By JOHN BOYD

PRAGUE
~PRING has come to Czechoslovakia.
> Fresh, clean breezes are sweeping
the. country, leaving behind the
old, gray days of a long, hard winter
nd bringing with them many sights
nd sounds of a new life...
This is as true in the political sense
s in the meteorological. Not since the
tormy days of February, 1948, when
ve foundations of the new socialist
zechoslovakia were laid, have the
eople of this country been as politi-
ally alive and alert as they are today.
As Canadians know, Czechoslova-
ia during the past three or four
1onths has been the scene of many
iteresting events and. developments.
Yhat is beind these new develop-
1ents? What does it all mean?

In the light of some of the com-
entary that has appeared in the
‘estern press, perhaps it would be
2st first to say what it does not mean:
@ It is not a battle for power be-
veen two individuals or two cliques
the Czechoslovak Communist Party.
e It is not a struggle between the
‘echs and the Slovaks.
@ It is not “another Budapest, 1956.”
e It is not an effort by the Czecho-
»vak Communists, or even any sec-
mn of them, to “break away from the
mmmunist bloc,” to take a so-called
idependent road.”
It is a conscious, planned effort by
2 Communist Party of Czechoslova-
a to introduce a greater degree of
mocracy into its own work, into the
verning bodies and varied public or-
izations. and institutions, and into
life of the people as a whole.

CH 29, 1968—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 6

Workers’ power — February 1948 in Prague’s Wenceslas Square.

» oN

It is also, in the opinion of Com-
munists here, an objective develop-
ment, brought about by objective con-
ditions—the economic, scientific and
technological advance of society and
the impossibility of working in new
conditions in the old way—a develop-
ment that, in one form or another, will

have to take place in every socialist

country.

The circumstances leading up to the
present events have been building up
for a long while. They came to a head
at the plenary meeting of the central
committee of the Czechoslovak party
last October.

At the outset it should be noted,
that at the plenum, members of the
central committee were all united in
agreeing that the political line adopt-
ed at their last (13th) congress—in-
cluding the program for economic re-
form and the foreign policy—was cor-
rect. It was when they began discus-
sing a set of theses on how the party
should lead the people in carrying out
that line—its methods and style of
work—that a sharp division of opinion
developed.

Some members asked why the party
had lost the confidence of so many
sections of the people—among the
youth, the intellectuals, the farmers,
even among the workers. The answer,
they said, was that while the party’s
stated aim was to bring these sections

of the people together and get them _

to work unitedly for the good of the
country, it had failed to do so because
it had not used the proper methods in
its work. There was an abuse and dis-
tortion of the Leninist norms of party
work, of democratic centralism, too
much bureaucracy and leadership by
detree, a stifling of the initiative of
the people. All this, it was pointed out,
affected every aspect of life: the car-
rying through of the economic re-
forms; :the relationship. between the
two nations, Czech and Slovaks; the

anxious?

i TOT TT TO TTT AT Te ui We Iii wu ale La me |

problems of the old and younger gene-
rations; the relations between: workers
and intellectuals.

RA

It soon’ became obvious that the
members of the central committee
were divided into two main categories:
those (now labelled ‘“conservatives’’)

who are, in deed if not in word, es- '

sentially for the status quo, and those
who are for radical changes in the
party’s work and the country’s life.
But because the October plenum had
to be cut short (to prepare for the Nov.
7 celebrations of the 50th anniversary
of the October Revolution) there was
no time to complete the discussion
that had been started, or even for most
of the members to declare their posi-
tions. Another session was therefore
called for the latter part of December.
Meanwhile, details about some of
the questions that were raised and
some of the things that were said at
the plenum began percolating down
to the rank and file of the party: and
the general public. The grapevine
worked overtime and stretched all
across the country and beyond the bor-
ders. Party members who knew some
of the facts began lining up “pro” and
“con”; the others were confused and

To add fuel to all this, on the heels

of the plenum (on Oct. 31), came the

student demonstration. For some time
before, university students in the Stra-
hov district of Prague had been com-

plaining about bad lighting and bad .

plumbing in their dormitories and about
the poor food in the cafeteria. Repeat-
ed protests to those responsible got no
results; so in the. early evening of
Oct. 31, some 1,500 of them organized
a parade (carrying candles and signs

“We Want Light!’’) and headed. toward’

the centre of the city. On the way they.
were stopped by the police and after
considerable arguing agreed to turn
back. Later, when they learned that
three of their number had been held
by the police, several hundred of them
began to march again. This time the
appeals by the police to disperse were
refused and a serious clash developed.

