Draft Political Resolution

 

The Draft Political Resolution points out that the global capitalist crisis which began in 2007-08 is continuing. This prolonged crisis indicates the unsustainability of finance capital-driven globalisation.  After spending billions of dollars to bail out the banks and financial institutions which were responsible for perpetuating the crisis, the governments in the United States and Europe have pursued austerity measures and cutbacks in public spending to shift the burden on to the people. The Eurozone countries are in the throes of a debt crisis with Greece at the epicenter.

 

The impact of the crisis has led to high rates of unemployment, growing inequalities and severe cutbacks in social welfare benefits.

 

The United States and its NATO allies have embarked on a number of aggressive interventions in order to prop up its hegemony in the face of the continuing economic crisis. The aggression on Libya, the threats of invasion in Syria and the ratcheting up of tensions with Iran are all part of this. The United States and Nato are unable to subdue the Taliban in Afghanistan and their Afpak strategy is in disarray.

 

The people in all the advanced capitalist countries have been protesting and conducting struggles against the austerity measures and the cuts in social welfare. The Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States, the big strike struggle by workers, students and youth in Europe are noteworthy.

 

The popular uprising in Tunisia and Egypt toppled the despotic governments there. The United States and the western powers have intervened to hijack and divert these uprisings. Israel continues with its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. But the Palestinian movement is more united today.

 

The struggles and movements of the people in Europe can bring about a substantial change only when a strong political alternative in the form of the Left forces is built up.

 

In Latin America, the Left has maintained its advance. A number of countries with Left governments have rejected the neo-liberal model and are implementing policies which are an alternative to neo-liberalism.

 

The Party expresses its solidarity with the democratic and progressive forces in South Asia and will strive to increase the cooperation between the Left, democratic and secular forces in the region.

 

The current capitalist crisis has ended talk of the triumph of capitalism. Increasingly it is becoming clear that the only alternative to the exploitative neo-liberal capitalism is socialism.

 

 

The UPA-II government has been pursuing the same neo-liberal policies that it adopted in the first term. The three-year period of the UPA government has been marked by:

 

 

(i)                           Relentless price rise of essential commodities

(ii)                        Massive high level corruption which began in the UPA-I term

(iii)                      Continuance of the pro-US foreign policy and strategic alliance with the U.S.

(iv)                      The working class, peasantry and other sections of the working people continue to suffer from intense exploitation and deprivation.

 

The UPA-II government has sought to push forward the neo-liberal agenda with the disinvestment of public sector enterprises; privatization of oil, gas and ,mining sectors; seeking to increase FDI in the financial sector and opening it up further; allowing the pharmaceutical sector to be dominated by the MNCs and seeking to open up retail trade to multinational companies.

 

The UPA government has refused to take the steps necessary to check price rise like ending futures trading in essential commodities; revising the taxation structure of petroleum products and introduction of a universal public distribution system.

 

The global economic slowdown and the neo-liberal policies pursued domestically have led to a slowdown of the economy. Employment growth has drastically reduced.

 

The agrarian crisis is resulting once again in suicides by farmers across the country. Inadequate public investment and cuts in subsidies have meant rising costs for agricultural inputs. With non-remunerative prices, farming is becoming unviable for many farmers.

 

The condition of agricultural workers has steadily deteriorated. Migration by the rural poor is increasing. The UPA government’s policy is for the takeover of Indian agriculture by foreign and domestic big corporates. This has to be fought back.

 

Land acquisition for SEZs, for corporates and mining has gong up on a large scale. This has led to protests against land acquisition in different parts of the country.

 

The two decades of liberalisation have benefited the big business and the urban elite and caused deprivation for the majority of the working people. The number of dollar billionaires have increased from 13 in 2003 to 55 in March 2011. On the other hand the exploitation of the workers has increased. And the share of profits in the net value added went up from 20 per cent in the 1980s to 60 per cent by 2008. The share of wages has fallen drastically. Contract and casual work has become the dominant form of employment.

 

The UPA government has become synonymous with high-level corruption. The resolution notes the series of high-level corruption scandals like the 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games, Adarsh housing, KG basin and the Antrix-Dewas contract for S band spectrum. The illicit financial flows abroad increased after deregulation and liberalisation. The government continues to drag its feet on unearthing black money and the funds illegally stashed abroad.

