Rumblings in the Parti Québécois

By SAM WALSH

Since the provincial elections
of October 29, 1973, the rumb-
lings within the Parti Québécois
have become quite audible. Why?

Because, despite the fact that
the PQ managed to get 30% of
the popular vote and became the
official opposition, these were
not the goals that the party set
itself in that election. According
to André Larocque, full-time PQ
furictionary, René Lévesque’s
opponent for the leadership of
the party in 1971, and chief of
staff for Robert Burns, PQ par-
liamentry leader: “Everything
was centred around René Lé-
vesque as though he was des-
tined to become the next Prime
Minister of the province. The
publicity committee wanted a
strategy of taking power and up
to a certain point neglected strat-
egic constituencies. They set out
to win sixty constituencies (out
of 110), ie., to take power, and
on the basis of this conception
they put their theories on paper
. . . And today we pat ourselves
on the back, telling ourselves
what great guys we are because
we increased our vote by 6%.
-That’s what I call undeserved
self-congratulation. This was not
an electoral victory, far from it,
and I don’t believe Lévesque
himself believes it. We set out to
win 60 seats, we increased our
vote by 6%, so we applaud to
console ourselves instead of ad-
mitting we were mistaken”. (La
Presse, Dec. 3, 1973).

The first to resign from the
National Council of the PQ was
Jacques Parizeau, from all ap-
pearances, until then, the next-
in-line chosen by René Lévesque
to replace himself. His “‘budget”
for Year One of an independent
Québec, supposedly in 1975,

_which he produced at the height

of the election campaign was
blamed for the fact that many
voters chose the Liberals. For
henceforth all the shuffling of
René Lévesque to make the
voters believe that the election
of a PQ government did not
necessarily entrain separation
lacked credibility to thousands
of Québécois who don’t want se-.
paration from Canada. It was
this mistaken strategy which en-
abled Bourassa to convert this

PARIS — When the current
trial of six members of a Zion-
ist terrorist group is completed
in Oslo, Norway, French author-
ities are expected to ask for
their extradition to answer ques-
tions in connection with three
political murders in France. -

The six are on trial for the
brutal murder last summer of
Moroccan Ahmed Bouchiki in
the Norwegian town of Lille-
hammer. -The terrorist group
operating in Norway consisted
of 15 members, nine of, whom
escaped.

During the first week of the
trial only four defendants gave
testimony. There is every indic-
ation that the assassination was
planned beforehand and carried
out by the. terrorists directly
connected with the Israeli intel-
ligence service. They all ar-
rived in Norway from. Tel Aviv
shortly before the murder in
Lillehammer, using the false

election into a premature “refe-
rendum” on independence with
the results we all know.

According to André Larocque
a conflict developed during the
election campaign between the
“intellectuals” in the leadership
and rank-and-file activists who
were supported by the “organ-
izer-types” to no avail.

Having been defeated twice in
his own constituency, and bear-
ing the main responsibility for
the election strategy, even the
leadership of René Lévesque is
under question. Mr. Lévesque has
announced that he has become
president of a company which

‘will publish a daily independen-

tist paper beginning at the end

- of February, which will not be

the organ of the PQ. This seems"
to indicate that he has decided
to give up the presidency of the

‘party. Otherwise the paper could

only-be considered a party organ.

Again according to Mr. La-
rocque, differences existed in the
choice of Leader of the Opposi-
tion (a post to be distinguished
from and more important than
parliamentary party leader)
among the six Péquiste Members
of the National Assembly elect-
ed; three insisting on Jacques-
Yvan Morin, and three on
Robert Burns. It was a deadlock.
Finally René Lévesque (with the

support of the other party offi-

cers, as emphasized in a press re-
lease issued by the Executive
Council in answer to Mr. La-
rocque) settled the question in
favor of Mr. Morin.

The comments of Mr. Larocque
on this choice are revealing:
“This choice has many implica-
tions. Among others, that the
party will pursue its intellectual
projection: with Jacques-Yvan
Morin, we'll continue with the
grand speeches bag, with a lead-
er whom everyone adulates.
Whereas with Burns the party
would certainly have made a
radical turn, directed towards
the middle class” (my emphasis,
S.W.) (La Presse, Dec. 4, 1973).
This characterization of ‘‘Radi-
calism directed towards the
middle class”, coming from Mr.
Burn’s chief of staff, is signifi-
cant in view of the aspirations of
certain trade union leaders to ra-
dicalize the PQ towards the
working people, all the more so

“Murders linked to Ter aawe

passports of citizens of different
countries.

At Scenes of Crimes

It has been established that ©

the members of the group were
in Rome in October 1972, and in
Paris in June 1973. It was pre-
cisely at that time that represen-
tatives of the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization were killed in
these cities. It is believed in
committed by one and the same
Oslo that all these crimes were
group.

~As Norwegian Attorney Gen-
eral Haakon Viker pointed out
at the trial, the involvement of
the Israeli authorities in these
criminal actions is obvious from
the fact that one of the defend-
ants, A. Gehmer, worked at
Israel’s embassy in Paris from
1965 to 1969 and has, in the past
two years, held the post of first
secretary. It has also been es-
tablished that while. Gehmer
was staying in Paris, another

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1974 PAGE 10 :

ae! eee § ratte,

a RE eR

22 2 ee»

that the leadership of the party
unanimously, on their own say-
so, rejected even this petty
bourgeois (middle class) ‘“radi-
calism,” and that all the PQ
MNA’s “immediately. rallied to
this decision” (Le Devoir, Dec.
22, 1973, in the press release of
the Executive Council of the
PQ).

