Trotskyist leader Dr, N.M. Perera, who accepted the offer of the Ceylonese Prime Minister to join a coalition government sponsored by her party, attempted to justify his betrayal of the basic principles of revolutionary social-~ ism with the following argument on the floor of parliament:. .
"Surely, we know that the Government in Australia is a Coalition Government, For the last fourteen years that has been the posi-~ tion, and it is very successful, What is your explanation of that? It depends upon the basic principles on which you come to an agreement, to make a coalition succeed or fail, Coalitions do not succeed in England for various reasons, and not necessarily because a coali-~ tion as such cannot. function. Quite a number of governments in: the West European countries are coalition governments of one type or another, Italy has had no other government but a coalition through-~ out its recent history. France, West Germany, all those countries have: coalition governments. Ali that I am saying is, do not generalize from the experience of Great Britain alone,"
Almost exactly twenty-five years ago, in July 1939, Leon Trotsky addressed an "Open Letter" to the workers of India, In this
letter he had some things to say about coalition governments which Dr. N.M.Perera has apparently forgotten. Yet they sound as fresh as the day they were written, It would be interesting to hear Dr, Pererats comment on them in parliament, if it does not disturb his conscience too much: a
"the Stalinists cover up their policy of servitude to British, French, and USA imperialism with the formula of a 'tPeoplets Front,!' What a mockery of the people! ‘People's Front! is only a new name for that old policy, the gist of which lies in class collaboration, in a coalition between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, In every such coalition, the leadership invariably ‘turns out to be in the hands of the right-wing, that is, in the hands of the propertiedclass, The Indian bourgeoisie, as has already been stated, wants peaceful horse trading and not a struggle. Coalition with the bourgeoisie leads to the proletariat!s abnegating the revolutionary struggle against imperialism, The policy of coalition implies marking time, temporizing, cherishing false hopes, hollow maneuvers and — intrigues, As a result of this policy, disillusionment inevitably. sets in among the working masses, while the peasants turn their backs on the proletariat and fall into apathy. The German revolution, the. Austrian revolution, the Chinese revolution, and the Spanish revolu~ tion have all perished as a result of coalition policy. The selfsame danger also menaces the Indian revolution where the Stalinists, under the guise of a 'Peoplets Front,! are putting across a policy of subordinating the proletariat to the bourgeoisie. This signifies, in action, a rejection of the revolutionary agrarian program, a refusal to arm the workers, a rejection of the struggle for power, a rejection of revolution,"
RISE IN WEST GERMAN ECONOMIC