Socialist Outlook welcomes readers' letters. Post them to 'Feedback, PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU. Letters over 300 words are edited for brevity and concision. CPRF opposed constitutional coup: defence of workers' state? ANTHONY Brain's letter in Social. ist Outlook 98 makes some good points but reveals a certain confusion as regards the CPRF.
Anthony said that the CPRF won 22 per cont of the popular voce because there is a "battle within the bureaucracy over whether capitalism is restored", continuing that we should back "the struggle of the masses against the He fails to explain that "the restora. tionists" include the CPRF. The CPRF does not oppose the restoration of capicalism, but only how it is achieved. Like ex-scannests pardes ciscwnere in castem Europe, it favours more gradual reintroduction.
The CPRF will continue to receive the support of the working class in the absence of anything better. The CPRF is a reformist party which opposes renationalisation but supports the 'vol Anthony does not refer to the war in Chechnya. The CPRF's position on the non-Russian nationalities is certainly not one which socialists could support.
Can the CPRF lead the working-class? Zyuganov prefers to flirt with the sinister, would-be dictator General AlOnly independent working-class April Saturday 13 Stop Workfare demonstration, Hull, phone 01482 215 059 Thurday 18 Lobby of parliament against JSA, called by Unemployed Workers Centres Thursday 18 Stop the Asylum Bill public meeting Willesden Library 7.30pm with Lola Onibiyo, and MPs Paul Boateng and Ken Livingstone. Saturday 20 CAIAB demo. Assemble 11 am, Embankment, London SW I Deatils 0171 247 9907 May Friday 10 to Sunday 12 National Conference of * Trades Councils, Kettering. Saturday I| Conference against the Asylum mobilisation can stop capitalist restoration.
Critical support for the CPRF? VERY critical. JOHN Lister (Socialist Outlook 99) rightly condemns the dishonestly of polemics by the likes of Gerry Healy against so-called "Pabloism'. You might think that this would lead him to reassess the anti-Pablo mythologyFor example, according to Lister. Pablo argues in the early 1950s that it made no sense for Trotskyists to be building small parties on their own programme and politics: they shoukd he getting into the bigger, Stalinist parThis is a complete distortion of Pablo's position.
If Lister bothered to read the actual documents (in the Pathfinder Press se.
Education for Socialists, rather than Cliff Slaughter's fraudulent compilation Trotskyism versus Revisionism) he would find that Pablo did advocate the building of Trotskvists parties in countries like Ceylon or Bo livia where there was no existing mass workers' party. Where such a mass party did exists, however. Pablo advo.
Portugal.
gage in entry work inside it. held the allegiance of the majority of the working class, he advocated entry into reformist parties. He proposed entry into Communist parties only where in France and Ital: in Britain, Pablo supported work in the Labour Party and never argued that Trotskyists should enter the CPGB. Does John Lister believe that 'build. ing small parties on their own pro. gramme and porcs is a mater or principle for Trotskyists in all circumstances? Or has he just failed to think the matter through? This is not to deny that, in the difficult and unexpected situation that followed the Second World War, the entire leadership did become seriously politically disoriented. We have to recognize chis and draw the necessary lesHowever that requires an objective analysis, not the thoughtless repetition of old Healyite clichés. Bob Pitt, London NWI PETER Lindgren (Feedback, SO 99) points out Militant incorrectly reported a Swedish demonstration. The article wrongly claimed the demonstration was organised by our sister organisation. Workers' League Offensiv [AFO). A correction will appear in the 29 March Militant, The report was a mistake, nothing more. Perhaps if Peter Lindgren really wished to point out our mistake he would have written to Militant. His letter to Socialist Outlook suggests he was motivated by a desire to score cheap points Nick Wrack, editor, Militant Peter Lindgren replles: DEAR Nick, Cheap or not cheap, I obviously scored a point. And frankly I did and do believe someone was lying. You don't explain how a 500 strong coalition meeting can become a 4,000 strong AFO demonstration. You miss one important thing: it would have been a po. litical scandal if the liberal party leader spoke at an AFO demonstration. My letter pointed out this was not the case. Thus maybe, in my own way, I saved AFO's political honour? and Immigration Bill, Ilam.4pm, Natfhe Conference Centre, Britannia Street, London, near King's Cross. Organised by Campaign for a Fighting Democratic UNISON. Details: Fred Leplat, Islington UNISON A, I a Canonbury Street, London NI 2TA. Saturday 25 National Dockers Conference, I lam. Transport House, Islington, Liverpool. Fri 21 to Sun 23 Counter-summit to the G7 meeting, Lyon France. Details: Cedetim, 21 ter, rue Voltaire, 75011 Paris. Telephone (00 33 I) 4371 0911, fax 4372 1577. Fri 19 to Sat 27 International Youth Summer camp.
