France, Alternative Libertaire AL (September) - international, Greece: Farewell to reformist illusions

France, Alternative Libertaire AL (September) -
international, Greece: Farewell to reformist illusions (fr, it,
pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)

The events of the summer have left the Greek people in a catastrophic situation, but they 
will have at least had the merit of stopping the old electoral or referendum moons. And 
put libertarians on the front of the stage. Analysis of a member of the 
anarcho-syndicalist Initiative Rocinante. ---- On 25 January, the election of Syriza in 
Greece has shaken Europe. For the first time in the contemporary history of the continent, 
a party of the radical left called out victorious at the polls and had the right to form a 
government. ---- The same evening, at the university headquarters, symbols of resistance 
against the odious government Antonis Samaras were present at the party: dismissed the 
maids by the Ministry of Finance, workers ERT - TV deleted public - of présent.es 
immigré.es antirasciste in the struggle of young activists, the unemployed, workers who 
had suffered severe repression during the period 2009-2015.

Even we, the most suspicious libertarians could not imagine such a turnaround seven months 
later.

Before the Prime Minister Tsipras resigns, August 21, due to the refusal of the leftist 
Syriza to follow her around and the loss of the majority in Parliament, the government's 
record could have made ​​the jealous right: extension of the austerity program ended Feb. 
20, and validation of a third memorandum provides against the right-reforms had never 
dared to vote:

total liberation of the right to dismiss for employers,
restricting the right to strike,
input for housing due to banks,
new pension cuts,
increase up to 100% of the VAT on basic food products ...
Meanwhile, the government has indeed shown its determination on all fronts: July 15th, the 
demonstration against the third memorandum (approved by Parliament with the votes of the 
right, while Syriza has seen one fifth of his group - 31 of 149 - vote against the 
agreement) concluded with the repression of demonstrators.

The motorcycle policemen stormed the procession of the anarcho-syndicalist Initiative 
Rocinante and arrested several protesters.

Rocinante in the street July 15 to denounce the treason of the referendum by Syriza.
A month later, the police cracked down refugié.es of the island of Kos, the water cannon. 
Speaking of social movements, the Minister of Public Order, Yannis Panoussis, said to be 
"determined to crush the illegality."

Double scam

This policy is based on a double recess political swindle: the betrayal from the beginning 
of his term, said the program Salonika, where Syriza had been elected; and of course the 
betrayal of not overwhelming (61.2%) to July 5 referendum.

This referendum was called by Tsipras in the hope of a mixed result that would give him 
the opportunity to make a political right turn without taking responsibility or the 
consequences. The Not widely prevailed in a very combative atmosphere - albeit marked by a 
plebeian consciousness rather than class consciousness. However, voters were mistaken 
about the real intentions of the government.

The betrayal of Tsipras knocked the left and a large majority of workers. Of the 300,000 
people who demonstrated for the Friday, July 3 No, only 15,000 returned to the streets on 
July 15 to protest against the ratification of the third memorandum. Of course, no 
question of strike, while the bureaucrats of GSEE (Greek central one, the kind CFDT) had 
campaigned for a Yes ...

It was then realized that the libertarian warnings were not a vain growl.

Too wise No campaign

The participation in the campaign for the No, even a triumph of No were in no way a 
guarantee. It is the organization of class struggle and who defend us, not the polls, 
including the referendum. And this was the great gap in the campaign for the No.

The reluctance of the anti-capitalist left to break with the GSEE and the underestimation 
of the trade union work at the base, have confined the No campaign to a politician 
dimension. No strikes or direct responses to blackmail employers, with the exception of a 
few isolated actions.

The fixed idea of the anti-capitalist left (at least some rightist tendencies of extreme 
left coalition Antarsya) to form a united front with the Non Syriza dissidents - who are 
repeating the illusions that their party has sown in From 2011 on changing the European 
Union and an "equitable" management of capitalism - will lead to the same impasse.

Libertarians peak

The anarcho-syndicalist Initiative Rocinante, the organization presents the most 
libertarian recent years benefited from a violent maturation period and received a real 
increase his strength and weight. It was not smooth: in the weeks following the 
referendum, Rocinante underwent the split of a group of purists.

This does not erase the progress Rocinante this summer. The organization was not only 
present in the streets in several cities in Greece, but also conducted a series of actions 
against the employers terrorism.

If our size is still far from allowing us to organize a strike, we presented a struggle 
and class claims program that did not leave indifferent a radical party of the working 
class. This gives hope for the creation of worker and trade union front that we need. 
Hopefully, with elections this month will collapse the last illusions that deviate us from 
that perspective.

Yannis Androulidakis (Rocinante)