People's Democracy

CPI(M) Greets CP of France

The following is the text of the message of greetings sent by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Communist Party of France (PCF) on the occasion of its 36th Congress held from February 7-10, 2013.

DEAR Comrades,

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) extends its heartfelt greetings to the 36th Congress of the Communist Party of France (PCF). On this occasion, we greet the leadership and all the members of the Party and express our solidarity.

Comrades,

The 36th Congress of the PCF is meeting at a very critical period. Recent economic reports indicate that the world is yet to come out of the global economic crisis that had its genesis in 2008. The US economy shrank for the first time in more than three years in the fourth quarter, underscoring the halting nature of the recovery. The US was joined by other advanced economies in reporting contractions in the final months of last year. The UK, Germany, Spain and Belgium have said their economies shrank in the fourth quarter, and several more Euro-zone members in coming weeks are expected to report their own declines. All these data are pointing to the truth in the prediction that the world is on the verge of a double-dip recession. Even the best of the ruling class efforts to come out of the crisis have proved futile.

What had started as corporate insolvencies have now become full-fledged sovereign insolvencies. Many countries had introduced 'austerity' measures to come out of their sovereign insolvency. As a consequence, social spending was drastically reduced. The data released recently points out that the budget cuts are a leading factor that are driving the contractions in many of the countries. 'Austerity' measures, with their added burdens on the working class and common people, in reality had further reduced their purchasing power. Eurozone unemployment remains at record levels. It was 11.7 per cent of the workforce in December – that is 18.7 million people without jobs in the single currency area.

The futility of the ruling class efforts to contain the crisis is in itself the direct outcome of the basic contradiction in the capitalist system – between the social nature of production and the individual nature of profit maximisation – the real reason for the crisis. However hard they try, without a resolution of this basic contradiction, all their attempts are bound to fail. This contradiction can be resolved only in a socialist society.

Ruling classes employ all the means at their disposal – economic, political and military – to wriggle out of the economic crisis. Imperialist military intervention in Libya, Syria and now Mali are a reflection of these attempts. Imperialism, especially during the periods of economic crisis, aggressively desires to control all the regions that are rich in natural resources and markets.

A heartening feature is the massive protest demonstrations taking place around the world against the imperialist attempts to ride roughshod over the livelihoods of the working class and common people. These protests should be given a proper political direction – arm them with the theory of scientific socialism – to ensure that they achieve real tangible benefits and change the society for the better.

Comrades,

The CPI(M) too is very much in the fight resisting the onslaught of the ruling classes on the livelihoods of the people of India. We are not only involved in the fight against this economic onslaught but are also resisting the attempts to divide our people on the lines of religion, region, ethnicity and nationality. The ruling classes are trying their best, even to the extent of launching physical attacks, to ensure that the Left does not gain strength.

Comrades,

On this occasion of the 36th Congress of the Communist Party of France, we once again reiterate our solidarity to your struggle for a society free from exploitation.

Central Committee

Communist Party of India (Marxist)