Banner of Amadora popular assembly-CRTSMs declined as real organs of workers' sill and at least neutranse une nuge peas ant and beur-bourscos avers is abso ute. ly indispensable before there can be any ugal.
In fighting to win over or neutralise the massive intermediate strata in Portugal the PRP had one element of a correct line - economic demands on agriculture. A second decisive element. councils it had only in an extraordinarily distorted form which had no chance of success Unfortunate Unfortunately, however, a correct line even on these two things would not by itself have been at all sufficient to deal with the tasks to be accomplished. The mass mobilisations against the forces of revolution during the summer - and it was wese anu not une manoeuves or ne army which were the real clement in SLCHEUICHIRE TOUrECOs Dower In TOrt (Ibid). ugal were carried out not for or against workers councils or economic demands, but under cover of "defending democracy'.
The reasons for this are obvious. Forty years of fascist rule does not decrease illusions in bourgeois democracy but on the contrary vastly increases mem. Any one in Portugal who convinces the masses that they intend to install a dictatorship over them will never make a revolu- particularly under conditions where both the international nature of Stalinism and its practice in the trade unions and towns of the north convince people that one self proclaimed supporter of socialism, the CP, doesn't care about even bourgeois, let alone proletarian, demOf course, during the summer large out mal many or mese demonstrations -were notabout delending democracy at all, but were about attacking the development of working class power - which is Worker. why the SP's demonstrations in Lisbon shrank dramatically. But for a vital perIod in the summer even large numbers of workers were confused on this question, and even today very harue lavers orine petit-bourgcoisic, peasants, workers in small enterprises, cre. continuc to support the SP and can be still mobilised under the banner of defending democracy. No mere programme of economic demand:
Dual task Under these circumstances revolution aries were and are faced with a very difficult dual task. First, they have to advance centrally a line for building soviet type organisations - organs of workers' as opposed to bourgeois democracy. Secondly, they have to understand the very uceo musions when arcady exis The link between the two tasks is of course showing both that only councils can meet ine sociai needs of the masses and that these councils create a greater democracy of the masses than any bourgeois system. Without combining these tasks no revolution can be made in Portnow co ine rKr deal with this crucia task in winning over the masses? In its usual ultra-left fashion, This line began to take concrete form with the election, which the PRP boycotted, declaring that those who play the electoral game ard objectively turning themselves also into counter volunonanes wannesto o the PRP, 10 March 1975).
the mason for unis was apparent that: The attitude adopted by these organ isations (which cram to be anti-retormust and anti-revisionist, and thus anti-clectoralist) in participating in these "clections" can only be understood if we realise that many of them completely lack any concrete analysis of the situation in Portugal. Because of this, and by pretending to have scientific analyses, they also support the strengthening of bourgeois democracy"
Highest
Unfortunately, as was only to be expected, the masses paid no attention to this. Ninety two per cent of the clector ate participated in the Constituent Assembly poll - probably the highest poll ever recorded in Europe. From this anyone with sense would have concluded that no matter what the state of the revolution aries, even the mass of the workers had acnnely not broken with bourgeons electoralist illusions.
Instead of correcting its error, however the PRP deepened it. If bourgeois electoralism couldn't be got rid of by -corrmcms men pernaos is resus could be got rid of by decree. The PRP decidca to demand tne dissolution of the con Sultucnt Assembly - a line which wa: trumpeted all over the pages of Socialist Nothing more likely to cut off the revolutionanes trom te masses anc throw large sections of the workers and the entire population of the north into the hands of reaction could be imagined. It was a classic case of attempting to rape the masses having failed to convinc them. It was a line for starting a civil war with an absolute guarantee of losing ll To take up comrade Harman's criti cism: the problem with the PRP isn't that its paper doesn't come out rea larly enough - the problem is what's in It when it does come out In next week's final article we will acal win ine rke, the communist Party. and the lefts of the Armed Forces Movement.
This month the LCI (Portuguese sympathising organisation of the Fourth International) holds its con gress. Red Weekly will be carrying a full report together with extracts from the most important documents adopted. Don't miss an issue.
Red Weekly 8 January 1976 Angola 9