EDITORIAL
Class struggle, parties & elections
The attempt by the United States and its imperialist allies
to manipulate Yugoslavia's elections and steal that nation's
independence has raised once again the relationship between
electoral politics, political parties and class struggle.
During the Soviet Union's existence, it was common for
imperialist politicians and pundits to insist that their main
complaint about communism was that it was a "one-party system"
and thus not democratic. They claimed that if the socialist
states allowed political parties--especially capitalist
parties--to contest for office, relations could be
friendlier.
Like the rest of imperialist propaganda, this was a lie. The
truth was that the capitalists were waging a merciless class
war against the socialist states. They were trying to regain
what they saw as their "right" to exploit, that is, to rob the
workers. Armies, political parties, media, spy organizations,
even churches and aid groups were instruments of the
capitalists in that class war.
In their own backyard, the imperialists scorned democratic
rights. When a democratic institution threatened the
fundamental interests of the imperialists, they considered it a
valid target. For example, in 1970 a pro-socialist government
came into office in Chile, led by President Salvador Allende.
Washington saw this Socialist Party government as a threat, not
only to the profits of ITT and the big copper companies, but to
the U.S. anti-socialist strategy worldwide.
After three years of U.S.-led and financed destabilization
programs, economic sabotage and conspiracy with the Chilean
armed forces, Washing ton and its agents succeeded in
overthrowing the Allende government and destroying democracy in
Chile.
When socialist or revolutionary governments allowed
pro-capitalist parties the right to organize and contest
elections, it was no guarantee that this government would be
free from other, more openly aggressive imperialist
pressure.
From 1979 to 1990 the Nicaraguan Sandinistas allowed
bourgeois parties to contest elections, and had beaten them
fairly. Still, the United States financed and armed Nicaraguan
counter-revolutionaries during that whole period to drain the
lifeblood of the nation. Finally a war-weary populace voted out
the Sandinistas and voted in a U.S.-financed puppet.
Yugoslavia offers perhaps the most obvious example. For over
a decade now not one or two but dozens of openly
capitalist--even monarchist--parties have organized and
contested elections in Yugoslavia, representing every
nationality and every nuance of political thought. Compared to
the United States, where two big capitalist parties with
virtually identical programs fight over the spoils of
governing, there has been a rich political life in that Balkan
country.
Yet this opening to formal bourgeois democracy did not save
Yugoslavia from imperialist sabotage, destabilization, military
threats and finally an all-out military attack, all leading to
this latest assault using the elections as a weapon against a
people.
The working class and progressive movement, especially in
the United States, should keep this in mind not only as this
vicious struggle unfolds against Yugoslavia, but also as
imperialist demands are made against Cuba, China, north Korea
and Vietnam. To defend the gains made for the workers and
toilers of these countries, to defend the very independence of
these countries against imperialism, the ruling parties have
every right to refuse to allow their enemies to organize.
Indeed, they have the duty to refuse them.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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