German socialists debate the way forward
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK recently interviewed three socialists from
East and West Germany on the meaning of the elections in the GDR.
PATRICK BAKER spoke to BJORN KRUGER, a member of the Fourth
International and the
United Left (VL) in East
Berlin; ANNETTE SEESE, a member of the VL in
Leipzig; and LARS
STEINAU, a member of the United Socialist Party
(VSP) from Mannheim in
West Germany.
SO: First, why do you think the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ended up scoring so much higher than the
Social Democratic Party (SPD), when a few weeks bafore the opposite result was
BK: There was no general difference between the election programmes of the SPD and the CDU. The only difference was that the CDU said that unification had to be carried through as soon as possible. People tended to think that the only way of solving
East Germany's problems was to unify with
West Germany in order to get their standard of living: So they felt that to acheive this they had to vote for the party in charge in West
Germany - the CDU. They had a very clever clection camplign - saying 'If you vote SPD, you won 1 get a plennig to invest in the GDR economy'
AS: The right also campaigned around the line that hall of the SPD were previously members of the Socialist Unity Party (SED - the Easi German Communist Party); so if you yole SPD, you are voting for your previous enemy.
SO: Didn't the Party of Democratic Socialism
(PDS) - the renamed Communist Party - do quite well, considering their image?
BK: Since February fears have heen grow ing over the cost that East Germans are going to have to pay for unification such as the high cost of toodstuffs. For many, voting PDS was a way of expressing their fears of the fu ture.
SO: In the media you could see a lot of these
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"Evan people who built workers' councils in the factories voted COU* fears being expressed: unemployment, rents going up, property being repossessed; given that, which seems quite a popular feeling. It's still quite surprising that more people didn't vote for the parties that made some pretence at trying to defend previous gains.
AS: I think that thore's a certain amount of irrationality at the moment: there's a very popular argument that said We must go through this bad period, bocause then our conomy will he healthy, and that's why we should be logical and vole for the party that can carry this through. We shouldn't make the mistake of prolonging this agony Even people who built workers" councils in the fac tories also voted CDU.
BK: I think the result ef the election simply shows the extent of polarisation in thie population Most people who voted CDU didn't do so out of devotion for Christian democracy but simply because they thought that they had to accept some short-term negative effects to get a West German standard of living in the long term. But these people are not an electoral base that could he counted on in the long, or evon medium, term. In the next
I think that we can expoct hig SO: Why do you think New Forum did so badly compared with the level of support that It had in October/November during the big demonstrations in Leipzig? Opinion polls then gave them 40 percent support, but they won only 2-3 percent in the alections.
AS. They didn't do much work around the elections - they didn't have good slogans like the CDU or SPD. People said "Yes, New Forum Is good, but if they won the elections Hey couldn't get our country our of its crisis'. Also, at the beginning of the demonstrations, the name New Forum could mean many things to many people - a discussion forum, or a new government.
At the first mectings in the factorics when they were invited, workers asked What is your coonomic policy?' and they replied We don't have one - we want to work one out with you Workers were incredulous - they couldn't take seriously a group which did not have an economic programme. What New Forum mostly offered was self-activity - and this was not enough.
BK: There was a view that New Forum had no political profile at all, they are too heterogencous. Then as people swung increasingly in favour of unification, they felt that they had to vote for West German-style parties. The ones who didn't agree with that tended to vote for the party that opposed unification and had the strongest apparatus -and that wasn't New Forum, it was the PDS. This also affected the VL - poople said it might have a good programme, but it's too weak, so we'll vote PDS.
SO: In terms of the results of the elections, it seems as though some fom of government led by the COU will be the result, whether it's a coalition or whatever. What do you think the results of this will ba?
AS: I think the process of unification will be speeded up. However, although the CDU have won the political leadership, they haven't built up a proper political structure nationwide. The Social Democrats have more of a real base. I think that the CDU and the SPD will work together to ensure an cfficient cconomic in tegration - that's why the CDU need the SPD in coalition; they have the apparatus, but they didn't have so much influence before.
