The CPGB-ML has sent congratulations to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on its performance in the parliamentary elections held in Greece on 16 September. The KKE secured 8.15 percent of the vote (583,768 votes), compared with 5.89 percent in 2004, increasing its vote by 147,057 and its number of MPs from 12 to 22.
The conservative New Democracy party was returned to power, but its performance was 3.52 percent down on that in 2004. PASOK, the social democratic main opposition party, was also down, by 2.12 percent, its worst result since 1997.
A coalition called SYRIZA, composed of opportunist Synapsimos and small Trotskyite groups, increased its vote to 5.04 percent, up from 3.26 percent in 2004.
The extreme right party, LAOS also increased its vote from 2.19 percent to 3.80 percent, which was enough for it to gain entry to parliament with 10 seats (LAOS was already represented in the European Parliament).
It is significant that the KKE states that it achieved “particularly high voting results in the big urban centres, among workers and young people, especially among workers in the private sector, unemployed, self-employed and small farmers”. The party received 14.56 percent, 12.11 percent and 10.31 percent of the vote in working-class areas of Pireaus, Athens and Thessalonika respectively, 10 percent of the vote of young people voting for the first time and 11 percent of the vote of private sector salaried workers.
In its initial assessment of the results, the Central Committee (CC) of the KKE stated: “The electoral result, which was expressed with the increased votes and percentage (8.2%), in combination with the losses sustained by both ‘New Democracy’ as the party in government and PASOK as the main opposition, corresponds to a certain degree to the political aim of weakening these two parties and empowering KKE. It is a contribution to the important cause of strengthening the working class and popular movement in Europe, to the cues of countering the centre-left and centre-right scenarios.”
The KKE CC went on to emphasise that its opposition to the two main parties was qualitatively different to that of other groups that had achieved some percentage increase. It stated: “The Communist Party of Greece criticised ‘New Democracy’ and PASOK for their overall strategy and not for partial aspects of their policies or for issues relating to methods of practising governmental power.” It emphasised that they were “parties serving the power of the bourgeoisie”.
It underlined the importance of countering “reformist and opportunist illusions, which inhibit radicalisation and entrap popular masses in schemes that are dangerous for the present and the future of the popular movement. It is only on this ground that we can counter nationalist, chauvinistic tendencies, as well as perceptions against foreign immigrant workers in our country.”
The KKE CC further stated: “As long as large segments of the working class and the other popular strata have difficulty seeing that there exists an alternative solution at the level of state power, they will be facing the danger of assimilation. They will be influenced by forces that cultivate the perception that it is possible to solve the increased popular problems without following policies of confrontation and rupture with the interests of monopolies and with the policies of imperialism.”
We wish the KKE further successes, and are very encouraged that its good election results will strengthen its ability to give leadership in the anti-reformist, anti-imperialist struggle for socialism.
