Athens Meeting 8 -10 October 2004, Contribution of
Socialist Alliance Party of Romania
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From: SolidNet, Monday, October 11, 2004
http://www.pasro.ro ; mailto:PSM@unet.ro ,
mailto:c.cretu@xnet.ro
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The text of Socialist Alliance Party of Romania to
International Meeting is

The Romanian People In The Fight For Social Justice And
National Independence

The world at the beginning of the XXI-th century

The last years events are not random; they are part of the
general offensive launched by the international capital at
the end of the twentieth century.

The crush of the socialist regimes from East Europe
dominated by communist type parties was the beginning of
the restoration of the capitalist system in this part of
Europe and the beginning of a new policy of domination of
the peoples by the big powers.

The contemporary epoch, which started with the Russian
Revolution, is the beginning of the big change from the
capitalism to socialism. But it is also the time of new
raports between the countries and the peoples of the World.

The socialist revolution has abolished not only the
production relations, based on exploiting and oppressing of
the working classes, but it also started the change of the
old international relations, based on the domination of the
peoples by a bunch of Big Powers.

Even some non-Marxian authors are compulsed to admit the
truth: the dissolution of the great colonial empires after
WW2 was caused mainly by the existence of the World
Socialist System - the support that the socialist states
offered to the fight for freedom of the peoples, freedom of
colonial exploitment.

Shortly: the main cause of the dissolution of the colonial
empires and of the new, more democratical, international
relations which were created in the second half of the
twentieth century was the influence of the Socialist
Revolutions.

The counterrevolutionary process that started after `89 in
Europe caused not only the abolishment of the social gains
of the working classes but also the suppressing of the
freedom of the peoples, of the independence and sovereignty
of many states.

Romania and the Capitalist Restoration.

Romania is facing nowadays all these negative phenomena as
a necessary result of the counterrevolutionary process
which started in December '89.

Romania is back not only to the underdeveloped interbelic
capitalism but it is back to the situation of a weak
country, dominated economically and politically by the
great powers. Just the same situation as before the WW2.

It happens that in Romania the greatest contribution to the
restoration of capitalism belongs to social-democrat
governments. They adopted the most of the "reforms"
directed agains the working peoples, agains the people and
against the Romanian nation; they used demagogy and
dissinformation. They were succesful in disorganizing the
resistence of the Romanians against the capitalist
oppresion and imperialist domination.

The main part of the counterrevolution was realized between
1990-1996. The new power structures, consolidated in that
period are based on an bourgeois parliamentary
institutional system, which claim many democratical
liberties and people rights, but lacking any guaranty of
applying them.

The capitalist social and economical "reforms" did reduce
and even cancel the human rights and the apparent freedoms.
That is no news: from the very beginning of capitalism it
was clear that there is no political democracy without
economical democracy.

The main tool in destroying the national economy was the
privatisation. In plain words, privatisation was the
expropriation of the nation wealth on behalf of
international capital and in the interest of some Romanian
mafiot groups.

At the beginning, the great Romanian state companies were
splitted in weak unities which were sold or destroyed. As a
result the production decreased and the inflation and the
unemployment skyrocketed. But on the other side, the weight
of the private sector increased from 16.4% from GDP in 1990
to 54.9% in 1996. The other side of the coin is that in
1996 the total value of Romania's production was 66% of the
value in 1990; in 1998 the GDP was 78% of the GDP in 1989.
And 1989 was Ceausescu's worst year.

The process of alienating the national economy contiuned
after 1996 under the pression of IMF and World Bank. During
these times Romanian banks were sold to international
compacts, the romanian car factories were sold, the
national telephone company. This year, 2004, the Romanian
state has sold to foreign capital, at a ridiculous price
the Romanian oil and the gas.

Consequence: the Romanian independence does not exist
anymore. The national companies were sold and the national
resources are concesionned to international compacts and to
a tiny sector of romanian gangsters. Romania is only a
market for foreign commodities.

This economic situation produced some devastating social
effects, the percentage of the employees in industry
reached 56% in only nine years, from 1990 to 1998. Also the
real wage was in 1999 reached 44% of the wage in 1990.

