Party (PCP) held its first legal Cong ress in 48 years last week.
A revolutionary party would bave seized on this opportunity to bring Together its mulitants from across the country to exchange experiences and discuss in detail the way forward for the workers" movement. Such a gathering would have heen a living demonstration in workers' democracy for the entire country.
31 October 1974 But the Portuguese Communist Party long ago ceased to oe a revolutionary parly. The Bolshevik Party, even when it was a small group of revolutionaries, mainly in exile, used to take a full week to go through its political deliberations. But the Portuguose CP, despite the great responsibilities it delights to talk about and the huge burdens of office it has as the participant in a copicalist coalition Government, decided to get everything over in one day.
So the PCP's extrondinary Congress BONESEN 9100 DA NJU PORTUGUES was reduced to a stage-managed festival of self-congratulation, in which the vole of the Party rank and-file was kept under light rein, and the leadership managed to side-step all the more embarrassing ques tops that could be asked about its politi cal activity since 25 April.
After the Party Soupetary, Alvaro Cun hal, made his hour long opening speech and a string of Central Committee members spelled our al length the Party's official line, only a tiny handful of rank-and-tile members were able to speak. Less than 5 per cent of the 900 rank-and-file delepates ever reached the podiums, and then they had only minutes in which to utter a few poneralities.
It is hardly surprising, in this situation, that the major amendments to the Party statutes and propramene, and the new 'emergency plattorm of immediate demands should have heen adopted without a single opposing: vote.
The emergency propracme is suppos co lo meet thyce ains: 1. the wintercoment of the democratic State and the defence of liberties: 2, the defence of economic and tinancial stability, with a view to promoting econonsie development; 3, the conrinuation of decolonisation."
The specific steps which the CP wants to carry out rarely go heyond the most pathetic reformiami: ca "The reogginisa tion of the military and police foroes as forces for the defence of democatic arder, reorganisation of the civil service, aliminating the habits of bureaucratic parasitisen created by the fascist dictatorship. time conting The bitter struggle herween the work