BK: I think this is a question that is difficult to answer - even for the CDU: the pace is too rapid even for them. We now have two Germanys, one with a standard of living and productivity half as high as the other. In order prevent a mass exodus, standards of living have to be raised through a massive investment in the infrastructure. But you won't find many capitalists that want to invest in projects which are insecure. SO: One question this raises is that of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. A few months ago there was a poll over the idea of a neutral Germany which showed majority support in the West and 90% in the East. MATO is now in a much stronger position with a sympathetic government. Has this been taken up in East or West Germany by the peace
BK: In East Germany there is no force which is capable of mobilising powerful opposition to the project of a unified Germany in NATO yet Of course the Russians will op pose it but I'm sceptical about whether they are in a position to do anything about it - and I don't chink that the projoct of a neutral Getmany will be a particular focus. Of course in the next period there will he many struggles, but I think they are likely to be straightforward workers* struggles - workers have other issues to care about before disarmament
LS: I think that the question of disarmament will be very important. 1 think that there could he a new peace movement in West Germany, much more radical than in the carly 1980s. I think that it will be important for the East Germans too - maybe it's true that at the moment people don't see it as the main issue. but I think there's an opportinity to build up an anti-militarist consciousness. so: is the extreme right, which seems to be fuelled by the Republikaner, a real threat?
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AS: The GDR extreme right is not solely an import from the Republikaner - we have our own fascists! In December and January there were attempts by the SED/Stasi to rebuild their base, using our anti-fascist tradilons. Many people reacted by dismissing the extreme right as solely SED election propaganda. But chero is a real danger -young whiles have certainly been physically #tacking the 'Autonom' squallers' movement, and other young left-wingers; they have also East German COU leader Maziere: cannot deliver on electoral promises tried to take over demonstrations. Still, were not in a 1933-rype situation - they don't have the economic situation to fuel their support in the same way. SO: What are the perspectives of the United Left after the elections?
BK: The cloction results had disastrous efIccis on the VL. From the beginning it made the error of orienting almost exclusively to the clections, The results of those elections left around them demoralised, But the strategy hasn't changed - now the VL is concentrating on the May 7 local clections, which will have the same result - with a real danger of splits or dissolution. T think it's important to adjust our acLivity towards real movemenis - in the workplaces, around peace and ecology, and 50 on - lowards grassroots activists:
AS: In Leipzig we have heen meeting with other groups - New Forum, Democracy Now. women's groups - to discuss how we can work together on a local level. Most workers aren't open to left groups, so i think we need to try to work with other groups around parlicular issues? SO: Can you say something about the women's and lesbian and gay movements in East Germany?
AS: Before there was only the DFD - the Women's Democratic Alliance - which only organised coffee mornings, and small groups particular issues. But during demonstrations, women began to play an important rule and organised a women's group in New Forum. Then they formed an independent organisation, participating in the round table discussions and putting forward quite left-wing policies:
But popular consciousness around the issue isn't very high - the groups are mainly composed of academics, However I think there are possibilities of growth. In the elections they allied with the Greens - but because the Groens were at the top of each list, they got all 8 deputies, and refused to allor any of any of these seats to the women. The women have left the alliance as a result Women's Women's groups from Berlin have joined the United Left while still organising independently. Lesbian and gay groups exist - independent, and linked to the church or the very consistently. Under the SED Iesbian and gay groups weren't prescribed, hut couldn't campaign publicly -now they're becoming more ореп. SO: What has been the reaction of the left in West Germany to the elections? What Is the VSP's perspective? LS: The movement of OcTober/November caused quite a lot of demoralisation - much of the West German len had a 'campist position - not just the CP. but ex-maoists, Social Democrats, the Greens. They tended to defend the East European states in gencral - not just against capitalism. but also defending them as a whole, hureaucracy included. The movement in the GDR destroyed this picture - and now there is capitalist restoration, the growth of the fas cists, the perspoctive of a new Greater Germany', and so on. At the start of the mass movement against stalinism in the GDR the left didn't really react - dadn'1 give much supporL. Now there is a discussion over whether the PDS will organise in West Germany -some of the Greens hope to organise with them and win influence!
This demoralisation bus also affected the VSP - it didn't sufficiently support this move: ment either. We weren't on the wrong side -we were opposed to the bureaucracy as well as capitalist resioration; but there was some hesitation, and lack of clarity. I think some of the VSP will want to build an organisation with the United Left: it remains to be seen on what programme. We need to prepare for the struggles that will come - 1 think there are particular possibilities around anti-militarist work - perhaps something like the Swiss campaigh to abolish the army:
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 Page 12