DSP prioritises left unity and building anti-war movement

BY
SARAH STEPHEN

Forging greater left unity through the Socialist Alliance and building
a mass movement in opposition to the US-led war against Iraq were the two
main priorities set for the coming year by the Democratic Socialist Party
(DSP) at its 20th congress, held in Sydney between December 28 and January
1.

The congress was attended by 260 people, including 74 delegates elected
in mid-December by the party's membership at branch and district membership
meetings. Fifty-six percent of congress participants were workers, involved
in 19 different unions. A third of the workers attending the congress were
union delegates or office-bearers.

Congress delegates discussed the Bush administration's plans for war
on Iraq, following a report on the international situation presented on
the first morning of the congress by DSP national executive member Doug
Lorimer.

The potential for building a mass protest movement against war was discussed
in a campaigns report by national executive member Pip Hinman. There was
a recognition of both the urgent need, and the growing potential, to build
genuinely mass movements on a scale not seen in Australia for decades.
Delegates also discussed plans for building the movement for refugees'
rights.

A counter-report on the DSP's campaigning work, presented by national
executive member Sean Healy, which argued for the party to give greater
priority to building a movement against the “free trade” agenda of the
World Trade Organisation, received the support of two congress delegates.

DSP national secretary John Percy presented an assessment of the process
of international left regroupment, and the contribution of the DSP to the
renewal of the international socialist movement. The report looked at the
discussions internationally on the relationship between parties and movements,
what sort of parties are needed, and what international solidarity is required
in the coming period.

A report by national executive member Kerryn Williams assessed the situation
facing women in Australia and projected making firmer links with the struggles
of working-class women.

DSP national executive member Sue Bolton presented a report on the importance
of defending militant trade unions, which projected to strengthen the militant,
class-struggle wing of the union movement.

Socialist Alliance

There was extensive delegate discussion on the DSP's role in building and
strengthening the Socialist Alliance, following a report by DSP national
executive member and Socialist Alliance national co-convener Dick Nichols.
Delegates adopted a resolution which outlines the DSP's approach to building
the alliance in the coming period. While agreeing to postpone the DSP's
plans to put all its resources into building the Socialist Alliance, the
need to step up the activity, and broaden the influence, of the alliance
was reaffirmed.

Chris Cain, Socialist Alliance national executive member and militant
in the West Australian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia, and a
guest at the congress, told Green Left Weekly that it was “a fantastic
gathering of true socialists”. Speaking about the Socialist Alliance, Cain
said: “The DSP has played a major role in forming a new, young and exciting
workers' party. The next period is critical. Everything should be up for
debate at the May [Socialist Alliance] conference; and issues have to be
debated in an open and fair manner. What comes out of that should move
the alliance forward, not stifle it.”

“The political crisis, the vacuum on the left, makes a further qualitative
step for the Socialist Alliance absolutely critical — as soon as possible”,
Jim McIlroy, a DSP member from Brisbane, told GLW. “The swing to
the Greens is a clear sign of the shift of a significant section of the
population to the left, but this very fact makes the development of a united
socialist left more critical than ever, because the Greens don't provide
a political or theoretical framework for an alternative to capitalism —
only socialism provides that.

“The intensive discussion we've had in the lead-up to, and during, our
congress has focused on finding a path for taking the step towards greater
unity, while bringing along the greatest possible section of the socialist
movement.”

Matthew Preston, a member of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) who
works on the editorial team of the party's newspaper, the Scottish Socialist
Voice, was one of a number of international guests at the congress.
Preston told GLW: “I have been impressed with the DSP,
listening to discussions at the congress on everything from Indonesia and
Korea, to the situation in Australia. The DSP's proposals and hopes for
the Socialist Alliance are the most honest and committed for building socialism
in Australia.”

In a feature session, Preston and Sarah Peart, a DSP member who has
been living in Scotland since the beginning of 2002, outlined the challenges
facing the SSP in 2003, with the prospect that it will have up to seven
party members elected to the Scottish parliament.

Presentations by Caroline Lund and Dani Barley from the US socialist
organisation Solidarity gave congress participants a first-hand account
of the impact upon US working people of the Bush administration's War On
Terror.

Lee Jong-hoi, general secretary of the Power of the Working Class in
South Korea, spoke about the PWC's attempts to forge unity among the revolutionary
socialist organisations that have formed since the 1996-97 general strike.
He also spoke about growing opposition among South Koreans to the US military
occupation.

The congress heard greetings from a range of left-wing parties around
the world, including the Communist Party of Cuba; the Communist Party of
India Marxist-Leninist (Liberation); the Labour Party Pakistan and the
Saraiki National Party; the Philippines Workers Party (PMP-Merger); the
Peoples Democratic Party, Indonesia; Lalit in Mauritius; the Workers Party
of Bangladesh; the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist);
the Anti-Privatisation Forum in South Africa; the Revolutionary Communist
League (LCR) and the Communist Party of France; the Red Green Alliance
and the Socialist Peoples Party of Denmark.

On the final day of the congress, delegates approved a report presented
by DSP national executive member Peter Boyle which reaffirmed the necessity
of a well-organised party of dedicated activists to carry out the tasks
set by the congress.

Participants enjoyed an evening of inspiring film footage of the million-strong
march against war in Florence in November, as well as the activities of
the Scottish Socialist Party and speeches by SSP parliamentarian Tommy
Sheridan, and the November congress of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist,
compiled and presented by Jill Hickson and Simon Tayler from Actively Radical
TV.

Congress participants made pledges of more than $95,000 to the Green
Left Weekly fighting fund, which will be collected over the coming
year to help fund the production of the newspaper.

Larger revolutionary party

“The DSP has really grown in experience since I was first involved in the
party 20 years ago”, said Dale Mills, a DSP member in Sydney who rejoined
the party after having lived in Britain for nearly 20 years. “What I found
really exciting about this congress” he told GLW, “was the participation
of a trade union leader like Chris Cain, and his appreciation of the DSP.
Alongside the DSP's work through the Socialist Alliance with union militants
such as Craig Johnston, this really indicated to me that the DSP is developing
significant support among an important layer of union activists in this
country. Combined with the DSP's increasing work in the Socialist Alliance,
it provides a real opportunity for creating a larger revolutionary party.”

In her report on attendance at the congress, DSP national executive
member Lisa Macdonald remarked: “The attendance and contributions to the
discussion at the congress by a range of trade union leaders, including
Chris Cain, really brought home to us just how essential, how timely, how
significant the Socialist Alliance project is — to strengthen the leadership
of the organised working class, to win the immediate battles, to stop the
attacks and to qualitatively strengthen the revolutionary pole, enable
it to break out of its isolation and win further victories.

“The potential disaster posed by imperialism's war drive and neo-liberal
attacks so clearly necessitates left unity in action, and we leave this
congress with a clear perspective on how to use the current situation to
push ahead with building the Socialist Alliance as the active, radical,
campaigning organisation that we know it can be.”

The final, delegates-only, session of the congress, adopted a motion
empowering the incoming national committee to put into effect a series
of amendments to the DSP's constitution that would convert the party into
an organised political tendency operating solely within the framework of
the Socialist Alliance.

The party's national committee, consisting of 32 full and 20 candidate
members elected by delegates at the final session of the congress, re-elected
John Percy as DSP national secretary and an 18-member national executive
to direct the party's work between its meetings.

From Green Left Weekly, January 15, 2003.

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