23.03.2006

Yes to merger

Claus Ludwig is a member of the Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit (WASG) and the Sozialistische Alternative (SAV) - the German sister party of the Socialist Party in England and Wales. In 2002, he was elected as a councillor in Cologne. He spoke to Tina Becker about the difficulties in uniting the WASG and the Linkspartei.PDS

On Monday March 6, the leadership of WASG began its rather bureaucratic members' ballot, which will simply ask if WASG members want to "move forward with the merger process with the Linkspartei.PDS". I agree with the SAV's assessment that the ballot was in reality organised to sidestep the Berlin WASG, which has decided to stand against the Linkspartei.PDS in the regional elections in September 2006 - in protest against the PDS's disastrous record as part of the local government coalition.

Undoubtedly, the vast majority of members will vote 'yes'. And the question on the ballot paper has been formulated in such a way that it can only be answered with a 'yes'. For this reason, we have decided not to participate in the ballot.

What matters, however, is the interpretation of the ballot and this is what we have concentrated on. There is real concern that there might be serious consequences for comrades in Berlin and a number of WASG leaders have made comments to this effect. For this reason, WASG member supporting the comrades in Berlin have just launched two appeals.

The first one calls on WASG members to actively support their comrades in Berlin. The second one is broader and calls on the leadership not to take any administrative measures against the majority of WASG members in Berlin - be it expulsions, cutting back the finances of the branch, the suspension of Berlin WASG or the formation of a new branch.

This second appeal, we believe, reflects the position of many members in WASG - they might not support the decision of the comrades in Berlin, but they accept their right to take such a decision. These issues will be further debated at the next WASG conference on April 29-30 in Ludwigshafen - no doubt, our most important conference so far.

In our opinion, such campaigns are not designed to derail the merging process - we hope that they will give it a different form and content. For example, in the local elections in Cologne in 2004, we were part of an alliance of groups and individuals that stood against the PDS. The PDS was incredibly upset about it. Today, we are working together in the same fraction in the Cologne council. We were in open conflict with the comrades, but have clarified our positions as a result and are now able to work together again.

Of course, there is opposition within the PDS itself when it comes to their party's government participation. In the east German city of Dresden, for example, the majority of the PDS fraction in the city council have voted with the conservatives to sell off the city's entire stock of council flat. Naturally, there is widespread resentment in the PDS about developments like this. But unfortunately this does not take the shape of political organisation or active campaigning.

WASG in Berlin and the SAV argue that, by standing against the PDS, the oppositional forces within both organisations could be kick-started into activity. Christine Buchholz and her organisation, Linksruck [the Socialist Workers Party's German section] argue exactly the opposite. They say WASG and Linkspartei.PDS should stand together in Berlin and that we should hold back our criticisms till after the elections. That is wrong, I believe. The PDS is likely to do very badly in September, because of its record in government. If  WASG can produce a fighting election campaign and attract significant support, I am certain this can act as a catalyst for a change in both organisations.

If the WASG leadership remains calm and does not throw out the baby with the bathwater, I believe the current struggle could also significantly change how the merger is handled in future.

In your estimate, how many WASG members are actually against the formation of a new party with the PDS?

Let me clarify that the SAV and, I believe, the majority of comrades in Berlin are in favour of the formation of a new party. We are, however, against a simple fusion of the two parties and we are definitely against an annexation of the WASG. In our opinion, the formation of a new German left party should be conducted from the bottom up, with the involvement of many more groups and campaigns.

The organisational structures, however, are not decisive. What matters most is the programmatic basis and here the PDS's participation in bourgeois governments is the key question. I would guess that between a third and half of all WASG members have a very critical view on how the merger has been pursued. However, whether all these people now support the Berlin WASG is, of course, debatable.

Another third or so, I would estimate, is not happy about the process, but because of their desire to form a new left party they swallow their criticisms. There are some WASG members who are in principle against any cooperation with the Linkspartei.PDS, but many of those criticise the PDS from the right - remnants of anti-communism still exist. Some of those, of course, participate in the current debate, decrying the PDS' neoliberal policies, but in reality they just want to get one over on all the socialists.

The SAV has made a number of attempts to unite the left in the WASG. Your latest initiative is the 'Statement of the anti-capitalist left in the WASG'. What is the aim of this initiative and how are you progressing?

I will tell you first what the appeal is not. The appeal is not supposed to be a programmatic platform for the left within WASG. We do not yet see the possibility of uniting the socialist left within WASG in a joint platform, as there are still numerous programmatic, but also tactical and strategic, differences. Our statement is supposed to be only the beginning of a discussion, because we believe that the socialist left within WASG - as well as within a united Linkspartei - would be in a much stronger position if it was united and, for example, able to release joint political statements and positions.

This statement was first discussed during a fringe meeting at a WASG conference in Berlin in January. About 35 WASG members participated, including non-affiliated WASG members, representatives of the SAV, and a couple of members from the ISL [Internationale Sozialistische Linke - Usec Fourth International]. So far a few dozen WASG members have signed the appeal, including individual members of the ISL. Arbeitermacht [Workers Power's German section] has not signed the appeal, but they are interested in further cooperation.

I take it that Linksruck is not participating?

No. Linksruck defines itself as a socialist left organisation, but they are not acting as one at the moment. That does not mean that we cannot work together ever again, but realistically there is nothing our two organisations have in common at the moment.

Linksruck is playing the role of little helper to the majority of the WASG leadership. Despite the difficulties our two organisations have had over the years, I am sorry to have to say it as brutally as this. The quantitative difference between our groups has become a qualitative one. In the Berlin WASG, Linksruck is providing the infantry for the right wing. In theory, they are of course against Linkspartei.PDS government participation - but not in practice. In practice, they demand subordination to it.

Linksruck does not support our appeal against any administrative measures against the WASG Berlin. They have not once opposed the threats made by WASG leaders against the Berlin branch or the SAV in Berlin. In fact, they have supported those threats. In my opinion, they are very close to crossing a line here.

Quite a few Linksruck members have been given part-time or full-time employment by the Linkspartei.PDS fraction in the Bundestag. There is of course nothing wrong in principle with sending socialists to work for our parliamentary fraction. However, firstly, such jobs should be transparent and open to scrutiny. Secondly, they should not pay more than the average wage of a skilled worker. And, thirdly, it seems to me that Linksruck members have been rewarded for the conservative and pro-leadership role they have been playing within the WASG.

Linksruck might justify their behaviour as some kind of clever tactic, but in the end they cannot win. It is only a question of time before Klaus Ernst [joint secretary of WASG] or the leadership of the new Linkspartei give them the boot, because they are not needed any more. On their way out they might get a 'thank you' for fighting the SAV or getting their young members to vote with the leadership, but undoubtedly they will find themselves on the outside sooner or later.

Linksruck today has fewer members than two years ago - and considerably fewer members than five years ago. And I don't think that their current tactics will do anything to reverse this trend - quite the opposite.