ContentCornelia Hildebrandt / Birgit Daiber (ed.) The Left in Europe Political Parties and Party Alliances between Norway and Turkey Cornelia Hildebrandt / Birgit Daiber (ed.): The Left in Europe. Political Parties and Party Alliances between Norway and Turkey A free paperback copy of this publication in German or English can be ordered by email to [email protected]. © Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels Office 2009 2 Content Preface 5 Western Europe Paul-Emile Dupret 8 Possibilities and Limitations of the Anti-Capitalist Left in Belgium Cornelia Hildebrandt 18 Protests on the Streets of France Sascha Wagener 30 The Left in Luxemburg Cornelia Weissbach 41 The Left in The Netherlands Northern Europe Inger V. Johansen 51 Denmark - The Social and Political Left Pertti Hynynen / Anna Striethorst 62 Left-wing Parties and Politics in Finland Dag Seierstad 70 The Left in Norway: Politics in a Centre-Left Government Henning Süßer 80 Sweden: The Long March to a coalition North Western Europe Thomas Kachel 87 The Left in Brown’s Britain – Towards a New Realignment? Ken Ahern / William Howard 98 Radical Left Politics in Ireland: Sinn Féin Central Europe Leo Furtlehner 108 The Situation of the Left in Austria 3 Stanislav Holubec 117 The Radical Left in Czechia Cornelia Hildebrandt 130 DIE LINKE in Germany Holger Politt 143 Left-wing Parties in Poland Heiko Kosel 150 The Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) Southern Europe Mimmo Porcaro 158 The Radical Left in Italy between national Defeat and European Hope Dominic Heilig 166 The Spanish Left Alliance Izquierda Unida between regionalisation and authoritarian politics José Soeiro 176 The “Bloco de Esquerda” and the founding of a new Left in Portugal South Eastern Europe Julian Marioulas 184 Communists in power: Cyprus Dorothée de Nève / Tina Olteanu 192 The Left in Bulgaria Dorothée de Nève / Tina Olteanu 202 The Left in Romania Cem Sey 211 ÖDP – A Turkish Left Party between Patriotism and Left Liberalism List of Contributors 219 Europe in Publications of the 222 Rosa Luxemburg Foundation 4 Preface Cornelia Hildebrandt / Birgit Daiber After thirty years the victorious march of neo-liberalism has ground to a halt at the beginning of the 21st century, having plunged the world into fi- nancial and economic crisis. For the first time a financial and economic crisis has coincided with social, environmental and climatic crises. The scale of the social deformations causing all this, the increases in social divi- sions, hunger and poverty, are already visible in all European countries. But no one knows yet how this crisis will end, and that goes for those on the Left as well. In the past the European Left has identified and analysed many prob- lems and proposed solutions. Many of these proposals, such as the control of financial markets, the Tobin tax, the closing down of tax havens, the banning of derivatives and hedge funds, the expropriation of shareholders of big corporations, putting together stimulus packages, and the introduc- tion of a minimum wage, are being adopted under pressure of necessity by the ruling elites, who are even including some of them in their own pro- grammes. The crisis shows how right the demands of the Left were, though it also exposes its own crisis. The Left has so far proved incapable of social lead- ership. Its ability to rise above social, political and cultural differences and successfully act in concert is still in its infancy. Only now does the Party of the European Left have its first joint election platform. On the other hand, there is plenty of common ground. All left-wing par- ties in Europe, of which we examine only a selection in this publication, stand for social justice, democracy, and a Europe in which people can live in dignity, social security and peace. All the parties presented here are argu- ing against the neo-liberal policies of the ruling elites and in so doing repre- senting the interests of most Europeans. The European Left has sufficient experience and potential to wage joint struggles, such as those against the Iraq war, the neo-liberal slant of the proposed EU constitution, and the Bolkestein Directive. But all this has never been enough to rally people around a unifying alternative project that could mount a challenge to neo- liberalism. This raises several very different questions: Where are the causes of this situation to be sought? Where is existing potential for development being blocked and by what? How must the Left change in order to build up an 5 alternative hegemonic bloc? How can it create a society in which the free- dom of the individual is the condition for the freedom of all, a society which the left-wing parties of Europe can call socialist? In order to discuss such questions with parties, trade unions and social movements on the spot the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – supported