Conditions for the ideological-political and organizational strengthening of the party, the reinforcement of its protagonistic role in the formation of the popular front.

The main task of the Central Committee (CC)

34. The new CC must be more demanding of itself, it must lead and orient based on the Party's strategy, with quality, efficiency, capability. It must ensure that we will be relieved of all our subjective weaknesses, which can be found, nowadays, in the assimilation of the strategy, the Party's program and a uniform belief on how we should work, how we should promote our resolutions.

It must retain an open, elaborated with arguments and persuasiveness, ideological front against any kind of deviation, against any beliefs which can be harmful for the popular movement.

It must prove, with its action and orientation that the Party's policy is scientific. A properly elaborated and assimilated policy leads to the art and ability to guide all the party to fight for its policy in practice.

 The new CC must be seriously concerned with studying systematically and from every aspect the real depth and the extent of the contradictions in the capitalist system; the manoeuvres of the bourgeois class and the parties in power; the various management suggestions; the changes taking place at the international level and their influence on the region and on Greece. This way, it will better envision and perceive how to activate its forces in the effort to build the Anti-imperialistic Anti-monopolist Democratic Front (AADF).

 It must be ready to undertake immediate action and to react promptly; to take initiatives in moments of high importance, during events which can lead to political crises, to make the appropriate readjustments in cases where the conditions evolve gradually. It must be capable of using every possible form of struggle under all conditions.

 The ability for vigilance and prediction must be achieved to the greatest feasible extent while taking into account the fact that the conditions of class struggle, violence and state repression will become harsher. The intervention of imperialist mechanisms is becoming "legalized". We live in the era of "pre-emptive" strikes. Thus, the Party must cope with the new situation and most importantly must preserve, reinforce and deepen its relations with the working class, the workers.

The ability to respond immediately to an even more authoritarian decline, to a sudden and severe setback in democratic rights, should not be a concern only of communists.

With the Party's intervention and help, and with the contribution of forces that are sensitive to issues of democratic right, the popular movement must achieve the ability of response and counter-response.

 The new CC must provide sufficient help, in order for the intermediate guiding bodies to be able to shape their programs based on the general instructions. Every single body within the Party must assume its own responsibilities, having as a main goal the assistance and correct guidance of the Party Base Organization (PBO). During their meetings, the Party bodies must solve all issues related to their responsibilities, as well as promote and support action initiatives taken by other Party bodies and PBOs.

 It must focus on organizing communication and the dialogue, and on promoting the evaluation of its decisions at every level of the Party's hierarchy, and especially in the PBO, where such evaluation is minimal. It must check systematically to what extent the thoughts, opinions, suggestions and critical observations of Party members are being examined by the intermediate guiding bodies. These thoughts and opinions must reach the CC, for it to form a complete and objective judgment.

 The CC must focus on developing and maturing a new generation of guiding leaders, who will be ideologically shielded, stable and experienced in the class struggle and the movement. It must promote leaders that are hard-working and focus particularly on the promotion of women from the working class. It must also promote the election of leaders from the Communist Youth (KNE). The members of KNE that become members of the CP need special help to better adjust to their new responsibilities and acquire valuable experience from the Party work, to be better utilized by the Party. The CC must also become capable of adequately guiding KNE, based on the Party's strategy and the role of the youth movement in the formation and structure of the Popular Front.

It is necessary to promote the type of a guiding cadre that has multi-dimensional experiences and the ability to combine organizational, ideological and political skills; to combine his/her participation in the internal Party work with his/her active role in the movement. The CC must uphold members who acquire personal knowledge of the problems related to the class struggle and to the political action with the masses; who actively participate in mass political propaganda, irrespectively of the specific narrower duties assigned to them; who have contact with the popular masses of their environment, who are able to make the Party's politics comprehensible to the masses; who participate with their opinion and writings in the Party's printed documents, in order to contribute to the generalization and the systematization of the Party's collective experience.

Having cadres with multi-dimensional abilities does not annul the need for specialization in particular work sectors. Specialization will be successful and effective to the extent that it is based on a more general consideration of the issues, on a more general experience.

That is to say, cadres with stability and insistence on realizing the decisions taken, with ability to detect and correct any mistakes and deficiencies, with the ability to predict are needed. Cadres free of self-sufficiency, stagnancy and favouritism, cadres that advance and endorse new party leaders.