A study showed that, provided the future Romanian
governments will insist on same policy as nowadays we will
need 200 years to create the number of jobs that were lost
in the first 10 years after '89.

The poverty and desperation produced social phenomena that
the Romanians thought to be impossible after WW2:
prostitution, drugs, begging, corruption. They are nowadays
usual and a main cause for the mass emigration to west
countries, a migration for survival. About 5000 Romanians
commit suicide yearly.

The anti-capitalist resistance of the workers and masses

The workers and other social categories tried several forms
of resistance. The great protests from 1990-1991, the
meetings, marches and strikes and after those years were
a form of defense not only of social rights, but even of
the national interests. The employees opposed not only the
worsening of the life conditions, the diminishing the
wages, the unemployment but also the selling or destroying
of national companies.

Among the Romanian workers the most combative were the
miners, the steel workers, the railway and the textile
workers.

The liberal, Christian or social- democrat governments used
the same tools against the workers: demagogy, diversions,
money, infiltration of the trade-unions, advisers
generously offered by IMF and also, the sheer repression.

Many trade-union leaders, even journalists were
intimidated, beaten or even killed because they were
defending the rights of the working class. The authors of
these crimes remained unidentified. Or, even known, they
were not punished.

In 1999 the government used even the Romanian army to
overcome the protest of the coalers. The bourgeois
democracy revealed its real nature. There were hundreds of
victims: wounded, arrested and even killed ones even if the
government did not admit that. Leaders of the workers were
put in ail Miron Cozma for 18 years!

The events from 1999 mean a new stage in the social
struggles in Romania. That was the starting year of the
open repressive of the authorities against the protesters.

This policy characterizes not only this or that government,
but all the capitalist system. After the elections from
2000 the new government did nothing against the real
culprits for the antipopular measures of the authorities
before 2000. Miron Cozma is still in jail as well as the
other trade-union leaders of the miners. The social
democrat government is guilty at least of complicity with
the crimes of the previous rightist government. Moreover,
they confirmed the other political trials manufactured in
1990-1991 against some Romanian leaders from the socialist
period.

The events from 9.11.2001 were used to increase the
harassing and intimidating the trade-unionists, the
journalists and other opinion leaders. The anti-terrorist
laws are used against the people using the example and the
pressing of USA.

The Romanian resistance was not crushed yet. The workers go
on protesting for instance the workers from ROCAR or the
teachers.

THE imperialist offensive against Romania

The new regime, installed in Romania after 1989 did abolish
not only the social rights of the working class, but it
aggressed the national values too. They The big
transnational companies had taken the control upon the
Romanian economy, with the support of the great powers'
government, while the governments from Bucharest had
promoted the politics of the "non-intervention" in their
own economic system or, still worse, they participated to
the giving up entire sectors of Romanian economy.

The economic collapse of Romania was made both using brutal
strategies economic diktat from IMF and World Bank and
using apparently generous "aid" programs from Bruxelles
with the same result.

Both the aid programs launched from Bruxelles even from
1991 and the brutal diktats of IMF for the "recover of
Romanian economy" demanded the suppression of the state
intervention in economy, privatization and closing our
companies, reducing the programs of investments, price
increasing all directed to the sacrifice of the Romanian
people for the benefit of multinational giants that invaded
our country.

But that was not enough. The political strategies of our
leaders of integration in the European structures had as a
consequence the fact that now, the politics of Romanian
government be dictated by several European advisers,
disseminated in Romanian ministers. That completes the
image of Romania a semicolony of the great powers. Romania
is more and more controlled even from a military point of
view. In 1994 Romania adhered to the so called "Partnership
for Peace" proposed by NATO. That opened the way to replace
the national defense policy to the policy of participation
to all the aggressions launched by NATO. With the price of
humiliating our national pride, human sacrifices al losing
the honor we participated to the aggressions in Bosnia,
Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003 Romania
became member of the aggressive treatise NATO.

