: the so-called "right" - those who wanted to make a clean break with the past and with Stalinism, and build a new revolutionary party together with other left forces - and the "left" , who were more reluctant to condemn Stalinist crimes and were hostile to bold initiatives with other left forces. To the left of the "left" there is a small and utterly dogmatic/nostalgic current, rejecting change, sticking with Maoism and the old centralist way of functioning. This current got about 10% of the votes at the congress.
The divisions were not so sharp over the new programme and statutes, partly due to the very general way these documents were worded, which left much room for interpretation. There was more debate about specific points in the "Statement on the history of the Communist movement" although both the "left" and the "righp" were in basic agreement on a fundamentally critical attitúde towards the kind of "socialism" built by Stalin, Hoxha and Mao.
The final document is marked by compromise and the fact that neither the "left"
nor the "right" wanted to condemn Mao and Maoism in the same manner as Stalin. The "Statement" considers the Chinese contributions to the "Great Polemic" between the CPSU and the CCP as programmatic documents and sees the break between the CPSU and the CCP as a major turning point for the "Communist movement". This is no surprise because the AKP was always much more Maoist than Stalinist in style and orientation.
The issue that really did divide the congress was that of what attitude to take towards other left forces, centering around the fate of the AKP's electoral organization, RV (Rød Valgallianse — "Red Electoral Alliance"). Although the RV was set up in 1973 as a mere front organization for the AKP (m-l), it ultimately became a place where ex-party members breaking with Stalinism and sectarianism could get together with other independent socialists. In the RV they could be politically active, escaping from the strict centralism of the party.
State support for parliamentary parties
The only problem was that the RV's statutes guaranteed the AKP the right to the name, property and income of the organization, and since the RV receives about $200,000 in the form of state support to parliamentary parties, these clauses are not mere formalities. In addition, all staff appointments and political decisions could be vetoed by the AKP. Several AKP full timers were paid for with RV money". Actually there was no clear boundary between the two organizations at the top level.
The "right", ", that is the anti-Stalinist opposition, wanted to bury the AKPand with it the party's Stalinist past - and get a clean start by making the RV the nucleus for a new party. Such a move presupposed that the RV would turn into a new organization with internal democracy and no special privileges for the AKP. This would also avoid a bitter power struggle inside the AKP, which could be left to the "left" because all the activity, new recruitment and money would be channelled into RV. The "left", of course, saw the danger of RV becoming a real competitor, a stronghold for the "right" in alliance with various other left currents.
The congress finally compromised on this point. The RV became an independent organization without special privileges for the AKP, but its activity was to remain strictly parliamentary until the elections in September (see box). Then the discussion could start again.
Both "left" and "right" have implemented the compromise in a loyal and disciplined way. Soon after the congress the local organizations of the "old" RV invited other forces on the left to set up the "new" RV with individual membership in a formally independent organization. The
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NORWAY main problem is that after years of Stalinist sectarianism, party chauvinism, and so on, there was a widespread distrust towards the AKP among independent left activists. There is no longer a plethora of grouplets or organized currents on the left. The only organized forces are AMG (Arbeidermaktgruppa, Workers Power Group), the International Socialists (politically identical to the British Socialist Workers Party) and what remains of the pro-Moscow Communist Party. Of these, only the AMG, an activist group of about 40 people, has a clear orientation towards a regroupment of the left centered around the AKP/RV. The International Socialists, roughly the same size as the AMG, are as sectarian as their British sister organization.
The pro-Moscow Communists are split into various factions, but one of them is interested in the AKP/RV developments. This means that for the "right" in the AKP the AMG has been the only organized force with whom they could work, giving the latter a role in the RV out of proportion to its numerical strength.
The RV held its congress in March 1991. The congress discussed the organization's programme and elected a new leadership. The old programme was a revolutionary one, but it was flavoured by Stalinism and restricted the role of the RV to parliamentary work. The AMG presented alternative texts on a few major points and won some minor victories, but it did not succeed in persuading the congress to untie the RV from the straitjacket of parliamentary work.
The leadership of the AKP had sent a directive to all members attending the congress not to support amendments of this type. In spite of the deep disagreements the atmosphere of the congress was a constructive one, the only point of bitter controversy being the elections. The AMG did get two members out of 17 on the new leadership, but this leadership is dominated by the "left", the "right" being grossly under-represented.
The current situation on the Norwegian far left is dominated by the question of the future of the AKP and RV. Even though the AKP has lost a considerable number of members over the past ten years it remains a party.
Number of active members unknown
The number of active party members is still unknown to everybody except the inner circle of the AKP for security reasons. At its height the party, youth and student organizations together probably had about 3,000 members. Today it is probably about a third of that, but a large proportion of ex-members subscribe to the AKP daily paper, or vote for them. The party made a turn to industry in 197475 and has gained positions and influence in the union movement. The question of who will become the hegemonic force in AKP/RV is very important for the building of a revolutionary party in Norway. The situation today is that the "left" has the apparatus and many experienced cadres, but is politically very much on the
Municipal elections show leftward shift NORWEGIAN ELECTORS WENT TO THE POLLS ON September 9 for municipal elections which - besides their significance for local politics -have become an important indicator of the popularity of the government. This year the electorate turned left, with the EEC, unemployment and ecology emerging as the main campaign issues.