The police attacked viciously with -

clubs and tear gas’ while the students
threw stones and other objects. Three
policemen and 13 students were in-

_jured, two of the students seriously.

News of the attack on the students
spread quickly among the people. With
the exception of a skimpy item in the
evening paper, the press had blacked
out the event, so the students distri-
buted a leaflet on St. Wenceslas
Square, in the heart of the city, to tell
their story.

AAU

By mid-December the situation had
become extremely tense. Anxiety
mounted. The presidium of the central
committee, it was reported was meet-
ing almost daily and was split down
the middle. The press, radio and TV
carried the news that Leonid Brezhnev,
general secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union, had come
to Prague, but didn’t say why. He left
that same evening. In this tense situa-

tion the central committee met again.

‘Fhis time the discussion was wide
open, with practically all members

- the student demonstration; the !

|

speaking their minds and with ‘™!)
holds barred”. All the pent-up criticis™
and dissatisfaction with the way ™
party had been led and the way #
functioned, came out. Needless to Sa
this included questions like: the W4
the problems of the writers had bee?
handled last summer; the break a
f
large numbers of people who had bel?)
wrongfully. jailed or denounced as en®
mies of the state during and after
infamous trial of Slansky and ott
former leaders of the party were 5! ‘]
not rehabilitated; the restrictions °
news and information media, etc. f
But again the plenum had tO ©"
postpened, this time because of t*
Christmas holidays. It was reconvel
ed in early January and the discussi?
continued: --= =. ; A
It was at these two (December and
January) plenums that the suggest!
was made to divide the functions 9
general secretary of the party |
president of the republic (for seV
years held by one man, Antonin :
votny). The proposition was debal®,
at length—first “whether”, then “wh? |
—and then unanimously endorsed.
a result, Novotny was relieved of BI
post as secretary and Alexander DU

cek, until then first secretary of i
party in Slovakia, was chosen in his
place.

Co

The central committee decided a

meet again sometime in March
asked its presidium by that time 1

e Check up on how all committee
and institutions of the party are Wo |
ing and carrying out their tasks; pe
pose how to improve the ,work %
these bodies and all party personnel:
examined how the party is giving ea
ership to the varied government %
gans and how to do away with aa)
duplication. t.

e Draft an Action Program thé)
would be operative until the 14th co™
gress of the- party, two years henct
The Action Program was to be an a
spiring and practical. docume?
through which every citizen in the R&
public would be able to see his, %
her role in helping to advance
country’s: economy and _ raise the
people’s standard of living.

The people greeted these decisiot
enthusiastically, although for a while
there was considerable skepticism, i
kind of “we’ve heard lofty plans a%¢
promises before” attitude. But it®
what has followed since that #8
changed the entire atmosphere wi
this country.

The operative word in Czechoslov#
kia today is: democratization. .

_ The process of democratization W
Started right after the plenum,
within the party itself—down to evé
branch and member—then among.
general public. And it has been gro’
ing like a snowball ever since, as mor
and more people are taken up by "+
and begin to realize that this is really

. “it” that there’s no going back, to

old days.
What is important to underline het
is that this process is being advanc® .
by the party and through the party
with the overwhelming majority
the central committee dedicated *
carrying it through. 4a
Enthusiastic conferences and meet.
ings of party members have been nel? {
throughout the country—in factorie
mines, schools, farin’co-ops, army
units and among professional grouP®