BY PETER BOYLE 
Following the January 25 call by the Democratic Socialist Party for
a socialist electoral alliance to contest the coming federal elections,
a formation meeting on February 17 has been convened jointly by the DSP
and the International Socialist Organisation (ISO), the two largest socialist
parties in Australia. These groups will propose Socialist Alliance launches
in a round of large public meetings in all major cities.
A joint discussion paper put forward by the DSP and ISO states that
it is urgent that a Socialist Alliance should stand candidates ``to offer
an alternative that Labor is not''.
``On a range of issues such as the GST, education and health, Labor
is offering far less than what traditional Labor voters want'', the paper
states.
The DSP and the ISO support an electoral alliance of socialist parties
and unaffiliated socialists supporting a common action platform. This platform
should not seek to be a summary of the commonly agreed upon policies of
all the left groups and individuals in the alliance but rather ``a platform
of campaigning slogans'' around which extra-parliamentary mass movements
can be build ``in opposition to the neo-liberal offensive by the capitalist
ruling class''.
In their joint proposal, the ISO and the DSP agree that the Socialist
Alliance should not be neutral on the choice between a Liberal or a Labor
government in the coming election.
``The primary thrust of the campaign must be anti-Liberal, with the
aim of mobilising opposition to the Howard government's main attacks on
the working class and other oppressed groups while making a positive case
for a socialist alternative.''
They also agree that the Socialist Alliance should preference Labor
Party candidates over Liberal and National party candidates where the alliance
stands candidates and will call for supporters to ``vote Labor'' where
there is not a socialist, Greens or progressive candidate. Where the Socialist
Alliance calls for a first preference for a Greens or progressive candidate
it should urge that second preferences go to the ALP.
Membership organisation
The DSP and ISO also agree that the Socialist Alliance should be a membership
organisation that seeks to reach out beyond the membership of participating
parties. Any individual who broadly agrees with the aims and objectives
of the alliance and agrees to participate in the non-sectarian, co-operative
spirit of the alliance should be eligible to join.
The two initiating parties are agreed that the Socialist Alliance should
operate on the basis of democratic decision-making, accountability of representatives
and leading bodies but should also promote a constructive atmosphere at
all its meetings and be mindful of the consensus around which unity is
possible.
``We can confidently predict that we will have hundreds of activists
queuing up to join a Socialist Alliance supported by the main active left
groups'', said John Percy, national secretary of the DSP. ``The public
meetings to launch the Socialist Alliance could be very big. They will
be historic meetings that few activists will want to miss.''
Radical constituency
Underlying this broad agreement between the DSP and the ISO is a common
recognition that there is a significant, radical minority actively fighting
the prevailing neo-liberal or economic rationalist political orthodoxy.
Even larger numbers of people, while still passive, are sick of the big
business-first shared agenda of the major parties.
This has been shown quite dramatically in the thousands who turned out
for the three-day S11 blockade of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne
last year. It is also demonstrated in numerous community campaigns against
the corporate-first agenda.
These developments have given the left in Australia a new confidence
and the Socialist Alliance proposal is just one of the initiatives taken
after S11.
Another major initiative was the launching of M1 alliances, focussed
on a plan for mass blockades of the stock exchanges and other corporate
targets on May 1 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth.
Organisation for this ambitious mobilisation is already well underway.
But isn't the radical constituency that braved a massive police presence
at S11 totally disdainful of parliamentary politics?
It probably is to a significant extent, and that is a good thing. Both
the DSP and ISO believe that radical change will not come about through
parliament. The kind of electoral intervention they support is one which
seeks to use parliamentary elections to promote the mass extra-parliamentary
mobilisation against the corporate tyranny that hides behind so-called
parliamentary democracy.
The Socialist Alliance should stand on a platform of total opposition
to the corporate profit-driven neo-liberal/economic rationalist agenda
of social austerity, privatisation and deregulation. If its candidates
get elected to parliament they would use their position to promote the
mass campaigns that can defeat the attacks.
A sustained mass campaign of total opposition to the ruling-class offensive
can bring together the forces to replace capitalism with a socialist society,
based on co-operation, democracy and ecological sustainability.
Percy, a veteran of the anti-Vietnam War movement, explained: ``Within
parliament socialists should strive to block any measures that advance
the corporate-first agenda. The Australian Democrats are proud of their
‘responsible' role but the Socialist Alliance should promise the opposite:
maximum obstruction to the capitalists' agenda.
``But fundamentally we want to be part of an anti-parliamentary election
campaign. One which does not say, ‘vote for us and we will fix things for
you through parliament' but exactly the opposite. Some of yesterday's radicals
may think that this is far too extreme for the Australian public but they
are increasing out of touch.
``There is a sea of angry discontent with the corrupt, corporate-profit
driven political system. It's got the major parties worried. But if the
left is not prepared to act decisively and in unity, then more of this
discontent is going to be manipulated by the populist right.''
S11 indicated a new opening for the radical left, but to take advantage
of this serious left activists recognise that they have to be able to work
better together. We don't have to hide the fact that there are still some
important differences within the radical left but we have to learn to better
deal with these differences in a constructive manner.
``We are committed to an anti-sectarian, co-operative way of working,
looking to build unity rather than discord, seeking to work positively,
encouraging the notion of alliances and ensuring that any debates are conducted
in a positive manner without personal attacks'', says the joint DSP-ISO
position paper.
While common election leaflets, posters, and how-to-votes could be produced
by the Socialist Alliance, the two groups agree that all alliance partners
should be free to publish their own material, outside of Socialist Alliance
propaganda.
The establishment of a broad, inclusive and united Socialist Alliance
will mean members having to exercise self-discipline in promoting their
distinctive political positions and identities within the Socialist Alliance.
Only by putting what unites us in the Socialist Alliance first will we
attract candidates and active supporters well beyond the existing membership
of the organised left.
[Peter Boyle is a member of the DSP national executive. Visit the DSP
web site at <http://www.dsp.org.au>.]