The new quality of NATO membership means not more dignity
and security. Rather the contrary. More sacrifices and
dangers. Romania risks to be implied in more military
conflicts against its will. Romanians are sacrificed to
defend the interests of USA in Kosovo, Afghanistan and
Iraq.

During the time of Partnership for Peace the cost of
military actions abroad reached 60% from the yearly budget
for education. After NATO they increased again. If American
bases will be installed in Romania the lack of security
will increase even more. Romania will become a legitimate
target in a future conflict.

All these decisions against the national interest were
taken by all the political parties in power after 1989.
against the Romanians' will.

The Romanian people rejects the foreign domination

The Romanian people is against building foreign military
bases on its territory and against the participation of
Romanian troops outside the country. Our party is defending
the peace and it was in the front line in the protest
actions.

In 1991 our deputees in Parliament were the only which were
against the first war in Iraq. In 1995 and 1996 we were
against the laws which accepted Romanian military presence
abroad. In 1999 in Bucharest, Craiova and other cities we
protested agains the savage bombing of Yugoslavia. In march
2003 there were marches and protests in Bucharest and
Craiova against the aggression in Iraq. In the fall of 2003
there were protests in Craiova and Timisoara against the
membership of Romania to NATO and against the war in Iraq.

Even the conditions nowadays are harsher we shall go on to
defend the peace, the national sovereignity and dignity and
fight for the national liberation.

Facing these realities it is necessary to identify the
political structures and social forces which may change the
situation.

What we need

The historical practice proved enough that the only force
able to change the capitalism with socialism is the party
of the working class, the party of the many and oppressed.

To build such a party here is the main goal of the
Romanian socialists.

A beginning was made in 1990 when Socialist Labor's Party
was registered. After a continuous process of ideologic
clarification it become a respected representant of the
Romanian working class in the struggle for social ustice
and national independence.

From the very beginning, this party war the target of many
open or covert attacks of all the reactionaries.

The heaviest blows we received from our friends, the social
democrats.

In 1995 a group from the leadership of SLP deserted the
party just before the elections. The deserters formed
another "modern socialist" party which fusioned with the
social democrats after 2 years. The leaders were
recompensed with positions in Parliament and
administration.

After several years the history repeated itself. The new
president of the party, Ion Sasu together with a bunch of
other leaders decided the dissolution of the party in SDP.
It happened in 2003. The success was not complete. The real
socialists did not accept the treason.

During difficult conditions, when the social democrats used
the justice to forbid the old name of the party (SLP) and
the headquarters the party reorganized at the beginning of
2004 under the name of "The Party of the Socialist
Alliance". We participated this summer under this name at
the local elections. Some of our candidates became mayors
and local counselors. Now we are preparing for the national
elections in November.

However, our main goal is the ideological and
organizational strength.

We are interested to construct a national and international
system of alliances to represent as much social categories
as possible. Any who opposes the actual capitalist system
can be our ally. We are for a deep change of the actual
system.

We know that the socialists must be anywhere where the
masses are oppressed and suffer and fight. To be efficient
we must never forget to strengthen the party. No matter of
the tactical solutions, we must think: first the Party!

The social movements in Romania and in the World must find
us in! But these movements cannot replace the Party. They
cannot replace a party of the working class, no matter how
spectacular they are. Because in the absence of such a
party they will not last. They will be defeated. They can
be even used by the imperialist lackeys against us.

That's why we need a well organized party: to armonize the
revolutionary forces, to deny the reactionaries the
possibility to use the popular movements as devices to
lower the class pressure.

It becomes crucial to coordinate these movements on an
international basis. We must find solutions that our
parties cooperate on a permanent basis.

The initiatives of cooperation in the framework of a
greater structure maybe valuable, but they are surely not
enough to defined and carry out deep social changes. To
ensure them one needs clarity and resoluteness.

That's why we consider this reunion only as a necessary
step in our cooperation and we express our gratitude for
the organizers, the Communist Party of Greece.

We are ready to take part in the difficult task of finding
solutions both theoretical and practical to the victory
of socialism, to the build of a better world.

Simion Silviu Somicu Vice-President of National Committee
of Socialist Alliance Party of Romania