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Workers' Party of Belgium Partij van de Arbeid van België Parti du Travail de Belgique Partei der Arbeit Belgiens | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | PTB . PVDA . PAB |
| President | Raoul Hedebouw |
| General Secretary | Peter Mertens |
| Founder | Ludo Martens |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Preceded by | All Power To The Workers |
| Newspaper | Solidaire / Solidair |
| Student wing | Comac |
| Youth wing | RedFox, Pioneers |
| Women's wing | Zelle |
| Political orientation | Socialism Reformism |
| International affiliation | IMCWP |
| Part of a series on |
| Communist parties |
|---|
The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA) is a is a Belgian party that declares themselves to be communist.[1] Some observers consider it to have turned to reformism and abandoned communism in 2008.[2]
History[edit | edit source]
First congress - 1979[edit | edit source]
The PTB-PVDA is officially born in the "foundation congress" on the 4th of November 1979, with 4000 people attending.[3] This congress is the result of 10 years of work to formalize AMADA-TPO, a Marxist–Leninist student-worker's movement born out of the 1968 student movement. Ludo Martens becomes its first president, and will stay president until the 8th congress in 2008.
Here the PTB-PVDA first describes itself as Marxist-Leninist.
The Workers' Party is based on the scientific doctrine of socialism, the fundamental laws of which are indicated by dialectical and historical materialism. This doctrine, of which Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong are the main teachers, is not a dogma but, like any science, it must develop as society evolves.[4]
Second congress - 1983[edit | edit source]
Three books got written out of the discussions and conclusions of the 1983 congress:
- The Liquidationist Trend within the Marxist-Leninist Movement: Report and Summary of Discussions and Amendments.[5]
- Party and Front: Report and Summary of Discussions and Amendments.[6]
- Revolutionary Morality.[7]
Third congress - 1988[edit | edit source]
Fourth congress - 1991[edit | edit source]
Fifth congress - 1995[edit | edit source]
In January 1995 is held the fifth congress. The position of general secretary is created and attributed to Nadine Rosa-Rosso. Ludo Martens writes with her help The party of revolution, based on the lessons of the congress.
The book outlines in minute detail how the party should be organized as a "Bolshevik-type communist party" for the future, to reach goals such as ensuring ideological commitment within the cadres, enforcing discipline, eradicating revisionism and opportunism etc.[8]
It was publicly the official organizational manual of the PTB-PVDA until 2015[9][1]
Sixth congress - 1997[edit | edit source]
The sixth congress prolonged for four years the "rectification period", the following of the fifth congress' lessons:
The period of rectification [was] initiated since the 5th Party Congress in 1995 and extended by four years during the 6th Congress in 1997. The purpose of the rectification period was to revolutionize the leadership, to form a stable core leadership, and to rectify the Party according to four axes: enhancing the sense of responsibility among cadres, placing politics in command, combating bureaucratism, tightening ties with the masses, fighting individualism, and strengthening control.[10]
This congress is accused in the ninth congress throwing away the third congress' (the "union congress") lessons out the window, diving in sectarianism and leading to its worst electoral score in history.[11]
Seventh congress - 2002[edit | edit source]
The seventh congress, "Communism, the future of humanity" marks the end of the "rectification period" of its practices through the lessons of the fifth congress. It marks out a plan for applying it further in the five following years ("IMPACT 2002-2006").[12]
Another main point is a lowering of requirements for entry some "basis cells", in hopes of becoming a mass party.[12]
Eighth congress - 2008[edit | edit source]
Named the "renewal congress", the eighth congress takes place in over a year, starting in 2007.[13] Peter Mertens is elected president in place of Ludo Martens. Nadine Rosa-Rosso was purged from the party in 2003, unlike Ludo which will stay in the party until his death in 2011, becoming the party's "Central Africa expert".
The renewal congress is where the party adopts its new style of communication. It is divided in four main parts:
Chapter 1: "The future is for socialism"[edit | edit source]
Here, it argues for the necessity of socialism in Europe and in the world.[13] It ends arguing for its new direction:
The evolution of society places us before a double task. The new PTB-PVDA wants, in the coming period, to be both a party of principles and a flexible party. In a world of change fast, we need a strong backbone. Our Marxist analysis and our commitment to socialism make the identity of our party. This is the subject of chapter 2. At the same time, we need flexibility and openness to stick to people's reality, to raise their awareness, to mobilize them read and organize them (this is chapter 3) and transform the party into a workers’ party (chapter 4).[13]
Chapter 2: "A principled party"[edit | edit source]
This part is opened with its analysis of the treason of the POB — which later became the Socialist Party, the current Belgian social-democrats:
Some comrades say that the main objective for the party is to intervene more openly, more flexibly and more tactically. This is a mistake. The main objective of the party is to be firm on principles and flexible. Both, and at the same time. Anyone who dissociates the need to be flexible, open and tactical will soon bow to the pressure of capital.
