Contribution
of the Iraqi Communist Party
International Meeting of
Communist and Workers Parties
Lisbon – Portugal (8-10
November 2013)
Delivered by Comrade
Salam Ali (Member of the Central Committee, Responsible for International
Relations)
Dear Comrades,
I convey to you the wholehearted greetings of Iraqi
Communists, and their best wishes for the success of the 15th
International Meeting of Communist Worker Parties, so as to contribute to
developing the role of our movement in building a global front against
neo-liberal globalisation and imperialism, for peace, democracy, social
progress and socialism.
We express our
thanks to the fraternal Portuguese Communist Party for hosting this
International Meeting, which will also provide an opportunity for strengthening
the relations between Communist and Workers’ parties, exchanging views and
analyses, determining the tasks facing our movement, and developing initiatives
for joint action.
We are also honoured to attend the
celebration of the centenary anniversary of Comrade Alvaro Cunhal, the
outstanding Portuguese and internationalist communist leader.
We also seize this opportunity to express, from this
international forum, our gratitude for the international solidarity extended to
our Iraqi people, democratic forces and Communist Party in the ongoing struggle
against sectarian politics and anti-democratic policies, to defeat terrorism,
reactionary forces and external interference undermining national unity, and to
build an independent and unified democratic and federal Iraq.
Dear
Comrades,
No country in the Middle East has been immune to the impact of the storms
of change that have swept the region since early 2011. The broad movement for
change has demonstrated once again that the big, radical and fundamental events
and transformations are made by peoples with their own free will, when they
become aware of their interests. People were, and shall remain, the makers of
history.
The popular uprisings in the region, as demonstrated more recently by the
heroic uprising of the Egyptian and Sudanese people, are not “an external
conspiracy”. They are dictated by the desire and the will of peoples to put an
end to their multi-faceted suffering and tragedies, and to regain control over
their enormous natural resources which are plundered by despotic regimes,
representing parasitic and bureaucratic strata that are in alliance with
capitalist monopolies. These mass uprisings express the legitimate aspirations
for a dignified free life, democracy and social justice. The internal factor is
therefore decisive.
But there is no doubt also that the popular mass action and uprisings were
not in isolation from the crises caused by the policies of economic
"openness" and neo-liberalism, and the running of the economy
according to the recipes of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank,
which have produced the phenomena of polarization of wealth, the
marginalization of millions of people, the spread of unemployment and
deteriorating living conditions.
The mass popular uprisings and movements in the region have undoubtedly
achieved successes and have overthrown regimes that had seemed well entrenched.
It is now certain that the situation will not return to what it was before
January 2011. But there is still a long path ahead for the popular masses that
have risen up. It is a difficult path, full of confrontation between those
(such as some religious political forces) who want to usurp, parasitically, the
fruits of the people’s struggle, and those who want to lead the mass popular
movement to its victorious end, and achieve the alternative desired by the
people: democratic civil regimes in which the people enjoy social
justice. This is clearly borne out by the recent uprising (on 30th
June) of the Egyptian people against the rule of the reactionary Muslim
Brotherhood.
As pointed out in discussions and joint positions adopted by fraternal
parties in the Middle East during the past two years, utmost vigilance is
required towards the schemes of imperialist, Zionist and reactionary quarters
which aim to sabotage the revolutionary upsurge of Arab peoples. It is of
utmost importance to reject and resist all the efforts by US imperialism and
its allies, through NATO or other means, to ignite wars and military
interventions in order to achieve their objectives to dominate the region and
subjugate its peoples.
In this context, we draw attention in particular to the developments of the
Syrian crisis and its serious repercussions on the whole region, including
Iraq. The issue is no longer confined to the just rights and aspirations of the
Syrian people for political reform, freedom, democracy and social justice. Blatant
external, regional and international, interference has turned the crisis into a
grave danger, with thousands of terrorists (so called Jihadists!) and militias
flooding into the country. As a result, the Middle East is facing the danger of
sliding along the path of sectarian wars and other options against the
fundamental interests of peoples and toilers.
The forces of the Left in the Middle East are therefore facing the
challenge of the need to increase their influence over the process of building
the societal and political alliances that are essential to tilt the balance of
forces in favor of national democratic plans.
As well as combating the plague of sectarianism, the main
tasks of the Left movement include struggle for the closely interconnected
aspects of democracy: political democracy and social democracy. Achieving democracy
and building a civil democratic state, with institutions based on the
principles of citizenship, is the guarantee for averting sectarian divisions.
In this respect, defending human rights, especially women’s rights, and
fundamental democratic and trade union rights, is of great importance for the
Left, as they are part and parcel of the big national issues.
Dear Comrades,
As part of exchanging experiences and developing the potential for greater
joint action, internationally, among Communist and Workers’ parties, we draw
attention to the initiative taken by the 4th Arab Left Meeting, held
in Beirut last June, to develop coordination between participant Left forces. Particular
attention was given to developing the role of trade unionist, youth and women frameworks
as a first step towards mobilizing all those suffering under the oppressive
rule of dependent regimes and the economic and social policies of Arab reactionary
rulers.
In line with this initiative, the Iraqi Communist Party,
along with the Kurdistan Communist Party – Iraq, has recently hosted the first “Trade
Unionist Seminar of the Left in Arab Countries”. It was held in the city of
Erbil during the period 24-26 October, and was attended by representatives of
Communist parties and Left organizations from: Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt,
Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, as well as Iraq.
