Open letter to the Greek Communist Party

Why we are not giving critical support to the KKE

13 September 2015

Comrades,

In the election in June 2012 as well as in the election of January this year, the Trotskyist Group of Greece, section of the International Communist League, gave critical electoral support to the KKE. What led us to give critical support was that the KKE, uniquely on the left, was opposed to the bourgeois Syriza party and to any collaboration with it, as well as being opposed to the imperialist European Union. Just as in the previous elections we said no vote to Syriza so in the current election we say no vote to Syriza and no vote to Popular Unity.

Nonetheless, in this election, we will not give critical support to the KKE unless it repudiates the position that it took in the referendum of 5 July. Comrades, the main question of the hour for working people throughout Europe is opposition to the imperialist EU, which oppresses and stifles the proletariat, in the poor countries as well as in the imperialist countries. The struggle against the EU is at the same time an integral part of the fight for socialist revolution against the Greek bourgeoisie and its “left” agents, Syriza and Popular Unity. As genuine Leninists we have been opposed to the EU from its inception, as well as to its currency the euro. For us, opposition to the EU is not a tactical question but a question of principle.

The refusal of the KKE leadership to mobilise for the victory of the “no” camp in the referendum on 5 July stands in direct contrast to its opposition hitherto to the imperialist EU. This position of the KKE, which essentially called on the working class and all those who have been ruined by the crisis to throw away their votes — casting a spoiled ballot with the slogans of the KKE — is not just an error but a betrayal. In order to justify this treacherous position, the KKE claimed and still claims that voting down the Troika’s deal was equivalent to a tacit vote in favour of Syriza’s own austerity package and hence support to the Syriza government. The leadership of the KKE chose not to see that the rejection of the agreement, despite the bourgeois propaganda, was a resounding message to the imperialist parasites of the EU.

We wonder, comrades, have you considered that the victory of the “no” vote weakened and irreparably exposed Syriza in the eyes of the masses who had in fact been deceived before the election? Is this fact not in the interests of the working class? Have you considered, comrades, that had the “yes” camp won, Syriza and the EU would have had a mandate to devastate the working class not only in Greece but throughout Europe? And if this referendum was a “false dilemma”, why was that not the case in the referendum called by Papandreou in 2011 when the KKE called for a “no” vote should the referendum take place? In Rizospastis (3 November 2011), you wrote: “If the referendum takes place, the people should participate militantly, voting ‘NO’, which will be a resounding ‘NO’ to the policy of ‘the euro is the only road’, to the Memorandum…and express another road of development for Greek society.”

The current position of the KKE conflicts with calls it has made in the past concerning referenda on the EU. Didn’t the KKE correctly call for a “no” vote to the Maastricht Treaty, criticising Synaspismos for its support to that treaty? And didn’t the KKE correctly call for “no” to the Lisbon Treaty? One has to wonder, comrades, what has changed since then?

In the run-up to the referendum we published a statement which said: “Vote NO! Down With the EU! No Support to the Syriza Government!” We explained why we called for a “no” vote in the referendum while at the same time emphasising that there must be no support to Tsipras and his government, which other groups such as Workers Struggle and ANTARSYA were pushing implicitly. Syriza supporters understood our opposition to this so-called left government all too well, as was clearly demonstrated at one of the pre-referendum rallies where their supporters attacked our comrades even though we were calling for a “no” vote. It was clear to them; why not to the KKE?

Comrades, we repeat that unless the KKE repudiates its position in the referendum, we will not give it critical support.

Comradely,
Trotskyist Group of Greece
Section of the International Communist League
(Fourth Internationalist)