NAR about the parliamentary elections of 21st of May in Greece
Dear Comrades,
The parliamentary elections of 21st of May in Greece will probably be the start of a new political phase with multiple electoral confrontations. The main goals of the bourgeois political system will be to make steps towards its stabilization and the reinforcement of the bourgeoise or nationalist parties. However, this political stabilization does not correspond to a social stability. The governments in Greece after the economic crisis of 2008 does not have a real majority in the society. That was expressed by the mass protests and strikes after the railway tragedy in Greece. It was a capitalist crime of both the New Democracy and the previous SYRIZA government that privatized and disbanded Greek Railways, while the privatization was also a key objective of the EU and the IMF. This crime has caused an unprecedented wave of anger among the people and especially the youth, with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating all over Greece.
Greece is one of the countries, perhaps the only one in Europe, that experienced a “left-wing government”, the SYRIZA’s government which has been devastating for the workers as by fully submitting to the EU, the IMF and the Greek ruling class. Moreover, SYRIZA unfolded the nationalist agenda of the Greek state, aligning and fully cooperating with imperialist states and institutions such as the EU, USA, NATO and Israel. Workers experienced an even more provocative redistribution of wealth in favor of the rich and the dissolution of illusions on the possibility of existence of a new social contract, without a rupture with the strategic priorities of capitalism. Since 2008, workers and youth struggles in Greece forced 6 governments to resign or lose the elections and created new forms of popular organization, increasing the radical forces in overall. Today, after 15 years of a continuous assault on workers’ and people’s rights, the workers’ movement is fighting against the traditional right party of New Democracy, which has radicalized in a reactionary sense under the leadership of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. We are very much aware that Greece is again in the grip of a very deep economic crisis. And yet the major choices put before the people of Greece in the coming elections are the parties that have governed the country since that infamous 2008 crisis.
We are also aware that the crisis in Greece is part of the deep economic crisis of world capitalism that has not been resolved since 2008. The war in Ukraine has also a decisive impact on the lives of workers internationally. These wars are an implication of the capitalist crisis. The war in Ukraine is the first episode of the new period in which capitalist antagonisms will increasingly be resolved by wars. On these grounds, the war in Ukraine is unjust and reactionary on both sides. Dangerous militarization and armament around the world are followed by severe economic implications for workers and people: energy and food crisis, new ways of deeper exploitation of labor power, restriction of freedoms, totalitarianism. Greece is currently the most trustworthy and thus the most valuable NATO ally in the broader region. The Greek state is trying to secure a better position, a position of a local NATO guard for the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. All Greek governments during the past decade have worked for the deepening of Greece-NATO ties thus leading to the expansion of already existing US and NATO bases. The Greek capital seeks to increase its profits by taking advantage of specific developments, including Greek shipowners’ purchase of numerous LNG tankers, the participation in the new energy networks, and price speculation.
The crucial issue is the connection between the anti-war and the social-class arenas of struggle. There is a rise in workers’ struggles and resistance to reactionary policies. The working masses have also risen in hope and aspiration for a better world in a series of popular rebellions around the world. The mass mobilizations from France to Argentina and Sri Lanka, the strikes in Britain, Portugal and Germany, the protests in many parts of the world are expression of the same tendency to revolt against the bankruptcy of capitalism. It is in this context of class struggle that we see the elections themselves in Greece.
NAR participates and supports the “Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow” – ANTARSYA (“Rebellion” in Greek), the front of the anticapitalist, revolutionary Left. This front was created in 2009, after the revolt of December 2008 in Greece. Organizations of the Greek Anticapitalist Left and thousands of independent militants participate in ANTARSYA. ANTARSYA participated to all the Parliament and European Parliament elections with the best results ever for an anti-capitalist left group in Greece. At regional elections ANTARSYA won 13 seats in regional councils (including Attica, Central Macedonia which are the most populated regions in Greece). At municipal elections ANTARSYA won 27 seats in local councils all over Greece. The best results were in the working-class suburbs of Athens and Thessaloniki (ranging from 3,23% to 4,41% in some of the most populated municipalities). The objectives of ANTARSYA are to fight for the anti-capitalist perspective in our country, to strengthen and lead the struggles of the workers. ANTARSYA has created an anti-capitalist program that poses the break with the EU-IMF-NATO, the non-payment of the debt, the nationalization of banking and crucial sectors so that the crisis is paid by the capitalists.
The stance towards the European Union is of big importance to NAR and ANTARSYA. In our view it determines to a great extent the essence of the political powers in Europe. The ruling class in Greece, has always seen itself as a part of the project of capitalist unification in Europe. It is a precondition for its dominance against the working class in Greece and the way it attempts to promote its national interests in the region. Moreover, the ΕU tends to adopt a more aggressive, anti-social and authoritarian structure. This authoritarianism acts as an important supplement of the anti-worker policies of the EU that, in our opinion, cannot be reformed but can only be overthrown through class war. Similarly, we believe that it is crucial for a Left-wing, anti-capitalist, anti-EU movement to be built across the member-states. Unfortunately, a lot of left organizations and communist parties across Europe refuse to adopt the position that the EU should be dissolved under socialist, internationalist pressure, not of course for a return to the old European system of national borders but towards a new pan-European unity which will also be anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist. It is impossible to defeat our bourgeois classes if we do not dismantle their collective capitalist hyper-structure that guards and strengthens their position.
From the very first moment, NAR and ANTARSYA condemned also the dangerous military aggravation in the region, caused by the US/NATO, EU, and far-right regime of Ukraine on the one hand, and by Russia on the other. We also condemned the war and the unacceptable Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is unfolding into a major long-lasting war operation. The peoples have nothing to gain from the imperialist competition. We adopt a clear position not only in the Ukraine issue but against the unjust, reactionary and aggressive antagonism of the bourgeois classes on both Greece and Turkey also. We fight against NATO presence in Greece, demand for the military bases to shut down. The critical starting point pertains to the anti-war strategy and independence from the bourgeois politics and interests of each country and from the international capitalist-imperialist blocs. A left-wing strategy cannot align behind any imperialist bloc or the government of its own country.
The Left and the popular movement need to widen the struggle against war, to unite the anti-war movement with the struggle for bread, peace, health and freedom. We see the electoral struggle of ANTARSYA as another arena where the independence of the working class from the political forces of the bourgeoisie can be fought for. We regard the results as a measure of the strength of the forces of the working class that will take up the struggles in the workplaces, on the streets and squares, in the poor neighborhoods, at schools and universities once the elections are over. The autonomy and independence of the Anticapitalist Left is needed to express generally the anti-EU, anti-system and anticapitalist perspective. The anti-capitalist and revolutionary left must speak and act openly and clearly, naming and targeting the enemy and the cause of this situation in total. The incorporation of the radical left-wing current of 2010-15 into the government stewardship of SYRIZA and then the disappointment that brought resulted in the retreat of the mass movement and consequently in the dominance of the “lesser evil” logic which finally – as always – brings the greater evil back. Fascism and far-right parties are gaining strength in Europe, USA, Latin America, all over the world. We need to strengthen the class workers' movement, the anti-capitalist revolutionary left to defeat them.
We welcome your support even if your organizations may have different positions on specific issues. It is urgent to organize the militant workers' and popular opposition to the escalation of the attack the systemic forces. For new struggles which can be effective and victorious, which will be guided and controlled by the workers themselves. The only path is the brotherhood of the peoples, the international solidarity and the common struggle against capitalism in the prospect of internationalism.
NAR for the Communist Liberation
May 2023