We seek the development of cadres with combined capabilities, who know how to utilize the experience and knowledge of other members, even of friends, sympathizers and collaborators. No cadre, no matter how capable he or she might be, can contribute to the progress of the party work, unless he or she is open to other members' opinions and suggestions, to the experience that emerges from life, the movement and the world-wide developments.

Nowadays, under the existing conditions, this goal cannot be achieved within a fixed time limit, like the four years time between the Party's conventions. It is an ambitious goal, which cannot be considered unfeasible for the future.

What will assure the formation of Party cadres that possess the above credentials is the establishment of an appropriate procedure for their designation, and the observance of the existing criteria. Such a procedure requires appropriate preparation, and frequent efficiency checks that take into account the criterion of how the cadre promotes the general policy of the Party and how he or she adjusts it to specific cases. A collective spirit in the guiding responsibilities, in the elaboration and review of the decisions taken, so that the cadres complement each other's work, combine their efforts and perform their duties with dedication to the final goal is also part of this procedure.

Cadres with communist characteristics, devoid of self-complacency, collective in their work, cadres which can overcome their personal weaknesses and deficiencies, which assist the Party's organizations in planning and specifying the Party's strategy within their field of action are needed.

They must abstain from shifting responsibilities to Party members lower in the Party hierarchy. When they come across insufficiencies of the PBOs they should ponder about their respective responsibilities.

They must not ignore the objective difficulties. They must be able to perceive their own subjective mistakes and weaknesses when they estimate their work efficiency, and to explain which efforts they made under given conditions.

All the above will result in the regeneration of the Party's guiding bodies with new members, and the secure continuity of the Party's leadership.

On the duty to develop the theory, to generalize the experience of the party. Raising the ideological-political level of the party. Intervening and contributing to the current fronts of ideological confrontation and to the development of the theory.

35. The party, as a consolidation of revolutionary theory with revolutionary action, must keep confirming that it combines development of the theory and formation of its policy and must base its struggles and the mentoring of broad popular forces, the working movement and its allies on the theory.

 It is taking action in order to promote aggressively the necessity to struggle for socialism and defend the vision of a communist society.

Efforts are continuing to draw comprehensive conclusions about the causes of the overturning of the socialist regimes. More systematic studies are in progress, in a common research project with Marxist scientists and other communist parties that show interest and with Marxist institutes of other countries. Material is published with opinions, so that the party members and everyone who is interested can be familiarized with current positions and inquiries, independently of their approval as a whole from the Party. Moreover, archival material related to the building of socialism during the 20th century is being published.

The Party's actions are meant to make it more competent in the struggle for socialism; to restore the morale of the communists and friends of socialism. To create the appropriate political environment in which new forces will approach the issue of popular rule and economy, of the necessity for communization of the basic and accumulated means of production, to form the popular cooperation; to approach the issue of the struggle for a Europe united in a different way, a Europe of peace, civil rights, socialism.

The new CC should study the form and the most convenient way for this effort to evolve.

•  The broad dissemination and popularization of the role and the historical mission of the working class in the socialist cause is to be more systematic and permanent. The same applies to the importance of the class-conscious direction of the workers movement, the alliance policy of the working class and its internationalist role.
•  The second volume of the history of the Party is in the process of being published. Internal Party discussions are being held concerning its content, as well as a battle for the truth, against falsification and libel. With a sense of responsibility, conclusions have to be drawn based also on after-the-fact experience. The first phase of this action will conclude in 2008, coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the party.

Re-organization of the sector of internal education

With the responsibility of the CC and the scaling of the responsibility through the guiding bodies up to the Bureau of the PBO, measures should be taken for radical re-organization of the sector of ideological-theoretical work and education in a more organized and systematic way.

All the cadres, old and new, should attend on a scheduled and periodical basis, depending on the needs and respective developments, a network of ideological and political educational programs that should be expanded with controlled personal studying.

The theoretical-ideological education and training of the cadres and members of the party has to combine in harmony the knowledge of theory enriched with the knowledge of current developments and the current needs of the ideological struggle. It has to be based on methods of teaching and discussion that are as developed and elaborated as possible, with the active participation of the learners.

The activity of the Center for Marxist Research (KME) and generally the publishing activity of the party should be decisively strengthened with political and theoretical publications.

