the vote!
Although the Portuguese workers have launched some very advanced struggles during the past year, it played a prominent role in these struggles-failed to reflect its position in the mass movement. How do you explain this?
in the tiest place, you must understand cat the vote for the Communist Party varied enormously: From area to arca In eras of struggle like Setubal and Beja, the afe for the CP was quite high.
But you also have to understand the ning of the vote-for the Socialist This came partly from sections of aricens only indirectly involved in the rave of strugeles which followed the 25 pal coup, particularly trom those not entrally involved in production - service rockers, in transport and so on. On the ther hand, of course, the SP also got the otes of the petty bourgeois sectors, the ofenional layers etc as well as from at wingers who see it as the best stantee today of the survival of the rent capitalist system.
What is most important is that the ly right wing parties which directly nd the interests of the bourgeoisicSocial Democratic Ceatre (CDS) and ropolar Democrats (PPDY-suffered spectacular defeat at a national level.
While the clection wasn't by any is a victory for the working class, it tainly was a defeut for the right. The Sees won't be demoralised in any way - their struggles and dewon't be at all affected That's the probien.
The mal problem is how to maintain unity of the workers' movement after e results, how to develop its struggles, how to break the hold of the form1 Communist and Socialist Parties through doping concrete slogans which can Face the revolutionary process-in the ay, in the working class, and in the The events of 1 May in Lisbon show it the Socialist Party nims to build on i electoral position via mass mobilisations file the CP is trying to retain its weight nd influence in the mass movement by ang as the sole connecting link between he Armed Forces Movement and the sanes And that will have consequences or the unfolding of the neolutionary process.
What will be the effect of the election results on the relationship of forces between the various currents side the Armed Forces Movement and on the policy of the AFM as a whole?
te are a whole number of currents tode the AFM, although many of them we not openly expressed or are only pessed very cautiously, Because of prescal close alliance between the adens of the AFM and the political arties, the effect of the cection results 1am sure, be to strengiben the right side the AFM.
But at the same time, that will alo ad to a lively debate on the political e which the AFM has been playing up now-'above?, as they said, the senaggies Now that the detailed results of the Portuguese elections are available it is possible to draw some more specific conclusions about what they reveal.
The first feature is the undeniable emergence of the Socialist Party as the chosen spokesman for an important section of the working class. While the SP undoubtedly acquired a lot of middle class support, and even it also received a massive vote in the most important proletarian areas.
A second major fact is the decisive rejection by the Portuguese working class of the parties of the bourgeoisie. In Lisbon for example, the two parties of the bourgeoisie-the Centre Democrats and the Popular Democratsreceived less than 20% of the vote (compared with the more than one-third nationally). But even this pales in comparison with what happene in proletarian bastions. In the industrial district of Setubal just south of Lisbon (one of the major concentrations of large scale heavy industry] the parties of the bourgeoisie could only muster a little more than 7% of The poor showing of the Communist party nationally (12.5%) flows from the failure of its class collaborationist policies to establish it as • political leadership of the workers movement on a national level for long in the face of the strategies of the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.
The AFM-that is to say, the officers will be obliged to make a choice in this debate.
This is mest likely to lead to a strengthening of the right in preparation for the attacks the AFM will be driven by the crisis to launch on the mass movement.
These will take the form of attacks on strikes and so on as was already outlined last woek by Major Costa Martins |the Labour Minister].
Another question on the politics of the AFM concerns the discipline inside the barracks. On 11 March It was the soldiers who had organised at the base who were best able to respond to the fascist attempl I am talking here about the soldiers' comtittees, and there are also even some officers who have individually taken up a revolaBonary position to the extent of making Statements on the radio and in the pross that it is necessary to arm the workers This situation cannot last for ever, and I believe that it will be very important to sce how the AFM will react as a whole totions guer Blection results wore What is the strategy of the Communist Party in this situation?
The strateey of the CP remains basically the same-one of cinss collaboration. aims tostrongthen ils ties with the AFM, thus giving it a priviloped position against the Socinlist Party in its manosuvies with the masses This bies in with its policy of gradual tmastormation of the state and of the anoy:
The CP will therelore propose some inodest measures of outionalisation and so But i will go on-and already this bas Doea stated le a recent interview given by the CP general socretary Alvaro Cunhal to say that in the nationalised sectors tbe working class cost work harder, step up producavity, etc In other words, the Cl ignores the bourganis nature of the state, that it's a question of shelbur the working class ar the capitalists are dominant at the level oL me some Laese naDonausatons will Communist Party!
workers puntrol and if they are carried Brough without compensation to the Party on nationalisation is completely different: just to nationalise certain sectors, to democratise the state, an anti-monopoly-alliance-which does nothing to develop the revolutionary PrOCEeNE for the revolutionary left?
specific way -as a result of struggles in wtach the reformast policies of the CP have been shown up.
level it arounted to 4 per cent, which i ail amazing figure when you compare it to that for the CP.
workers who have been involved in the most unpor lant strudes sinc seat in the Constituent Assembly. DE course the strategy of the Moist groups is not that different Iron the CP in terms of slogans ete, but in struggle they show a certain willingness to deepen the anticapitalist struggle.
