Forum on Soviet Union

By Roberto Jorquera

BRISBANE — T2>he first Green Left Weekly forum here drew 65 people to discuss the topic "After the Soviet coup, which way forward for the left?". The speakers at the November 6 forum included representatives from the New Left Party, Australian Democrats, Democratic Socialist Party, International Socialist Organisation and the Socialist Party of Australia.0>

1>The theme which came through from a number of the speakers was the need to collaborate among the left and to look for points of agreement. John Wardley from the Australian Democrats said that the left needed to regain the initiative on the economic debate and take it away from the new right.0>

Jim McIlroy from the DSP pointed to the example of the Green Alliance, which ran in the last Brisbane city council elections and averaged over 10% of the vote in the electorates where its candidates ran. Another example was the New Zealand NewLabor Party, which is gaining popularity and which has managed to break the two party monopoly and give the electorate a progressive alternative.

Bob Leach from the New Left Party talked about what he called the future of social democracy. He said the future of socialism was "questionable" in the Soviet Union.

The International Socialists derided any prospect of unity with any forces on the platform. They claimed that all the left had embraced reformism except themselves.

4>Norm Haub from the SPA pointed to the need to move on from the issues which divided the left. "We need to find new ground for agreement and build alliances whenever possible", he said. n0>

From GLW issue 35