The Common Program:

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of its weekly magazine, Sunday
“; vanité, with an 18-page exposé de-
© how the oil companies have been
' nis the nation.
‘Ki Sy with a growing economic crisis
(it’s € opposition of nearly half the na-
ate Voters, the government is trying to
the split in the united front to pre-

: i the masses from acting collectively on

jis Projects as Operation Truth. The
st tone and television, which have al-
Scan tally blacked-out news about the
sont ft play up the ‘“‘split” in the united
A ist , emphasize the growth in the So-
Be ty arty, implying that the PS is win-
The “mbers away from the PCF. Actual-
y ECF is in excellent health with 450,-
Ring Pers and 21,340 clubs, with the
tin concentrations in industry. Ac-
ibe € to the Political Bureau of the PCF,
ie oe more new members this year
‘t Pg and more new clubs. At present,
tne, JUMbers 130,000 with only a small
Ktry &e of its forces coming from in-

aay is also growing talk here of the
Iq dion of some socialists in the Gis-
Staing government in the not-too-

ba ee

distant future. Thus far, the socialists have

refuted this rumor but with a noticeable
decrease in vigor.

The heart attack suffered by Georges
Marchais, general secretary-of the PCF on
January 14 led the Right to hope that his
temporary absence from the political scene
would increase the deterioration in rela-
tions between the two parties and divert
the PCF from its campaign against the gov-
ernment’s “‘austerity’”’ program. But now,
with Marchais well on his way to recovery
and Operation Truth which he initiated an

‘overwhelming success, these hopes have

been frustrated.

The troubling aspect, however, is that
the socialists have done little to. abate spec-
ulation about disunity on the Left. Recently,
Mitterrand, president of the PS, made
statements which echo the anti-commun-
ism of Giscard’s own spokesmen. ‘“The PS
is a very democratic party,” he said. “A

- democratic party has an enormous advant-

age, and I hope that Geroge Marchais
thinks that over.”

Even more troubling is the socialists’
refusal to participate in Operation Truth or
any other joint action to combat the gov-

ernment’s austerity program. In Septem-
ber 1974, the PCF proposed a series of joint
mass meetings in the nation’s major cities
to clarify the crisis and its origins, to re-
fuse the sacrifices demanded of the work-
ing class and to present solutions which
conform to the interests of the masses as
defined by the Common Program. The PS
said ‘‘no,’’ claiming that it had no desire to
engage in “‘polemics.”’

While the PS laments that it is being un-
justly criticized by the PCF, the PS con-
tinues ‘to nourish the hopes of the govern-
ment. Shortly after signing the Common
Program, Mitterand told an assembly of
Socialist Party representatives in Vienna,
“Our fundamental objective is to rebuild a
strong PS on the terrain occupied by the

. PCF itself in order to show that of the five
million communist voters, three million .

can vote socialist. This is the reason for the
accord.’’ Several days ago Mitterrand said
that he still stood by this earlier remark
and added, ‘‘The PS is in a position to be-
come the first party in France, and that
doesn’t please everyone.”

These are reassuring statements for
Giscard who remarked shortly after last

May’s election, ‘“‘The day when the PCF
represents 15 or 10% of the electoral body
instead of the 20% they represent today, the
panorama of French life will change.”’

' Before his illness, Marchais explained
on national television, “‘Union is not an end
in itself. It is a means to put an end to the
pernicious policy of Giscard. Union is the
way to get our nation out of the crisis, to
assure social progress, work for all, better
schools, health care, housing, transport and
to assure the independence of France.”’

The Party points out that it chose the
oil scandal not because it is the only scan-
dal in France but because it is one of the
most striking examples of the abuse of the
people for the profit of the monopolies.

In the special oil scandal issue of Sun-
day L’Humanité, Etienne Fajon, former
editor-in-chief of L’Humanité said, ‘“‘At
this moment when the capitalist world is
shaken by unemployment and inflation the
socialist world knows no crisis. The Com-
mon Program is the means of getting our
nation out of the crisis and putting it on the
road to progress. It is got socialism, but it
is the way to introduce the people to what
the possibilities of socialism are.”’

pe

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1975—Page 7