(The following article has been translated by Intercontinental Press from the January 4 issue of Rouge. The agreement referred to by the author appears elsewhere in this issue of IP.]
We are publishing below the text of the agreement signed by the representatives of Lutte Ouvrière and the Ligue Communiste. This protocol concludes the first stage of discussions between the two organizations and opens up a new period in the process of unification.
The problem up till now was to define the organizational framework of the future formation. What both organizations had to do was not of fer each other formal guarantees but ¡quire practical proof and convince themselves of the possibilities for uniting.
Now we can take on a dual task. January 18, 1971
On the one hand, we can open discussion on all levels between the members and leaderships of the two organizations on questions of orientation and program. On the other hand, we must as often as possible conduct joint actions and campaigns that will enable us to make a practical test of the unification contemplated and evaluate the difficulties we are yet to encounter.
Joint work is the decisive practical test for the coming months. In the campaigns for trade-union democracy and against repression, and in support of anti-imperialist struggles, the members of our two organizations must meet together and get to know each other. But not only this. They must discuss the bases of their activity, gain an understanding of its place in a broader context, and clarify the line of the future organization on the testing ground of action.
Over and above the immediate pracconfidence for a large number of new and old militants whom the present fragmented organizations did not offer sufficient power and promise to draw back to the revolutionary struggle.
Moreover, the domination of the working class by Stalinist organizations in part determined the character of some of the far-left formations. We have often criticized Lutte Ouvrière for the fact that some of its positions have been more moralistic or moralizing than political. This moralistic sectarianism can be regarded as one of the means of self-defense of minority organizations against Stalinism. As a result of this also, it is understandable that such moralizing organizations have captured and channeled authentic revolutionary energies, especially among the youth. The fact that today, in contemplating merger and unification with another left formation, one of these organizations has agreed to lift a porteullis is additional proof of the new relationship of forces in the workers movement nationally and internationally. Revolutionists can no longer continue on the basis of organizational and theoretical selfpreservation. They must integrate themselves into the struggles taking place and assume the role that belongs to them. The result is that politics is again rising above moralizing.
It is significant, finally, that as early as the preliminary discussions between Lutte Ouvrière and the Ligue Communiste it was accepted that any merger would take place within the framework of the Fourth International. This is added proof that today the problem of building a revolutionary party in France cannot be considered apart from the task of building an International that transmits to us the living legacy of the October revolution. and the Left Opposition to Stalinism. In the stage of clarification through which we are passing in the international vanguard, this idea must be defended more vigorously than ever. It is encouraging that in our case we have already reached the stage of putting this conviction into practice.
Socialism - the Lambertist group atfiliated with the British Healyites, Mr. Krivine merely said that 'like every sect, it can still live a long time in its splendid isolation."
Both Jacques Morand and Alain Kr. vine dealt with the situation facing the French Communist party. "If it is not undergoing an actual crisis, it has at least been badly affected, according to the two, by the attitude it took in May and June 1968 and by the evolution of its relations with the Communist parties holding power in Eastern Europe."