It What about the vote for the LCI?
We stood in four districts, cotaining a total or 11.000 votes. That's not particularly significant in the overall contest but for us it means 11,000 people who have taken a conscious decision to vote for our programme and position, and that's an Important step formand in the construction of the Portuguese section of the. Fourth Intemarional.
was that it marked out a clear revolutionary marxist pole in the clections with distinetive positions both from those of the refonlists and those of the Manists and Where the CP has a strong local organisation and is seen by the more politically advanced workers as a leading force in the struggles—as in Setubal and Beja-it did very well, taking more than a third of the votes. But in other proletarian areas it did badly. In Portugal's second major city, Porto, the CP received a pathetic vote of less than 7%, while the Socialists got over 42% and the revolutionary left over 4% The election figures also suggest that a politically advanced vanguard layer of the workers movement has emerged which is as yet very small, but exists on a national level. While the vote for the CP varied immensely from region to region, the revolutionary left's vote was relatively uniform This produced some rather curious results in the more backward areas. soldiers and sales commilioes walch ca got more than 6.6% of the vote compared with only 5.6% for the One of the revolutionary groups standing in the elections was the Trotskyist LCI (Internationalist Communist League]. Below, we interview a militant of the LCI, Joao Cabral Fernandes-who for the last week has been speaking along with Ernest Mandal at a series of anti-EEC meetings up and down the country organised by the IG-about the significance of the election results and the perspectives put forward by the LCI.
But the policy of the Communist and so on.
What is the significance of the vote At the national present period?
This vote came largely from vanguard Gc 2s Apri seen in events surrounding May Day demonstration in Lisbon Alke those at Lisaave (the dockyaris), TAP capitalists, ete workers contrel.
action.
The main importance of the campaien laws we wete able to explain all the major points of our programme at length on radio and relevision and in the press-for examspie, to explain the events of 11 March, the need to arm the working ciass Generally it was an important step forward for us We held well over a hundred moelings during the campaign; we doubled our membership during this time; most importantly, it was our fast really cerralined campaien, and this had certain good consequences-for instance, by the end of the campaign our newspaper. Larte Prolesarta, was appearing on a regular basis every weck Well of course we stood in the elections or the basis that they wouldn't resolve any of ANDHEW WIARD Joso Cabral Fernandes of the LCI of deal power the workers' cammissions neignbourhood councus bic. As ar PPD along with the military.
One of the key points of our programme concens our attitude towards the army our anti-militarist activity.
This centres around demands for democra De rights in the army, wage rises, and explaining the concrete tasks facing soldiers in the face of another nibitary coup. Against issions in the unity of the Armed Forces Morement we pose the unity of the soldier in the barracks-the buiiding of votes from reactionaries who saw it as the best bet to stop the Communists, HJ BOTA Finally, could you say something about your work in solidarity with the struggle against the Francont dictatorship in Spain?
In our campaigo for a United Socialist States of Burope we consider bat the Highest point of strusple has been reached in Spain, where the working class has made some tremendous advances through the regional general stribes ete. We koow that the establishment of close links between the Spanish workers" mons ment and oursolves is of vital impertance in helping to advance the strugile for socialism in both countries as well as on a European and even world scale The imminent fall of the die la larship in Spain and the events which follow will have a tremendous eflect in developing an interna tonalist consciousness among the workurs of Enrope and will lay the basis for a European-wide (at least) solidarity campaign. In the content of busting laternational campuigns against Lie Common Market and against NATO, sappoet for the struaae in Spain together with that in Portugal-will be vital.
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would appear that the clection vote for the Communist Party-which has
way forward and the concrete postloos the AFM in the political arena. For the
It was mainly a vote from layers which have broken from reformism in a very
(airline), ete It went mainly to groups like the UDP (Maoist) - which even won a
What perspectives is the LC1 putting forward for the mass struggle in the
Immediate demand we call for a govern ment solely of the workon organisations- excluding the capitalist ministors of the
working class: the attacks on democratic Treedons, the consequences of the econo mie crisis, the economic sabotage of the the man memes Do bu propramone were therefore the defence of democratic libertics. the struggle against. fascist saction, agrinst the explottation of the capitalist system, for the unity of the workine class in its struggles, for the sclforpa nisation of the masses vis Independent structures, with specific objectives and Jemands: agiost unemployment, and for nationalisation without compensation and We advance these themes in the worker movement with the perspective both of building a class strugele tendency in the made unions and at rhe same line denslop Ing in dependent organs of working class The tundamental axis of our propsumme i5 the call for a workers goverment. a government of the workers" organisations NAME with a progrimime of anti-capitalist measures wiriell can develop the revolutionary process anchecked. We also put forward the strategic slogan of a National Workes" Asembly, and we stress tha need to develop structures which tomor(British section of the Fourth international] 97 Caledonian Rd.
London N.1.
1 would like more information about the FAG and its activities
red weekly, 8 may 1975 NO