The PRC is still one of the most democratic workers' parties in the world. Iceland Left advances The new Left-Green party has won 9% of the votes.
Einar Olafsson
The neo-liberal government held its majority in the parliamentary elections on May 8. The (centre-right)
Progressive Party declined from 23% in 1995 to 18%. But its populistconservative coalition partner, the Independence Party, increased its share of the vote from 37% to 41%.
ine social democratic coaltion The social democratic coalition between the People's Alliance, the
Peoples Party and the Women's 16 International Viewpoint #312 June 1999
Internal pluralism is very real. All members can express themselves freely, inside and outside party meetings, and in party and non-party publications. Local party bodies discuss conflicting congress texts, and after each conference the various currents have proportional representation in the party leadership.
But there are a few problems: • Only 47% of members participated in the local pre-Congress discussions. • Because congress decisions are decided by adding together all the local votes, delegates have little possibility to discuss and possibly change their opinion.
• The party leadership produced candidate lists for each provincial congress, often including people from
"out of town." In Rome, which elects
26 delegates, there were ten such
"suggestions." Only one regional federation insisted on choosing all its own delegates without regard to the central leadership's suggestions. • Those who propose amendments have no right to present their arguments at local or provincial pre-Congress meetings, or at the congress itself.
• Amendments rejected by the 250member National Political Council
(CPN) were not even published in the conference discussion documents.
• Amendments could only be presenParty received 27% of the vote. The coalition is expected to announce support for an Icelandic application to joint the European Union.
EU membership is supported by Foreign minister Halldor Asgrimsson (Progressive Party), but opposed by prime minister David Oddsson of the Independence Party.
The Left-Green Party scored 9% of the vote, winning six seats in the 63 member parliament. This new party was formed as a radical left alternative to the social democratic regroupment. It is the only party that opposes NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, NATO and EU membership, and advocates radical welfare and environmental policies.
Many activists in the new party are former members of the People's Alliance and the Women's Party, independent environmentalists and ted to the national conterence it they ted to the national conference if thev had already won majority support in one sector or region.
As a result, the national congress received hundreds of diverse amendments. A political commission, in which I had the misfortune to serve, had to decide which could be accepted for debate. Almost all were rejected.
At the very end of the congress, when most delegates were already collecting their hats and coats, a few particularly determined authors of amendments insisted on a discussion of their texts. All were quickly voted and massively rejected. Including my own amendment on the nature of the opposition, which had already been accepted in Milan, Turin, and several other federations. Our current was also associated with amendments on party functioning, on the nature of the anticapitalist dynamic, and on the tactics the party should adopt.
After considerable effort, the electoral commission proposed a list of 375 names for the National Political Commission, the 250-member leadership group. The electoral commission was 'presided' for the organisational secretary (a member of the secretariat). His opening statement informed us that 62 seats were "reserved for the central apparatus. " But he refused to give the names of these comrades, or the criteria by which they had been selected until the absolute last minute.
Not surprisingly, this provoked considerable unrest on the conference floor. But all the counter-proposals, proposed, notably by the women delegates and by the leaders of the youth section, were rejected with hypocritical speeches and ideological acrobatics.
The current I identify with finally won 30 seats in the CPN, which is rather less than our weight in the party would justify. At the higher levels of the leadersocialists, and ex members of the Maoist and Trotskyist organisations active in the 70's and 80's.
While the consolidation of a social democratic bloc represents a shift to the right in the Icelandic progressive scene, the new Left-Green Party does represent a fresh new current in Icelandic politics. They lacked a party apparatus, or any real campaign funds. But their impressive electoral result reflects their energy and the space for honest, radical politics. * * In International Viewpoint #303, September 1998, we wrongly said that the socialist People's Alliance joined a coalition with the Independence Party in 1991. In fact, the Peoples Alliance never adopted explicit neo-liberal policies, and was always against membership of EU. It was the social democratic People's Party which formed a coalition with the Independence Party. Contact: Vinstrihreyfingin - grant trambod, Vonarstraeti 12, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland, Web: http://www.vg.is ship ship
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ship, this imbalance is even more visible. The various tendencies and the social movements are seriously under represented in the higher, smaller National Leadership (DN).
But the vote contained a warning to the leadership current, which failed to mobilise and convince all its supporters. One third of the majority tendency's 600 delegates abstained or voted against.
The party's daily newspaper Liberazione didn't even produce a full report and analysis of the various votes. Hardly the transparent politics we aspire to!
This congress confirmed the leftward reorientation of the party since the Cossuta split and the end of our support for the centre-left government. It creates more favourable conditions for our future struggles, and improves our ability to intervene and build roots in the social reality of the Italian working class.
But there has been no improvement in the conception and internal func-