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€ Open Forum on the
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da a thoughtfully and

Mber of issues which

IScussed. | agree with

teof y,, Most outstanding

t of ¢ © election was the big

might DP especially in

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stony ee e the defeats in

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ast Which the NDP. hee

is: Why did the
devastating blows
st ct a time when
te Drogeitking is becoming
Moving ste and when they
8 into the struggle
ee OPolies in ever
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manly in B.C. — is the
Npp. Thevvete on the part of
ey » Should realize that

In to
n whee move on
Which is Soing to. en-
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‘ iney noPolies, they are
in f oer enmity in no
ot When the NDP
€d in this province,
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led thet Monopoly capital

tis going to pull
ntiler lef, nd Put a brake on
Pp, “Ward movement of

Sf Methods; the
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behing People who would
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It seems to me that the NDP
government has smugly sat back,
feeling that it wasn’t really
necessary to arouse people into
activity and to keep them-informed
on a daily basis in order to coun-
teract the effects of the powerful
propaganda machine which can
be, and is, used by monopoly

ital.
~The role of the federal NDP
leadership in bringing down the
government at this time has also
been most harmful. I’m quite
certain that a lot of people felt that
an election really wasn’t necessary
at this stage and that if minority
government meant continued
elections, they wanted some stable
government to ensure that we
didn’t go to the polls every few

months.

Insofar as the role of the Com-
munist candidates is concerned =
mentioned briefly by Mr. Rankin
—J think it would have been naive
to expect a much bigger vote under
present conditions. One should not
be disheartened by these results.
I’m sure that positive gains will be
registered as economic and
political developments occur — not
only in the near future but also in
the distant future.

As well, the fact that monopoly
capital has to trot out all the
“crazies” (to use Mr. Rankin’s
words) that is the Marxist-Lenin-
ists or the Rhinoceros Party, 1s an
indication that monopoly capital is
looking to the future and is trying
to make sure that the image of
Commuiists is sullied as much as
possible and that people who are
seeking genuine changes are goIng
to be diverted.

(The foregoing letter has been
edited somewhat as it was too
lengthy to publish in full. The
Tribune welcomes further con-
tributions on the federal election
but asks that readers endeavor to
confine themselves to 350 words or
less. We also reserve the right to
edit for brevity where necessary.)

“L wish he'd stick to sin and tet
civil rights alone!”’

IN SOCIALIST GDR

Where elections affirm
the will of the people

By JACK PHILLIPS
(Last of series)

When we arrived in the GDR, the
election campaign was under, way
to fill seats in villages, town and
city assemblies throughout the
country. Everywhere there were
pictures of candidates, slogans and
banners in profusion, no matter
how big or small the community.
Along with these, there were many
indications of the preparations for
the celebrations October 7 of the
25th anniversary of the formation
of the GDR.

In Erfurt we saw the huge red
banner with the © slogan,
superimposed in contrasting color:
No peaceful coexistence between
socialist and imperialist
ideologies. It is the paramount
policy in the GDR and every one of

the five political parties in the,

National Front subscribes to it.

There is no political pluralism in
the GDR, that is no pluralism of
political parties working for
conflicting class, economic and
political objectives. That was left
behind with the building of
socialism.

The socialist revolution in the
GDR took place over a period of 11
years from 1949 to 1960. It was not
necessary to resort to insurrection,
but there was bitter and protracted
class struggle, with certain unique
factors, such as the existence of the
Federal Republic of Germany and
divided Berlin in the heart of the
GDR.

The revolution was not imposed
on the German people by the Soviet
Union and its Red Army, but the
Soviet Union stood as a shield to
prevent counter-revolution from
the west. Is it any wonder, then
that the largest mass organization
in the country is the German-
Soviet friendship society?

Naturally, some members of our
touring group had a lot of questions
about the electoral and
parliamentary system in the GDR.
Our hosts went out of their way to
explain how their system works,
and what follows is a brief sum-
mary. ‘

in’ the first place, there is no
parallel between a capitalist
country like Canada and the GDR.
Power in the GDR is in the hands of
the workers and farmers. There
are no political parties repre-

senting the interests of the ex- |

ploiters of labor. There are no

antagonistic classes and therefore |

competition between classes.
The eecieiigt Unity Party (SED) is
the leading party. The other four
political parties represent specific
strata but do not stand in conflict
with the SED. The SED is a
Marxist-Leninist Party which

‘came into being through a merger

of the Communist and Social

emocratic parties.
The other four parties referred to

Union membership
declines in B.C.