This danger is not new. History teaches us that abandoning principles in the name of tactics and flexibility can go very quickly. The Belgian Workers' Party, the forerunner of today's PS, was founded in 1885. The POB quickly abandoned a number of socialist principles - especially after its first electoral victory in 1894. It is worthwhile today to examine this process a little more closely. Very quickly, there was a great aversion to substantive debate and to socialist theory. [...] The properties of the capitalist system, the objectives of socialism, the long-term interests of the working class... all this was quickly ‘forgotten’ and sacrificed in favour of the real or supposed advantages of the moment.
Very quickly, there was a great aversion to substantive debate and to socialist theory. [...] The properties of the capitalist system, the objectives of socialism, the long-term interests of the working class... all this was quickly ‘forgotten’ and sacrificed in favour of the real or supposed advantages of the moment.
Despite the statutes, power within the party shifted towards the party's parliamentarians to the detriment of the elected leadership, the General Council. The elected members of parliament placed themselves above the party leadership. They began to work for parliamentary life or for themselves, not in the service of the whole.
The party became a party of parliamentary legality instead of a party of class struggle. The party ended up being afraid of the workers' movement. It encouraged calm.[13]
It then affirms their ideological basis:
The PTB's view of the world is called Marxism.[a] Its foundations were laid by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin.[13]
Later on, it outlines its strategy, calls itself (and defines) a "contemporary communist party", re-affirms the importance of strict democratic centralism, and its belonging to the "international communist movement".[13]
Chapter 3: "A flexible party"[edit | edit source]
Here the party outlines the importance for tactics, its tactical recommendations, which maybe most notably contains:
We make a distinction between what happens in the dining room and what in the kitchen. The best chefs don't reveal all their secrets. The situation in the kitchen is often more chaotic than the atmosphere of the dining room. The party needs enough attention and space for all strategic and tactical questions. For the outside world, we need to know what is essential. In the limited time and space that the media gives us, we want to focus on that, even if journalists are often more interested in our internal cooking or the difficult points in our programme.[13]
Chapter 4: "A workers' party"[edit | edit source]
The party here explains the way it wants to become a mass party of organized workers, but also outlines the new strategy it should adopt in order to attain that goal.
Ninth congress - 2015[edit | edit source]
The eighth congress forms the new basis for the party. The 2015 "congress of solidarity" expands on it, as well as does its critical assessment of the party's history.[11]
Tenth congress - 2021[edit | edit source]
Like its predecessor, the "congress of unity" is in line with the eighth congress and focuses on the importance of national unity (in opposition to the nationalist Flemish separatists) as well as general working class unity to "build a counter-power for another society, Socialism 2.0".[14]
Current Positions[edit | edit source]
Reform or revolution?[edit | edit source]
Ever since its creation in 1979, the PTB-PVDA has presented its ideas in the form of a minimum program for propaganda and agitative purposes.[15] At the time and up until the 2002 congress, the PTB-PVDA has explicitly advocated for revolution[16] to attain a socialist society through the dictatorship of the proletariat.[17]
The 2008 congress forming the new basis drops the dictatorship of the proletariat from its terminology, but still calls for revolution.[18] The next congresses call the party revolutionary.[19] The congresses also point out that capitalism cannot be reformed,[20] and insist to be distinguished from reformists because they put organizational work first.[21]
The 2015 congress lays out the party's view on the parliament, which it calls "street-council-street", putting mobilization as the start and the end of a struggle, and the parliament only as a means to this end.[22]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 PTB-PVDA (2015). Statuses of the PTB-PVDA (2015). [PDF]
- ↑ "Russian Communist Workers Party- "Mertens vs Martens" (On the role of the Workers Party of Belgium- PTB)" (2016-04-18). In Defense of Communism. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ↑ PTB-PVDA (2018). Once upon a time the PTB-PVDA (French: Il était une fois le PTB) (p. 22). [PDF] Brusels: Éditions du PTB.
- ↑ PTB-PVDA (1979). Documents of the congress, approved by the committee: 'VI. The Party of the working class and the front'. Brussels.
- ↑ Ludo Martens (1983). De likwidatie-stroming binnen de marxistisch-leninistische beweging: verslag en samenvatting van de discussies en amendementen. Brussels.
- ↑ Ludo Martens, Kris Merckx (1983). Partij en front: verslag en samenvatting van de discussies en amendementen. Brussels.
- ↑ Ludo Martens, Diether J., Pauwels J. (1983). Revolutionaire moraal. Brussels.
- ↑ Ludo Martens, Nadine Rosa-Rosso (1995). The party of revolution. Brussels: PTB-PVDA. ISBN 9782872621118 [LG]
- ↑ “The ideological and organizational principles for the cadres' work were set at the Fifth Party Congress in the manual "Party of the Revolution".”