The Central Party School of the CC and the School of KNE and the Seminar Circles should also be reinforced.

Studying in the Party School is a duty to the Party. Therefore temporary exemption from every-day work is required to ensure attendance. Planned, staged classes should be organized at each level down to the PBO.

The Party's efforts towards achieving a Marxist training of its members and cadres that have higher education but have received education and teaching based on bourgeois concepts is necessary, in general and on the specific subject of their studies. These members and cadres of the Party should be utilized in the Party's scientific research activities.

Scientific research work has to acquire a collective character as much as possible. Cadres, members with specialized scientific knowledge, but also friends, sympathizers and collaborators have to be mobilized.

The emergence of communist Marxist scientists will increase the potential of the party for communication and common action with the scientists that want their knowledge to be used for the needs and rights of the workers. The special work with the Party members who are scientists should not be separate from general ideological training; it should be undertaken together with workers and other cadres. But it has to take on more specialized forms, based on the interests of the comrades.

The sector of scientific research and theoretical work should be systematically organized with the responsibility of the CC, based on its sections. Research should focus on current issues, where there are delays, but also on issues relevant to the progress of the struggle for power, to socialism, communism.

The Party-owned media, for example the "Communist Review", should play an important role on this issue with specialized articles, broadcasts, hosting of discussions.

Especially the new CC should view the KME in a more long term perspective, based on the resolutions of the Convention, and deal with the immediate planning and its support.

As the research center of the KKE, it should acquire the potential to carry out general or more specialized research projects, based on the Party's planning; it will thus help the Party bring forth detailed targets and demands. The fundamental sources for KME recruitment of party members/scientists capable of research, are the sections of the CC, the PBOs, KNE, especially utilizing post-graduate students. The sections of the CC that supervise subjects of study and the formation of the Party's scientific manpower have the responsibility to recruit such leaders to the KME. With the appropriate infrastructure, KME can soar; it can develop international collaborations on research topics and produce general contributions in ideological matters.

KME has to evolve into a more open, massive Marxist scientific institution, which spreads and propagates the philosophical, economical, sociological Marxist theory. It should render itself capable of carrying out ideological struggle in the frame of the general contribution of the party, especially in scientific sites and institutions. It can, next to the Party, serve as a pole that will help students, educators, scientists that are not members of the Party to absorb the communist ideology in conjunction to scientific knowledge.

Propaganda

36. The new CC must focus its attention on organizing the section of mass enlightenment-propaganda. It must acquire the ability of more effective programming and use modern ways of communication, taking advantage of new technologies that contribute to dialog and discussion; taking in parallel into account existing inadequacies and new demands.

The section of mass enlightenment improved significantly after the 16th Convention. It has matured both in content and on the aesthetic side. These improvements are not of the same level for all the means and possibilities of communication that the Party owns.

"Rizospastis" strengthened its role in the ideological-political fortification and development. It played a positive role in the ideological struggle, in periods of important conflicts. The same is true for the "Communist Review", which improved its role in the discussions about socialism, and in issues concerning the Party's history.

The problem that remains unsolved to date and has to be handled with more firmness: "Rizospastis" must become an indispensable tool for the guidance process, a weapon in the struggle of the working class and the rest of the popular front. In order to deal with this problem, the new CC has to show determination in trying to raise the theoretical and political level of the party cadres and members; this will result in an improvement of the political and massive action.

The other Party instruments, such as the Party publications and the editions of KME, must also be utilized in a proper way. This is a basic condition for increasing the circulation of "Rizospastis" and of the other Party publications.

The Party radio station "902" as well as the TV station improved, but they cannot yet meet the existing needs and potential. The basic cause for this problem remains the lack of financial means. However, a greater improvement could have taken place if the CC and its auxiliary sections had provided greater support.

The new CC has to back the effort of the Party radio and TV stations by supporting their programs in a more essential way; it should examine the financial problem keeping in mind existing possibilities.

The mass propaganda and the ideological-political discussion improved. However, no essential progress was made in the direction of studying and broadcasting experiences from Party-building, analysis of guidance issues, more general issues arising from the growing of the Party. Special emphasis should be given in publicizing such issues first by "Rizospastis" and the "Communist Review".

