Press conference of Aleka Papariga

On Monday September 8th 2009, the General Secretary of the CC of KKE gave a press conference on the battle of the early parliamentary elections that will take place on October 4th.

During the Press Conference Aleka Papariga stressed the following:

“We appeal to:

• all workers, especially to those who took part in the struggles of the previous period
• to the employees, the poor peasantry, the self-employed, the youth, the women of the popular strata, the people of Art and culture
• to all those who, under the influence of the fabricated current of abstention, did not vote for KKE although they intended to do so.
• to radicals, to left who, no matter if they do not agree totally with our positions, are revolted by the policy of the “EU one-way road” and the decay of the bourgeois political system.
• to the popular strata that voted for PASOK all these years (social-democrats) and see that the leadership of this party has betrayed not only their dreams but also the anti-imperialist, anti-monopoly slogans that it used to have in the past.
• to the working people who believed in the government of ND and see that they have been deceived.

Amongst others, people will be confronted with four big lies-deceits:

First: there are two policies, two viewpoints that come into conflict in this electoral battle; the one is expressed by ND and the other by PASOK. This is a big lie.

Second: It is not possible to follow the strategy of the EU, the strategy of monopolies, of plutocracy and a policy in favour of the people at the same time. Neither it’s possible to follow this strategy and benefit both the monopolies and the people nor the people and the plutocracy to loose equally and make the same sacrifices.

Third: the measures required now, in view or in the framework of the crisis, in order to deal with the deficit and the goals of the EU will last two years like the two year extension of the deadline granted by Almunia. It’s a lie. These measures were implemented even when the development rate of the economy was over the average rate of the EU as well as now during the crisis.

Fourth: the whole problem in Greece consists in the empty coffers. ND blames PASOK, PASOK blames ND. National coffers have been emptied due to the policy that favours the accumulation of capital and the unimpeded profit making. This policy has drained the coffers.

After all, no matter if the coffers are empty or not, the biggest part of the state’s income goes to plutocracy, for the formation of the conditions for unimpeded profit making. So, the point is not to fill the coffers but who is going to pay for this and who is going to benefit from this.

LAOS (nationalists) and Ecologists Greens made it clear. They say: “we want parliamentary power so as to take part in a coalition government; we will discuss with the parties and if we reach an agreement…”. Let’s get serious. Will ND and PASOK change after the elections? The answer is no. They cannot change. They were formed to serve the plutocracy.

SYRIZA- SYNASPISMOS is a totally unreliable political force. We see that the ongoing conflicts within this party and are not due to personal disputes. They portray the impasse of a party that wants to present itself as a left political force but in practice offers through its allegedly left positions an important help to the restoration and the modernisation of the bourgeois political system.

The unity of the left forces –its so-called trump card - proved to be its weakest point. Now it has collapsed. So what choices do the left, radical, progressive people have, those who understand that PASOK and ND and their alternation in not only a damage but a danger in conditions of a crisis? The answer is KKE. Today we can form a strong people’s opposition, a strong movement, a strong current of counterattack, rupture and overthrow, by strengthening KKE and weakening PASOK and ND. Why KKE? Because we have a strategy for the interests of the working people and against the monopolies; because we are able to combine correctly the struggle for the daily problems so as to prevent the worse and proceed to counterattack. We have a proposal for a different power, for People’s Power. We have a reliable policy for cooperations that is the policy of the unified front of workers, peasants, students, self-employed, women, youth that belong to particular social layering.