MARXISM AND DEMOCRACY (Novi Borac International)
Recently a heated debate stirred up the ranks of the French section
of the Fourth International concerning democratic relations within
the Marxist movement as something which was also reflected on the
Independent Workers’ Party (POI). The key question was the right to
a different opinion and to the creation of an inner tendency based
on the different political view. Both the section and the Party were
divided into greater and smaller parts, into a current and a tendency
which later took to calling itself „democratic“ and that is how
the Independent Democratic Workers' Party (POID) came into being.
However, the issue of democracy within the Marxist movement does not
exhaust itself in local rivalry among French comrades. It becomes
evident right away in the relationship between activists of bigger
and smaller nations, of the „center“ and the „periphery.“ In
fact, this problem lingers on for quite some time but only recently
has it escalated; it can be conditionally called a „personnel
issue.“ Can the French comrades lead a personnel policy in the
Balkans? They have given us considerable help in our constitution and
yet their help must not compromise democracy of our relations...
The dispute started concerning our assessment of a certain „comrade“
of ours, otherwise very respected in Paris, while we, in the Balkans
– from the very start and with good reasons – have disputed the
opinions of the French comrades today belonging to the „democratic“
tendency. For two years this issue has been a source a certain
tension. While collecting signatures for the Palestine petition one
member of our Editorial Board left us since the French comrades,
by-passing our office, used certain “strong connections” of their
favorite...The dispersal of the editorship of the New Militant
seems to be something irrelevant for Paris... The arguments
supporting our opinion have accumulated in time and, yet, Paris has
shown no interest in them.
More recently this very comrade - “very much respected” by
Parisians - has openly taken part in the election campaign in Serbia
on the side of the pro-nationalist “Left” closely connected both
with the present government and the reactionary circles. For this he
was awarded a position of the clerk and though we presented all this
– clearly and with evidence – to the comrades in Paris, no
reaction followed. We first got the answer, “we shall ask him about
this...”, and later “no reply from him yet...” and that’s
where it all ended. This situation might be analogous to the one in
which we, from the Balkans, would keep up our relations with
Cambadélis (1) and use the same ways of „argumentation“ as our
Parisian comrades and say that there is nothing wrong in it since he
is, first of all, a „good guy“ and, besides, we can still use his
political connections... and to objections and proofs, we would give
replies such as, „all right, we shall ask him...“ or „no reply
from him yet...“.
Have our Parisian comrades made any sign of recognizing their
responsibility with respective consequences? Has anyone at least made
an excuse?... Of course not... That is how democracy is taken care of
by those who parade as democrats. Perhaps the
"democracy" is the name for the exercise of bureaucratic
formalism?
- Jean-Christopher Cambadélis, former Trotskyist, today a high executive of the ruling socialists.
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