Anti-cuts alternative confirmed in Berlin city elections

BERLINERS WILL have a clear opportunity to vote for clearly anti-cuts
and anti-‘neo liberal’ candidates in the forthcoming 17 September city
elections.

Robert Bechert, Committee for a Workers’ International

This was confirmed by a two-thirds majority (81 votes to 33) at a
weekend congress of the Berlin WASG (Election Alternative for Work and
Social Justice) that finalised its decision to stand independently.

The Berlin WASG has been under enormous pressure from the national
leadership to stand jointly with the Linkspartei.PDS (Left Party/PDS –
former East German Communist Party) but has consistently rejected this
unless the PDS changed its policies and ended its coalition with the
social-democratic SPD in Berlin.

Since 2001 this Berlin coalition has been in the forefront of the
neo-liberal offensive that has been cutting living standards throughout
Germany.

The PDS and SPD Berlin coalition took the initiative in breaking
national wage agreements to enforce wage cuts amongst its own workers.
It has carried out a systematic privatisation campaign, even selling off
the city’s traffic lights!

The Berlin WASG’s position of no rotten deal with the Berlin PDS has
been constantly attacked by the national WASG leadership as putting in
jeopardy the planned merger between the WASG and PDS.

The Berlin WASG majority was not against having a joint election list
with PDS but argued that it could only be on a principled anti-cuts
basis, including rejecting a coalition with the SPD.

While the Berlin PDS, the National Executive Committee of the WASG
and a minority within the Berlin WASG reached agreement on a programme
which was presented as a possible compromise, this document did not even
exclude further privatisations while avoiding the issue of coalition and
so was rejected by a majority of the Berlin WASG.

An important factor in the Berlin WASG’s principled position has been
the role of Socialist Alternative (SAV, the CWI in Germany). Lucy Redler,
a leading figure in both the SAV and Berlin WASG, was elected as the
Berlin WASG’s top election candidate with 79.1% of the votes.

Afterwards the national WASG leadership voted by 8 to 5 not to carry
out its initial threat to try to withdraw the Berlin WASG’s application
to stand in September’s election.

This weekend’s national WASG party congress will now see sharp
debates around questions of political orientation and party democracy.
It is most likely that a majority of delegates will reject any measures
against the Berlin party members. However it cannot be ruled out that
the right-wing may still attempt to take measures against the Berlin
WASG.

Significantly most of the minority in favour of a joint candidature
with the PDS walked out of the Berlin WASG’s congress when they lost the
vote. This walkout included members of Linksruck, the grouping linked
with the British SWP, who have formed a bloc with the WASG right wing.
Linkruck’s leader voted with the right wing minority on the WASG
national executive in favour of attempting to block the Berlin WASG
standing.

A recent opinion poll indicated that 12% of the electorate consider
voting for the vote WASG in Berlin, including 18% amongst under 30 year
olds and 15% amongst those households earning less than 1,000 euro per
month.

The challenge in the next five months is to mobilise the potential
support for a party clearly rejecting the ruling class’s offensive
against living standards.

The continuing national media publicity given to the debate in the
Berlin WASG is an indication of how a successful anti-cuts election
campaign could play an important part in building of a new all-German
force that can both defend living standards and challenge capitalism.

Lucy Redler, a leading figure in both the SAV and Berlin WASG, was
elected as the Berlin WASG’s top election candidate.

WASG is the new left-wing political formation launched in January
2005. It was established in opposition to the neo-liberal attacks of the
then social democratic party (SPD) government and the bosses.

It is a broad anti-capitalist electoral alternative which contains a
variety of left-wing currents. The Socialist Party’s counterpart in
Germany, Socialist Alternative (SAV), actively participates in WASG.