 

The resolution sets out the measures required to combat high-level corruption in various spheres. These include apart from the Lokpal, separate legislation for the judiciary, electoral reforms and scrapping those policies which facilitate corporate loot and foster corruption through the big business-ruling politician-bureaucrat nexus.

 

The Political Resolution condemns the growing nexus between big business and politics and the flow of big money into the electoral system. Parliamentary democracy is getting corroded by the use of money power. The restrictions on democratic rights are increasing. The Party will conduct a broad-based campaign against money power in politics and for major electoral reforms.

 

The resolution sets out the need to restructure Centre-state relations; the political solution to the problem in Jammu & Kashmir by provision of maximum autonomy and the need to end ethnic conflicts and extremism in the North-East region.

 

The resolution notes the BJP’s efforts to take up the Hindutva agenda after the defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections. The resolution deals with the continuing efforts to create communal tensions and stoke violence in different parts of the country. There have been continuing attacks on the minorities both Muslim and Christian in the BJP ruled states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

 

The role of certain Hindutva extremist elements in terrorist attacks have unfolded in the last three years. The terrorist activities of both Hindu and Muslim extremists have to be fought and countered. The resolution stresses the importance of combating the extremist communal ideology which spawns terrorist violence.

 

The Political resolution spells out the pernicious impact of the neo-liberal policies on the status and working conditions of women, the problems faced by the dalits, tribals and minorities. It sets out a platform of demands for social justice and ending the oppression of these sections.

 

The foreign policy pursued by the UPA government in the past eight years has been a pro-US foreign policy and a departure from the independent foreign policy. Its strategic alliance with the United States is having a direct bearing on the domestic policies and the lives of the people, whether it is FDI in retail or the free trade agreements which have an adverse effect on farmers and small producers. The CPI(M) will continue its struggle and campaign among the people for an independent foreign policy.

 

Noting the big change that has occurred since the 19^th Congress after the CPI(M) and the Left suffered electoral reverses, the resolution makes the independent role and the strengthening of the Party at the national level as the central focus. The resolution states: “In the current situation, when the Left has suffered serious electoral reverses, and when West Bengal, the strongest base of the Party is under attack, it is of the utmost importance to expand the influence and the base of the Party in other states.” In order to do this, the resolution sets out the priorities in the work of the Party.

 

The resolution gives the direction for the political-tactical line of the Party in the coming days as follows:

 

“The CPI(M) has to politically fight the Congress and the BJP. Both are parties which represent the big bourgeois landlord order which perpetuates class exploitation and is responsible for the social oppression of various sections of the people. They pursue neo-liberal policies and advocate a pro-US foreign policy. Defeating the Congress and the UPA government is imperative given the crushing burden of price rise, unemployment, suffering of the farmers and workers on the one hand and the brazen corruption and big sops to big business and the wealthy sections. Isolating the BJP and countering its communal and rightwing agenda is necessary and important for the advance of the Left, democratic and secular forces.

 

“As against the Congress and the BJP, the CPI(M) puts forth the Left and democratic alternative. Only a Left and democratic platform can be the alternative to bourgeois-landlord rule. This alternative needs to be built up through a process of movements and struggles and the emergence of a political alliance of the Left and democratic forces. In the course of these efforts, it may be necessary to rally those non-Congress, non-BJP forces which can play a role in defence of democracy, national sovereignty, secularism, federalism and defence of the people’s livelihood and rights. The emergence of such joint platforms should help the process of building the alliance of the Left and democratic forces.”

 

“In the present situation we should strive for joint actions with the non-Congress secular parties on issues so that the movements can be widened. On specific policy matters and people’s issues, there can be cooperation in parliament with these parties. As and when required, there can be electoral understandings with some of these parties.”

According the highest priority to strengthening the independent role of the Party, the resolution also stresses the necessity to strengthen Left unity. There are a number of Left minded groups and individuals outside the Left parties who should be brought together on issues which the Left advocates.

 

The resolution underlines the fact that the Left and democratic alternative is the only real alternative to the current bourgeois-landlord policies. In order to rally the different sections of the working people in support of the Left and democratic platform, the resolution sets out some of the major demands and policies of the Left and democratic platform.

 

The resolution exhorts the Party to lead to fight against the neo-liberal policies which are harming the interests of the working people. We have to conduct the struggles for land, food, employment and social justice. The CPI(M) has to counter the forces of communalism and divisiveness and defend secularism. We have to combat the imperialist pressures in all spheres. We will defend the Party and the Left against the attacks & violation of democratic rights in West Bengal.