The left in crisis
Sam White
Paris There are many reasons why the French left finds itself in a crippled state nine months after its near-victory in the March general elections, and one of the principal ones is ideological. It is extraordinary, but the fact is that for the first time in over fifty years the two major left wing parties, the Communist and the Socialist, find themselves without a coherent outlook and without any foreign models of inspiration. The communists have renounced the Soviet Union as a model and the socialists can no longer cite the handiwork of British or German or even Scandinavian social democracy as the kind of society they would like to create in France. The Yugoslav experiment in worker management is no longer deemed worthy even of study and China is beginning to fill even France's ardent and by no means negligible Maoists with despair. It is noticeable for example that the many skilled China analysts, who were of course apologists for the Chinese communist regime and who used to fill acres of space in the left wing weeklies, have been reduced to almost total silence during the past few weeks. As though all this were not enough worse was to follow: two countries on whose behalf the French left campaigned with a special passion — Vietnam and Cambodia — turned out to be the ugliest ducklings in a long convoy of ugly ducklings. What is happening in those two countries has hit the French left very hard indeed and to do the non-communist left credit, it is not dissimulating its anguish on this subject. Led by Jean Lacoutour, whose own role in fostering illusions about Hanoi is considerable, t,he French left-inclined press including Le Monde is now engaged in heavy breast-beating over the appalling tragedies that have overtaken these two countries. The result is one of those rare campaigns—'A Boat for Vietnam' —which can command the support of both Raymond Aron and Jean-Paul Sartre. It is aimed at doing something about rescuing the torrent of refugees now taking to the high seas in leaking tubs to escape from the horrors of life in 'liberated' South Vietnam. All this is happening two years after the entry of North Vietnamese troops into Saigon and therefore long after the tainted politicians, the generals associated with them, the police chiefs and the brothel keepers have either fled the country or been rounded up. Only the communists are still refusing to face up to the implications of these continuing massive and semi-suicidal attempts to escape from the hell of South Vietnam, and they are paying dearly in their public image for their stubbornness. In this they are behaving more than strangely for while ready to concede the horrors in Cambodia — a Chinese puppet — they are as obstinate about Vietnam (a Soviet one) as they were once obstinate in their support of Stalin.
Why should the French left, though, be so specially compromised by the discredit that has befallen socialist countries elsewhere? The answer probably lies in the traditionally international outlook of both the French Socialist and Communist parties, a tradition which was reinforced by the historic split between them in 1921 which led to the formation of the Communist party. It then became a war between the two Internationals, the second and the third, with France as the cockpit of the struggle. In this rivalry the communists had the enormous advantage of having the idealised version of the Soviet Union as an example of socialism in action while the socialists could only theorise about theirs. In any event it became an ideological battle over the soul of Karl Marx. Now that the pantheons of both parties are filled with smashed or damaged statuary the effect to say the least is a depressing one. With depression comes disillusion, and it is this disillusion which is now spreading through the ranks of both communists and socialists.
The communists, being disciplined, find their discipline is holding at the top but crumbling away at the base, whereas with the socialists it is largely exactly the opposite. The communists, for example, as far as their leadership is concerned is maintaining a solid front with no sign of fissures or any outward signs of dissent. Meanwhile at the party's base there has been a steady drifting away. Attendance at cell meetings, for example, is reported to have fallen away in an almost spectacular fashion-especially in the Paris area. Volunteer sellers of the Sunday edition of L'Humanite, who used to do most street corners of the capital to'en in the most inclement weather, are now rarely seen. Attendances at party rallies have dropped sharply. What is even more important is that, despite a highly favourable social climate, shop floor militancy has become almost non-existent. This reluctance to undertake strike action has now been reflected by the communist trade union federation, the COT, which at its Congress last week engaged in a massive bout of self-criticism. To general astonishment its communist leader, Georges Seguy, said that the CGT had been too politicised in the past, that it had not sufficiently emphasised its independence from the Communist Party and that the time had come to concentrate more on day to day negotiations with the employers and less on politics.
With the socialists it is almost the other way round. Despite the general disenchantment it has become the only outlet, as recent by-elections show, for a protest vote at a time when there is a great deal to protest about. It will probably do exceedingly well better than any other party in the coming elections for the European Parliament. Despite this, however, the strains at the top are becoming almost intolerable. Michel Rocard's challenge to Mitterrand's leadership is now an open one and, although it is clearly marked by personal rivalries and ambitions, it is basically about what kind of new Socialist Party is going to emerge from the ideological ashes of the old one.
The common programme, as originally worked out with the communists and on which the socialists fought the elections last March, is now generally admitted to have little or no relevance to the problems the country faces today. Even prominent socialist leaders are now frankly admitting that it was a lucky thing for them that they lost the March elections. There matters stand the French left is godless and guideless in a world which has left it and its illusions far behind.
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