On the basis of the positive experience that has been accumulated, the divisions of the CC that deal with mass enlightenment and propaganda should be broadened. All existing forces must be utilized. The Party should work out a special plan for bringing forth cadres able to make high-quality propaganda, content-wise and aesthetically.

On the Party's activity and initiatives for the rallying and cooperation of forces for the building of the AADF.

37. The CC must focus its attention and occupy itself more systematically with supporting and expanding forms of coalition and cooperation: in the worker-employees movement, in peasantry, in the antiwar movement, in the struggle for civil liberties, local collaborations and in the movement against imperialist war. With the development of cooperation between the different coalitions, a more general axis of common action will be formed.

 Throughout the ranks of the party, a systematic and relevant communication should be achieved with all the collaborators and radical forces with whom common action in important fronts is already in progress. The CC should study their proposals, opinions, judgments and criticism. Also at all levels of the party these forces should be represented in the various fronts of action with their energetic participation. Of course we take into account their contributions up to date and their wish to continue their efforts in the people's movement, in the policy of coalition and cooperation.

We should also more systematically approach the close relationship between friends and supporters of the party. They comprise together with the collaborators a valuable force for the AADF and more generally for the development of struggle, for the change of power in favour of KKE and its coalition forces.

 A central issue for the CC is to prepare and take initiatives which will lead to the common actions of the coalitions, converging on the development of the social collaboration of the working class with other folk strata.

 The time has come for looking into the possibilities of new coalitions, especially for a coalition which will develop activity and intervene against the choices of the EU and of NATO. It will play a role in international activities, on the basis of the dialectical relationship and interaction of domestic and international politics.

The new CC should examine this issue in collaboration with the PBOs and should establish contact with the collaborating forces. There is a need for a coalition in anti-imperialist, anti-monopoly direction which will put forward coordinated goals at the national and international levels. It will contribute to the struggle for a differently united Europe, against NATO and the commitments arising from Greek participation in it.

This coalition will improve the capacity of Greek contribution and participation to the international anti-imperialist movement and to the coordination of radical forces, so that a strong pole of resistance and counter-offensive forms.

 By making use of the knowledge, the opinions and the experience of our collaborators, the new CC should consider building a movement and coalition fronts which will counteract the "show business", which not only intervenes in the formation of social conscience but also literally consumes any free time left to the youth, the women, the working people. A strong front of struggle should be organized, which will oppose the forces which produce and provide, like merchandize, the cultural and athletic goods and determine how capital exploits free time.

The commercialization of Culture and Sports deteriorates the intellectual and cultural environment in the country. It creates reactionary models of behaviour and perception. It restricts and destroys the possibilities of artistic creation. It puts aside, neglects or assimilates artists and intellectuals.

The sports sector is subject to the interests of the business corporations. Because it has become professional, it is completely commercialized. It promotes the championship of the elites to the detriment of sports for the masses at schools and neighbourhoods. Amateur sports for the masses can offer a lot to physical and emotional health. They can be the best basis for the development of sound championship. Steroids, sponsorships of athletes with the only goal to become stars so that the businessmen investing in them can gain political impact, these are products of commercialization and of the commercialized competition.

In issues of cultural and athletic development and of free time we should develop a coherent ideological and political opposition to the forces of capital and the parties which support existing circumstances.

 Developments and events that awaken the masses can contribute to the formation of flexible coalitions that can respond to the current needs of the struggle and correspond to specific needs and possibilities. Care should always be taken that the smaller and bigger coalition groups formed should contribute their experience and expand the relations of the party with anything radical that is being born. A central, sturdy direction in our efforts should be the progression with any form of coalition around anti-monopoly and anti-imperialist goals.

 The new CC should also investigate the formation of a coalition in the field of local government.

Under the responsibility of the CC there should exist a program, a plan at the level of the country, of each productive sector, of each region, of each prefecture and each sector which should include: immediate actions with a look into the future for supporting the existing coalitions and taking steps to expand them and develop new ones.

On this basis, each PBO should work out its own plan of strengthening and supporting the coalitions based on all the problems in its domain of action but also with a more broad-spectrum, independently of the regional or divisional limits upon which the PBO is created.

To achieve these goals, the PBO should be assisted to integrate its work into the planning of its higher guiding body. Therefore, we should first solve the problem of guidance, so that the PBO can act in response and take initiatives with responsibility.