Furthermore, some PQ candi-
dates answered the call of the
French- and English-language
bourgeois dailies to induce the
PQ to abandon its separatism, or
at least to soft-pedal it, in order
to become acceptable to them as
a respectable “centre-left” alter-
native to the Liberal party. This
was rejected out of hand because

the PQ is based on the national- ~

ist petty bourgeoisie for whom
separatist aspirations are normal
and durable, answering their par-
ticular economic interests.

Others, such as Marcel Cha-
put and Raymond Barbeau, old
separatist warhorses, demand
that the PQ abandon its “social-
democracy” which frightens
some sections of the pefty bour-
geoisie who don’t want an inde-
pendent Quebec that would be
social-democratic. :

There are some, like Pierre
Bourgault, who want a “radi-
calized” PQ, but in the sense of
becoming even more radical in

removing the language rights of -

the English-speaking minority as
well as those of immigrants and
to combine this policy in parlia-
ment with action on the streets.

There are also those who
would like to have the working
people believe that by support-
ing the PQ they ‘will be in a
position to transform it into a
vehicle for their demands.

The PQ is a conglomeration of
all sorts of tendencies which re-
flect the heterogeneous character
of the petty bourgeoisie.

When the working class (we
no longer say “‘if’’) succeeds in
creating a mass federated party
of the working people, many
sections of the PQ’will be drawn
towards an alliance with this
new party, for the petty bur-
geoisie is pulled towards the two
fundamental classes of our so-
ciety — the bourgeoisie and the
working class — in proportion to
the economic and political
strength they can display.

defendant Z. Steinberg, was
working as a driver at the
Israeli embassy.

Israeli Intelligence

The Israeli “diplomat,” I. Eyal,
in whose apartment Steinberg
was arrested and who was later
expelled from Norway is, as the
newspaper Verdens Gang said,
“an important figure in the Is-
raeli intelligence service.”

At one of the court sessions,
defendant D. Areel blurted out
that before departing for Oslo
the same A. Gehmer had also
worked at the Israeli Ministry
of Defense.

No less interesting are reports
here in Paris. At the apartment
rented by defendant Sylvia Ra-
fael, a notebook was found dur-
ing the search containing the
coded addresses and phone num-
bers of Israeli - intelligence
agents.
known that the notebook code
has been deciphered.

Poe ee oe ee ee ee

It has now become ©

SANTIAGO — In a speech
broadcast over radio last week,
General Augusto Pinochet sev-

- erely criticized the ‘malinten-

tioned Chileans’ who sympa-
thize, in. one way or another,
with the adversaries of the jun-
ta, that is, Popular Unity and
the entire anti-fascist move-
ment, in demanding the end of
the “state of internal war” and
the return to civilian govern-
ment.

Without making any specific
reference to individuals or or-
ganizations, the junta. chief de-
nounced those’ groups who
“pressure the army to give up
power. And you had better un-
derstand,” he said, “that it is
just that which those hiding in
the shadows want. They are just
waiting for the moment to topple
our regime.”

A few days before Pinochet’s
outburst other junta leaders
made it expressly clear that the
military would not step down
until they “had accomplished
their mission.” General Leigh,
commander-in-chief of the air-
force, and the ultra among ult-
ras, bluntly stated: “The army
did not take power in ‘order to
hand it back to politicians.”

The admonitions of Pinochet
and Leigh were pointed particul-
arly at the Christian Democratic
Party — and also to elements in
the National Party — who had
egged on the army to overthrow
the Allende government in the
hope that they themselves could
take over. Several Christian
Democratic leaders have become
victims of the repression or ex-
posed to persecution. Radomiro
Tomic, Christian Democratic
presidential candidate in 1970,
is now under house arrest.

Senator Renan Fuentealba is
also under house arrest after be-
ing detained immediately after
the coup. Fernando Costillo, rec-
tor of the Catholic University,
was lined up against a wall with
all his family, including his
twelve-year-old son, while his
house was ransacked and his in-
valuable collection of books and
manuscripts taken outside and
burned.

However, these and other like
incidents have not prevented the
Bishop of Valparaiso, Msgr.
Emilo Tagle Covarrubias, from
stating in El] Mercurio that the
generals, “thanks to an oppor-

a

ated from the» souls of

“eers. Mendoza has been fol

tune intervention, have deli¥é)
ed the country from evil,” ®
that Marxism “must be erat
people.” mF
The junta leaders’ warnili
are also directed at officers, 1
commissioned officers, soldit
and carabineers hostile tO 7
coup and the consequent repr)
sion that has not yet cease® ,
confirms that differences Mf
emerged among the junta leat
ship, especially between G@
ral Leigh and General Mend”
director-general of the carabl,

to a certain extent, to cons
both the anti-fascist sentime,
of large sectors of the Christ!
Democrats and the reticent,
certain of his own forces to *,
part in the repressive operatit!
in the summary executions, “~~
the deportations.

It has been learned that
least 70 carabineers have 7)
arrested and tortured for hay)
refused to obey certain of.
and that 80 have deserted. It”
also been. confirmed that at *”,
300 army officers have bee?

rested, :
STRIKE MOVEMEN?

GROWS IN CHILE
SANTIAGO — The woF fl
class is the first and prifl
victim of the repression.
construction workers from *
several miles south of here, I
been arrested on charges 9%
citement to strike.” The Fy
has announced that it will’
workers who “incite oth®
commit subversive acts 4! y
workplace” before militaty
hunals. j
Two workers accused of
tributing literature in theif
tory have been prosecute,
the “justice” of the. junta
growth of repression 484
workers confirms that ™
ance to the fascist regime #)
ganized and spreading
factories. ;  -
Strikes broke out in they
per mines at El Tenien™
week. Others have occull’/
the coalfields of Lota, %
railroads, and among COP. |
tion workers on the new SUy
being built in Santiago. ©
workers have also bee? |
strike for over two weeks.
+3 You