by its offices in Brussels, Warsaw and Moscow – works closely with its partners Transform!Europe and the parliamentary group of the Left in the European Parliament. Together with the latter a long-term project on the non-social democratic Left in the European countries was launched. Within this framework the country reports collected here constitute a first snapshot, a necessary basis for the elaboration of a joint research programme. The primary intention is to give the reader an overview of the history and current situation of left-wing parties in Europe, it being remembered that the articles express solely the views of the authors. The Left presents a very different picture in each of the individual coun- tries, resulting from the different traditions and political structures in the country under consideration and from differences in the sense of identity of the various organizations. Among the left-wing parties selected by way of example for the present volume are some that have evolved out of former ruling communist parties, some that have a Eurocommunist background, some that come from the non-social democratic reformist Left, some that belong to the traditionally communist Left with a feminist extension, and others. The party-political Left as documented here is very much shaped by the economic, political and social situation in the individual countries, by its social milieu, by the strength or weakness of civil society, and by the trade unions and other social movements. It has to assert itself within the politi- cal conditions of the local party and electoral systems. It is also shaped by the local social democratic parties, whose situation is often no less complex and without whom there will be no left-wing majorities for a change of pol- icy. But it is also a particular challenge for the radical Left if the social democrats – as in Slovakia, for example – are particularly successful. The Left is in search of a modern pluralist identity, between tradition and the social requirements of openness and renewal. Both exist in every party – both are lived and needed in parallel by the parties’ members, like the old symbols of the working class and the new symbols of a changed world. Such complicated clarification processes inevitably lead to splits to begin with before stable new coalitions become possible in subsequent phases. In France, for example, the non-social democratic Left is split into at least four parties, and it is currently attempting to regain support through 6 multi-party coalitions. In the Czech Republic, the Communist Party, al- though relatively strong, still clings to traditional communism, which makes alliances difficult. The same goes for the communist parties in Greece, Belgium and Slovakia. A remarkable case of reform communism is presented by the AKEL in Cyprus, which is committed to Marxism-Leninism, remains true to scien- tific socialism, and yet as a ruling party stands for a peaceful resolution of the Cyprus conflict, a hefty 26 percent rise in social spending, free school buses, and halving the sentences of prison inmates. It is currently preparing to build much-needed seawater desalination plants and plans to invest 245 million euros in state construction projects. In Italy and Spain the non-social democratic Left, after a long period of being firmly anchored in the political spectrum, have had to swallow some bitter defeats. In Germany, on the other hand, a new party known as DIE LINKE (The Left) has experienced a remarkable upswing. In The Nether- lands the Left is attracting a large following and has developed an exem- plary strategy of participatory and campaign-oriented democracy. Although the current crisis situation favours the Left, it finds it unpre- pared and in a stage of intensive search for a modern identity and for a socio-ecological profile that cannot be achieved at the national level. Read- ers are called upon to make up their own minds about the very complicated historical legacy and current context of left-wing politics in Europe. They are also called upon to make their own suggestions and critical comments on the formulation of a more comprehensive research project on the Left in Europe. We thank the authors for their informative and illuminating contribu- tions and hope that our readers find them as enlightening as the publishers do. We look forward to a stimulating discussion on the Left in Europe in which the present volume will play its part. 7 Belgium Possibilities and Limitations of the Anti-Capitalist Left in Belgium Paul-Emile Dupret Politics in Belgium has been brought to international attention recently due to the difficulties between the two language groups, the Dutch-speaking Flemish and the French-speaking Walloon communities. Foreign policy observers – and often Belgians as well – have trouble understanding such a big political labyrinth in such a small country.