ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ALGERIAN GOVERNMENT
PARIS, Feb, 17 -- The United Secretariat of the Fourth International today issued the following statement, summarizing the views of the world Trotskyist movement on the character of the Algerian government:
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For some time the course of the new regime in Algeria has shown that it is a "Workers and Peasants Government" of the kind considered by the Communist International in its early days as likely to appear, and referred to in the Transitional program of the Fourth International, as a possible forerunner of a workers state,
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Such a government is characterized by the displacement of the bourgeoisie in political power, the transfer of armed power from the bourgeoisie to the popular masses, and the initiation of far-reaching measures in property relations. The logical outcome of such a course is the establishment cf a workers state; but, without a revolutionary Marxist party, this is not guaranteed, In the early days of the Communist International it was held to be excluded in the absence of a revolutionary Marxist party. Experience has shown, however, that this conclusion must be modified in the colonial world due to the extreme decay of capitalism and the effect of the existence of the Soviet | Union and a series of workers states in the world today.
An essentially bourgeois state apparatus was bequeathed to Algeria. A crisis in the leadership of the FLN [Front de Libération Nationale] came to a head July 1, 1962, ending after a few days in the establishment of a de facto. coalition government in which Ferhat Abbas and Ben Bella represented the two opposing wings of neocolonialism and popular revolution, The struggle between these two tendencies within the coalition ended in the reinforcement of the Ben Bella wing, the promulgation of the decrees of March 1963 and the ouster successively of Khider, Ferhat Abbas and other bourgeois leaders although some rightist elements still remain in the government. These changes marked the end of the coalition and the establishment of a Workers and Peas-~= ants government, . a Oe
As is characteristic of a Workers and Peasants Government of this kind, the Algerian government has not followed a consistent course, Its general direction, however, has been in opposition to imperialism, to the old colonial structure, to neocolonialism and to bureaucratism, It has reacted with firmness to the initiatives of would-be new bourgeois layers, including armed counterrevolution. Its subjective aims have repeatedly been declared to be the construction of socialism, At the same time its consciousness is limited by its lack of Marxist training and background,
-The question that remains to be answered is whether this government can establish a workers state. The movement in this direction. -is evident and. bears many resemblances to the Cuban pattern, A profound agrarian reform has already been carried out, marked by virtual nationalization of the most important areas of arable land. Deep inroads have been made into the old ownership relations in the industrial sector with the establishment of a public and state-controlled sector. Yet to be undertaken are the expropriation of the key oil and mineral sector, the banks and insurance companies, establishment of a monopoly of foreign trade and the inauguration of effective counter measures to .the monetary, financial and commercial activities of foreign imperial~ ism,
Among the most heartening signs in Algeria are (1) in foreign policy the establishment of friendly relations with Cuba, Yugoslavia, China, the Soviet Union and other workers states with the possibility this opens up for substantial aid from these sources; (2) the active attitude of the government toward developing the colonial revolution
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in such areas as Angola and South Africa; (3) within Algeria the estabLishment of the institution of "self-management." "Self-management" with its already demonstrated importance for the development of workers and peasants democracy offers the brightest opening for the establishment of the institutions of a workers state.
As a whole, Algeria, as we have noted many times, has entered a process of permanent revolution of highly transitional character in which all the basic economic, social and political structures are be-~ ing shaken. up and given new forms, This process is certain to continue. It will be greatly facilitated and strengthened if one of the main problems now on the agenda -- the organization of a mass party on a revolutionary Marxist program -- is successfully solved,
The appearance of a Workers and Peasants Government in Algeria is concrete evidence of the depth of the revolutionary process occurring there, It is of historic importance not only for Algeria and North Africa but for the whole African continent and the rest of the world,
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