38. The auxiliary sectors of the CC should be supported with members willing to improve their ideological level, their ability to generalize but simultaneously focus on the partial and specific issues.

The auxiliary sectors of the CC must be composed so as to successfully accomplish their mission, which is a fundamental contribution to the elaboration of the Party positions, a generalization of the experience, provision of help towards Party cadres, further development of the ties between the Party and the progressive scientific community of Greece, and actions aiming to solve problems that these scientists and researchers face.

Members of the auxiliary sections must be armoured in the party work and mass action, they must have lived through the experience of struggle and demonstrated that they can avoid the risk of loosing touch with reality and issues of concern for the Party. Members participating in the auxiliary sections must be previously tested in the party action and must be distinguished for their scientific knowledge as well. They should be interested and specialized in sectors that the Party is contemplating to either further develop the research-study or to initiate it. They have to be hard-working members who can contribute their class experience and standards and evolve to members with outstanding political-ideological and scientific status; members who combine the virtues of the working class and the intelligentsia.

The cooperation between sections must function based on a plan, so as to produce combined and complete studies.

The auxiliary sections of the Party must acquire the appropriate infrastructure, which will allow them to conduct research on a scientific- professional basis.

The new CC must create the conditions that will promote cooperation among the different sections, on the basis of common concerns and issues. This inter-divisional cooperation should bring about a uniform data bank.

The goal of supporting the work of the Party and specifically the work of the CC, through an appropriate professional organization of infrastructure will not be realized within four years. It requires a long-term plan to create Marxist scientists.

Today the potential exists to initiate such an ambitious but necessary planning, because the auxiliary divisions of the Party have accumulated study-research work, as well as experience in instructing partisan action groups in different institutional entities and in professional scientific organizations.

The production of scientific theoretical work by the different sections of the Party must occur, as much as possible, on a collective basis. Ways have to be found that will allow members of the Party with knowledge or considerable experience in the respective issues to participate as much as possible.

The elaboration of the Party positions must be subject to discussions and examination within the Party Organizations, in order to be taken into account in the process of shaping their action programs, struggle goals and their efforts to recruit new forces.

The international activity of the Party in the communist movement, in anti-imperialist struggles.

39. The Party is intensifying its international activities in an effort to promote a more distinct form of cooperation with communist and workers' parties in order to shape communist pole. As long as this pole is not formed, the existing difficulties will persist. Mainly, the development of a broader rallying of anti-imperialist forces will be facing difficulties. Therefore, the struggle to rally militant communist forces - parties and the struggle against opportunism is linked with the activity of the Party in the International Communist Movement.

A discrete communist pole does not challenge the sovereignty of each party and the responsibility it has towards the working class and the popular movement in its own country. It will assume the form of coordinating joint action, based on the principle of equity.

The joint action of communists must find its expression within the ranks of the mass movements, of international mobilizations.

The development of a discrete communist pole, the joint action and cooperation of communist parties will boost the effort to build a strengthened international anti-imperialist movement which will be based on the movement of the working class, the movements that express other popular strata, the movements against war, the movements of the youth, of women, as well as every other form of mobilization that has a radical direction.

The forms of cooperation that have been developed up to now among communist and workers parties, such as international regional and multi-lateral meetings, can and must be continued. They must be enriched with discussion and exchange of views on theoretical issues, as well as with meetings that will result in concrete plans of action on joint issues.

No form of cooperation and coordination among broader forces on regional and international levels can replace or negate the role of a distinct pole of cooperation between communist parties.

It is proposed that the 17th Congress adopts a specific political resolution which will include positions, thoughts and propositions on how to confront the negative situation which exists in the International Communist Movement, as well as a concrete plan of action in the form of dialogue and.

The KKE will continue its efforts with the bilateral and multi-lateral meetings and with everything that it has accomplished until now with its work in the international movement. It will maintain and strengthen its cooperation with parties and movements with which it can agree on joint aims of struggle.

The Party's international activity should be evaluated, first of all, on the basis of its contribution in overcoming the negative situation in the International Communist Movement. As far as it depends on the KKE, it will target its main efforts in this direction, in parallel with a stronger presence in international mobilizations.

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(Translated by: Costas Alissandrakis, Laoura Petricola, Manolis Kisamitakis, Vasilia Papariga, Fanis Missirlis, Costas Pateras)