The ruling Social Democrats (Arbeiderpartiet) ended up with their worst result since the Second World War - 30%. The Conservative Party (Høyre) got 21.9%, which they did not regard as a defeat although it is far from their "all time high" of 30%. The Christian People's Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) maintained its usual stable support of about 6-7%. The most encouraging result was the drastic decline in support for the right wing populist "Progress Party" (Fremskrittspartiet), which got only 7% of the votes and suffered a spectacular decline in working class areas.
The winners were the anti-EEC parties, the Center Party and the Socialist Left Party, SV (Sosialistisk Venstreparti). The former left the bourgeois government last autumn because of its pro-EEC course. The latter received 12.1% of the vote, 2.1% more than in the 1989 parliamentary elections, benefitting from its anti-EEC stance and the rightward drift of the social democrats.
Sharp political differences are now emerging within the SV itself, with the leadership ready to shed the last elements of Marxism from the party programme and expressing doubts about the anti-EEC policy. These developments could well have a split dynamic.
The Red Electoral Alliance (RV- Rød Valgallianse —see article) increased its vote by 0.8% from 1989, receiving 1.5%. It did particularly well in the big cities (4.1% in Oslo, 3.2% in Bergen, 3.0% in Trondheim).
In the industrial centers of Odda and Notodden the RV scored, respectively, 9.0% and 5.5% of the vote. - Anders Ekeland *
19 December 23, 1991 • #219 International Viewpoint
NORWAY / USA
WITH the defensive.
After the municipal elections in September of this year the inner-party struggle started again. The "right" took the initiative, presenting their own platform and demanding that the "left" do so as well. The platform of the "right" is close to revolutionary Marxism, although unclear on its evaluation of Mao and not mentioning Trotsky at all. But it contains a clear perspective for a regroupment on a revolutionary, democratic socialist plat-
Waiting for the expected US economic recovery weak recovery and stumbling, bank failures and the federal deficit escalating and consumer confidence in the cellar, the capitalist class in the United States has suddenly begun questioning the leadership of George Bush. White House Chief of Staff John Sununu was the first casualty of corporate capital's sudden Insight that the administration has no serious economic policy and no visible plan for developing one. DAVID FINKEL revolutionary, democrauc socialisi plalform and grasps the importance of the polarization taking place inside the Socialist Left Party (see box). The platform of the "left" is marked by its lack of a clear perspective for party building, which reflects the fact that its hard core is made up of full timers who find it difficult to break with the past, and are fearful also for their positions.
The outcome of this struggle is hard to predict. But it is probable that the RV will become a new party under the hegemony of the "right", which does not want to engage in a long and tiresome battle inside the AKP against the apparatus and the "old guard" and indicated that it would prefer to leave the AKP and start building the RV with other forces. This threat resulted in a new compromise at the AKP central committee meeting of November 8.
"Right" wishes to dissolve party
The ban on normal political work was lifted for the RV and the perspective adopted that it should develop into a real party and that the AKP should become the name of the "left" faction inside the RV. Part of this compromise was that the next party congress is to be held in May-June 1992, clearly reflecting the desire of the "right" to dissolve the AKP as soon a possible.
This would shift the scene of the political struggle into the RV, but in the RV the "right" can act as a real faction, unhampered by party discipline. It can openly recruit on the basis of its own policies and cooperate with other forces. The "left" will slowly disintegrate due to its lack of perspectives.
Given the fact that the AKP has a daily paper with 8,000 subscribers, and receives 30,000 votes in a country with a population of 4 million, a victory for the "right" will be a small but not negligible gain for the revolutionary left in Europe and the rest of the world. It will be partic20 revolt imparian in ore operator an wee ularly important for cooperation between revolutionaries in the scandinavian coun
HERE are broader political implication also: Bush's hegemony over the right wing of his own party, reflected in his ability to impose political discipline on Republican rightwing ideologues as well as "moderates", , has been severely weakened - hence Pat Buchanan's entry into the Republican primaries.' For the first time — only half a year after Operation Desert Slaughter had propelled Bush to a 90% public approval rating and in the very midst of the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the Communist Evil Empire — it seems that Bush himself can't count on re-election by acclamation.
One incident in mid-November encapsulated both the economic contradictions and their political consequences. On Friday November 15 during a speech in New York, Bush expressed support for a proposal to impose a legal cap of around 14% on the interest rates credit card purchasers pay on their balances, as compared to the present 18%. The stock market immediately went berserk, falling over 100 points within hours and imposing a veto far more decisive than Bush himself ever wielded. In a sardonic commentary on Bush's leadership, Barron's Weekly (November 18) commented: "His harmless little proposal, meant only to demonstrate his concern with the economy thing and prove that his mind wasn't always on packing his bags and flying off to Rio or Rome, had decidedly unintended consequences."