The number of union members Y
B.C. rose last year by 5.4 per cen
to a total of 350,175. But the total

~ ” ynion membership represented

40.8 per cent of the labor force,
compared with 41.9 per cent in
1972. Consequently, the union
membership has not increased as a
proportion of the labor force. _
This 1973 percentage of union
membership in the labor force
(40.8 per cent), is the lowest since
1948. The peak was reached in 1958,
when union membership repre-
sented 53.9 per cent of the labor
force. The percentage has fallen
gradually since that time.

above have two basic principles.
First, they accept the leading role
of the working class and its party,
the SED. Second, they accept
socialism and are loyal to the
socialist constitution. In former
times, these four parties, along
with the SED, constituted the anti-
fascist bloc.

The five political parties form
the Democratic Bloc: The bloc, in
turn, is part of the National Front
embracing, in addition to the five
parties, key mass organizations.
For example, the following in-
fluential organizations have their
own parliamentary group in the
People’s Chamber (national
parliament): the trade unions,
FDGB; the youth organization,
FDJ; the women’s organization,
DFD; the League of Culture of the
GDR.

The National Front elects a
council of 240 representatives from
all strata at its congress and the
council in turn elects a presiding
committee of at least 50 members,
in which all parties and mass
organizations are represented.
Hundreds of thousands of volun-
teer workers are involved in the
National Front movement at the
county, district, municipal and
village level, but no dues are paid
and no membership lists are kept.

It is the National Front, through
consultation with the participating
organizations, that selects the
candidates, according to an agreed
upon division. For example, the
National Council, after lengthy
discussion, alloted 127 out of 500
seats to the SED in the People’s
Chamber. Similar discussions are
held for elections to lower bodies
and similar decisions are made.

As a rule, more candidates are
named in the beginning than there
are seats. But there are many tests
for candidates. They must address
public meetings and subject
themselves to demands and
criticism from their fellow
workers, from their neighbors and
from the organizations making up
the National Front.

Unless your life is an open book
in the GDR and your workmates,
colleagues and associates know all
about you, you are not likely to be
elected. You can’t buy or
manipulate a nomination as you
can in many capitalist countries.

The election itself is regarded as a
gala occasion, to confirm what the
people have already decided.

Among the key impressions we
gained in the GDR is the close
feeling of solidarity with the Soviet
Union. :

The GDR is firmly committed to
Strengthening the socialist com-
munity of nations and recognizes
the primary role of the Soviet
Union in that community, because
of its experience in building
socialism, its economic power, its
military strength and its pre-
eminence in world affairs.

Every leading member of the
SED I spoke to regarded his
country as an equal in the world
socialist community but

. recognized that some countries
have more to give to the world
revolutionary process than others.
Those who fail to see this fail to see
the facts of life.

You talk about schools and they
tell you that in the beginning the
Soviet Union helped them with
school supplies and classroom
facilities, after the defeat of the
Nazis. You talk about the
restoration of the economy in the
difficult years of 1945-49 and they
tell you about the tremendous
material and technical help given
by the Soviet Union. You talk about
their sophisticated, modern _in-
dustry and they tell you this would

be impossible without their part-

nership with the Soviet Union. You
talk about power and they tell you
about the development ‘of nuclear
power for peaceful use with the
help of the Soviet Union. You talk
about the security of their frontiers
— the GDR is the western border of
socialism abutting on the im-
perialist world — and they tell you
that without the protection of the
Soviet Union the GDR would have
been destroyed.

Thus, the permanency of the
GDR is a fact of life which im-
perialism has had to recognize.
Hence the diplomatic recognition
of the GDR by the’ Federal
Republic of Germany and many
other capitalist countries. As of
July, 1973 the GDR maintained full
diplomatic links with 89 countries,
and the number has increased
since that time.

See SOCIALIST GDR, Pg. 8

Supper 6

Admission: adults 50c <
children, O.A.P. 25c

COME TO €.0.P.E. GARDEN FAIR

Saturday, August 10th — 2 p.m.
RANKIN’S GARDEN

BAKE SALE, CRAFTS, ENTERTAINMENT

o'clock

Meal: adults $2.50
children $1.75

I SN i i st,

__ CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

COMING EVENTS

HALLS FOR RENT

PICNIC, Sunday, August 11,
Sampo Hall, Webster’s Corners
— 12:00 p.m. Bus leaves 11:00
a.m. from 805 E. Pender St.
(Ukrainian Hall). Program,
Speaker and Good Food. All
welcome. Ausp.: F.O. Local 55.

WANTED

GOOD country home for young,
large dog. Phone Fred at PT
office 685-5288.

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME _
Now available for rentals. For
reservations phone 254-3430.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN
CULTURAL CENTRE — 9805
East Pender St., Vancouver 4.
Available for banquets, wed-

_ dings, meetings. Phone 254-
3436.

WEBSTER’S CORNERS HALL —
Available for banquets,
meetings, ete. For rates, Ozzie
325-4171 or 685-5836.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY., AUGUST 2, 1974—PAGE 7