Dear Comrades,
In this brief report, let me say few words about the situation in Iraq and
the efforts of Iraqi Communists and democrats, who are continuing their
relentless struggle under the most difficult and complex conditions. They are
also facing the enormous legacy of US occupation, as well as the legacy of
decades of fascist dictatorship, leaving behind a fractured society.
The ending of the American military presence in our country, almost two
years ago, was a victory for the will of the Iraqi people. It was an important
step along the path of regaining full independence and national sovereignty. It
came about as a result of a unified popular stance and national consensus. Our
Communist Party had rejected all attempts to maintain foreign military presence
on Iraqi territory, under any pretext or title. We also believe that one of the
prerequisites for full sovereignty is to end Iraq’s subjugation to Chapter 7 of
the UN Charter, and to stand firmly against the covetous designs of some of the
neighboring countries that are exploiting Iraq’s difficult situation and
chaos.
Iraq has been engulfed in a deep political crisis that has continued since
the parliamentary elections in March 2010. Its roots lie in the
sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system that has existed since 2003. The crisis
has opened up the door for increased interference by external forces,
especially the US and regional forces. It has also exposed the agenda of the
ruling political forces and their fighting to maintain positions in political
power and privileges, while the people’s suffering and anger intensify as a
result of the rampant unemployment, corruption, poor public services, health
and education, in addition to the deteriorating security situation.
It is important here to highlight
briefly the socio-economic nature of the present regime. Iraq has a rentier
economy that is heavily dependent on oil revenues, with marginalized productive
sectors, and is highly consumerist, relying heavily on imports. As a result,
there has been a growth of comprador and parasitic strata accumulating enormous
wealth from public money grabbed through corruption, big contracts with the
state, in collusion with influential officials, as well as speculation,
smuggling of funds and other parasitic activities. There is a tendency, which
is becoming increasingly obvious, of the tangling of interests between
influential political forces in power and the growing parasitic and comprador
strata. These forces as whole, with support from international institutions
such as the IMF, World Bank, organisations of the UN and others, stand for
transforming the Iraqi economy to a total market economy and breaking up what
is left of the public sector through privatization and other measures that are
inspired by the ideological arsenal of neo-liberalism. The Iraqi Communist Party
firmly stands against these policies, puts forward its alternatives and works
to develop alignments bringing together those have an interest in resisting
this neo-liberal orientation.
Our party has
been actively involved in organizing and supporting mass popular protest
movements that have called for radical reform and were characterized by active
participation of youth. These movements exposed the anti-democratic policies of
the rulers and the bankruptcy of the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system. They
also demanded firm measures against the scourge corruption. Our party strongly
condemned government interference in the affairs of workers’ unions,
professional associations and civil society organisations. Thousands of workers
participated in free trade union elections in late 2012, despite the
provocations and threats by influential ruling groups that attempted to falsify
the will of workers and impose their hegemony over the unions. These elections
were culminated by holding a national conference of the General Federation of
Iraqi Workers.
The Party has also warned in recent days against the danger of the country
sliding once again into sectarian strife, and has called for urgent action by
the democratic forces, and for popular initiatives, to safeguard Iraq’s
national unity.
Iraq has witnessed a new episode of the political crisis, posing a grave
danger that threatens civil peace and Iraq’s national fabric. Our Party has
called upon the government to respond, in a speedy and serious manner, to the
just and legitimate demands of the people, and warned against resorting to
violence against peaceful demonstrations. The infighting among ruling groups,
over power and privileges, has provided a fertile ground for extremist Islamist
and shadowy groups to intensify acts of terrorism, carrying out heinous
atrocities, with the aim of pushing Iraq into sectarian strife and civil war.
More than 7000 people have been killed so far this year, by waves of car and
suicide bombings. The victims are mainly innocent civilians, including workers
and the unemployed in poor districts. These barbaric crimes and the
perpetrators must be unequivocally condemned by all progressive forces, with
effective support and solidarity extended to the Iraqi people.
Dear Comrades,
Our party, which represents the main
force of the Left in Iraq, has exerted relentless efforts to achieve unity in
action of the democratic forces. It has played a leading role in setting up a
broad coalition called the “Democratic Current”, which was launched in Baghdad
in October 2011. The party is striving to transform it into an effective
principal force in the ongoing intensified struggle over the future of Iraq.
This vision requires greater efforts to involve the trade union movement and
democratic organizations, especially those of women, youth, students and other
civil society organizations, in mass struggles to defend human and democratic
rights of workers and people.
The party, along with the Democratic
Current, was actively involved earlier this year in setting up broad democratic
civil electoral coalitions in Baghdad and other provinces which contested the
provincial elections in April 2013. These coalitions achieved a modest but
politically significant success that provides a good basis for developing a
broad democratic civil coalition to contest the forthcoming parliamentary
elections in April 2014.
We believe that overcoming the crisis of the sectarian-ethnic
power-sharing system in Iraq can only be achieved by changing the political
balance of forces in society, in favour of the supporters of a national
democratic plan that calls for establishing a democratic civil state on the
basis of the principle of citizenship, freedoms and social justice.
Dear
Comrades,
While wishing
this International Meeting every success in its deliberations, our party
reaffirms its determination to continue its efforts to strengthen
internationalist ties and relations with fraternal parties, and with all peace
loving, progressive and democratic movements in the world, in the joint struggle for
freedom, democracy, social progress, and socialism.
Long live International Solidarity!