Geoff Ryan O NE hundred and twenty-five years ago, the workers of Paris created the first workers' government.
In the midst of the social cri. sis which followed Prussia's invasion of France in 1879, the Paris Commune was unlike any capltalist parliament.
Its members, like the judges and magistrates, were fully accountable to the electors, who could dismiss them at any time. The workings of the Commune were open to public examina. tion. Officials, almost all ordinary workers, were paid the average workers' wage.
The Commune controlled the police, destroyed the Guillocine and was restrained in the use of force. The conscript standing army was replaced with a armed rational Guard in which every citizen was enrolled.
The Commune planned the re-opening of closed factories under workers' control. State support for churches was withdrawn. Edu: CARON WAS MAGe free and available to all.
Political refu. gees were welcomed: a German was minister of labour, while the Italian, Garibaldi, commanded the National Guard.
France's terrified ruling class pursuaded the Prussian army outside Paris to allow them to exterminate the Commune using captured French troops. Paris was subject to ferocious bombardment and massive dethe Commune, 30,000 'Communards' were butchered by the army of the 'democratic repub. lic. The forceful demands of the Commune stand in sharp confrast to the polices of the Labour Party leaders. Election and recall of all official If working people are to control their organisations. MPs and trade unIon leaders should be paid no more than the average workers' wage. Recently the Church of England debated equal pay for clerIcs — the chances of Tony Blair even opening a discussion on reducing his pay are considerably more remote Nor are we likely to see pro. posals rom cabourtor seculai education or the disestablishment of the Church of England. Given Labour's ambivalence on the Asylum and Immigration bill, It is unlikely a Labour goy. ernment would welcome politi. cal activity from foreign exiles. We also have to learn the lessons of the Commune's defeat. The Communards did not unThe Communards did derstand the nanot understand the They failed to denature of the state. stroy the existing They falled to bourgeois state. They did not purdestroy the existing sue the French bourgeois state. government to it headquarters at Versailles and destroyed Its weak military forces. This failure allowed the gor. ernment time to reorganise and, in alliance with their Prussian enemy, slaugnter masses of Parisian workers. This is not lost on Labour, which is wooing the capitalist class: the butchers of the Commune. It's no surprise. Louis Blanc, the Tony Blair of his day deplored the violence and brutality of... the Communards! The Nava Sama Samaja Party, Sri Lankan section of the Fourth International, is the only party which campaigns in Sri Lanka:
• AGAINST the World Bank and the IMF; • AMONGST the Sinhala minority to stop the war against the Tamil people; • AGAINST the austerity measures of the Chandrika Haraya, the NSSP's Sinhala-language fortnightly newspaper needs your support. After the world-wide increase in newsprint prices it is facing financial problems. Haraya needs donations from socialists in Britain and other "first world"
economies. Please make your donation payable to NSSP UK, and post to "Outlook International', PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU.
Socialist 50p • Issue 100 April 6, 1996
jim Padmore, Alava, Spain Pablo favoured party-building
What's Happening June July
Militant self-correction
Support Haraya! Help Sri Lankan socialists!