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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