PTB-PVDA (2008). Statuses of the PTB-PVDA (2008). [PDF] - ↑ Nadine Rosa-Rosso (2002). Communism, the future of humanity (p. 15). Brussels: PTB-PVDA.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 PTB-PVDA (2015). Congress of solidarity (French: Congrès de la solidarité). Brussels: PTB-PVDA.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Nadine Rosa-Rosso (2002). Communism, the future of humanity. Brussels: PTB-PVDA.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 PTB-PVDA (2008). 8th Congress - A principled party, A flexible party, A workers' party. (French: 8e congrès du PTB). [PDF] Brussels: PTB-PVDA.
- ↑ PTB-PVDA (2021). Congress of unity (French: Congrès de l'unité). [PDF] Brussels: PTB-PVDA.
- ↑ “In the areas of the struggle for democracy, social progress, national independence, and peace, we put forward radical demands that will enable a coherent fight against the power of the monopolistic bourgeoisie and imperialism.
We formulate demands for agitation that we aim to achieve immediately, as well as demands for propaganda that can only be realized with further development in the class struggle.
No demand from the minimum program inherently presupposes the victory of the socialist revolution. Each of these demands can be implemented within civil society, although often in a distorted manner.”
PTB-PVDA (1979). Documents of the congress, approved by the committee.: 'VII. The Minimum Program for Democracy, Social Progress, National Independence, and Peace'. Brussels. - ↑ “Together with communists around the world, all members of the Workers' Party of Belgium clearly reaffirm their commitment to the revolutionary path, Marxism-Leninism, and the organization of communists in a vanguard party.”
Nadine Rosa-Rosso (2002). Communism, the future of humanity: 'Introduction' (p. 11). - ↑ “Only a socialist Europe, exercising the dictatorship of the workers over the minority of exploiters gathered in European multinationals, can resolutely support the revolutionary struggle of the peoples of the Third World for economic and political independence. Only a socialist Europe will be able to distribute the wealth produced by its workers in a manner that respects the needs of European workers and peoples worldwide.”
Nadine Rosa-Rosso (2002). Communism, the future of humanity: 'For a Socialist Europe in a World Free from Imperialism; IV. To combat nationalism and chauvinism, nourished by five centuries of colonization.' (French: Le communisme, l'avenir de l'humanité). [PDF] Brussels: PTB-PVDA. - ↑ “For the world of tomorrow, socialism, will not fall from the sky. It will not be given to us as a gift. It will be the result of a long period of conflict between the two diametrically opposed great enemy camps: the owning class (capital) and the working class, across various arenas. Ultimately, the working class will hold the power at the expense of the owning class. This is a transformation of society, a socialist revolution.”
PTB-PVDA (2008). 8th Congress: 'A principled party' (p. 62). - ↑ “Meanwhile, new challenges arise. A revolutionary party that is active, growing, and becoming larger finds itself in the crosshairs of the system. This is a constant in the history of the labor movement. In the battle for hearts and minds, communist parties are heavily attacked. This includes campaigns of slander, half-truths, and outright lies, media boycotts, and threats to cut access to social media.”
PTB-PVDA (2021). Congress of unity (pp. 85-86). - ↑ PTB-PVDA (2021). Congress of unity: 'We choose socialism 2.0; Capitalism is an incurable disease' (pp. 77-79).
- ↑ “There are no small problems. Revolutionaries are the best fighters for reforms because they genuinely care about both the small and large concerns of people. Our socialist vision of society gives us the determination to consistently defend the interests of workers, employees, and civil servants.
What distinguishes us from reformists is our approach to pursuing reforms. Each struggle provides an opportunity to mobilize people. In collective action, people learn to take their fate into their own hands. Each struggle offers possibilities for understanding and awareness (for example, through demands targeting the omnipotence of monopolies). Every action creates opportunities for lasting organization and cooperation. Mobilization, awareness, and sustainable organization are crucial for ultimately achieving a new society.”
PTB-PVDA (2008). 8th congress: 'A flexible party' (p. 89). - ↑ “The principle of our representatives is: "street-council-street." They are not the final point but a link in the emancipation work carried out by the party. Our elected officials start with what is alive in the neighborhood, at the workplace, in associations, and connect these aspirations to solid dossiers and demands. What exists in the population is our vital artery and also our strength. This ranges from very small issues to projects for which people organize and mobilize. Very often, our elected officials are those who bring the most concrete issues to the agenda, drawing from the wealth present among all party members, and with contributions from social movements. Our representatives enrich the emancipation movement with all the information their mandate provides access to. They then publicize the results of their interventions and proposals, even if they have not been approved. Our representatives bring the outcome of their work back to the ground, back to the street. That is the meaning of "street-council-street." The interventions of our elected officials are at the service of social struggle and not the other way around.”
PTB-PVDA (2015). Congress of solidarity: 'The strategy of change; The social struggle and the people's representatives' (p. 110).
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ From this congress on, the PTB-PVDA calls itself "Marxist", and refers to Lenin separately. It also stops referring to Stalin at all.