Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 13:08:40 -0400
From: malecki-AT-algonet.se (Robert Malecki)
Subject: M-I: Radiotime/Norweigan Elections..


This is the second draft report for Straightfacts Radio on the 
elections in Norway.

Good Evening.  This is Bob Malecki reporting for Straight Facts
somewhere in northern Scandinavia quite near the Polar Circle!

Norway! 

A clear and very powerful rightwing shift has been expressed by the
electorate in the  elections to Parliment in Norway. 
In fact one could say almost sensational in that the right wing 
popularist and racist party of Carl E. Hagen "Framstegspartiet", 
which for our American audience can be translated to Forwardstep 
Party, has in opinion polls grown from a insignificant 4% party 
to where opinion polls were giving them 25% of the vote a week before
the elections has become the second largest party in Norway with a 
sizeable 18% of the vote!

Even bougeois commentaters are surprised, if not shocked over
these sensational results making this right wing popularlist and
rascist party now No. 2 next to the Social democrats in Norweigan politics.
These bougeois cretins can not quite understand why in Norway, which 
has become the Kwait oil field of Scandinavia with its huge offshore 
oil platfoms and billions of dollars of income on the plus side of 
state finances are turning away from the traditional parties in 
support of right wing populalism and racist demogogy.

In fact these events have both a historical connection and a *real*
political "What should we do with the oil money" connection. And 
naturally must seen in relationship to the enormous effect that the
destruction of the Soviet Union through capitalist counter-revolution 
has had on this continent. What we are probably seeing is a mild
version of things to come now that the Stalinists led ex-Soviet Union
through years of bureucratic misrule, counter-revolutionary political line
and finally capitalist counter-revolutionary betrayal no longer exists!

The historical connection for Norway goes back to the second world war
and the occupation of Norway bt the Nazis. In fact Norway is probably the
first country which jumped on the NATO anti communist bandwagon basically
for the same reasons the now "free" Baltic states are desperately trying
to get on the NATO bandwagon. That is fear of outside occupation in a
major military confrontation. The price for this NATO military umbrella
historically has been a loyal anti-communist servant of imperialism. 
Including doing every dirty trick in the book (which woould make Nixon's
Watergate affair look like Kindergarden) in order to smash, infiltrate and
destroy left wing organisations in the workers movement. For years the
threat of the reds are under the beds has been the theme song of all of
the traditional bougeois parties and the Social Democracy. The present 
Social Democracy in Norway is dealing with a "white book" of their dirty
tricks to politically destroy leftists and communists in the workers 
movement using the secret police and military as the tool..This witchhunt
atmosphere has been successful and there is widespread distrust of any
think with the name of Communism on it. Historically for Norwegians
Communism is the same thin as the Nazi occupation!

When it comes to the oil money. The whole point of the elections is what to
do with the money. The Social democracy moving to the right under the impact
 of the
destruction of the Soviet Union want to use the money to administrate
the capitalist state under the guise of "investing" the oil money in the
future. The bougeois parties want to use the money to expand capitalist
industry and profits to other fields so they have a good position when and
if the oil is no longer there to pump up. The right wing popularlist party
of Carl E. Hagen wants to use the money to deport all the foreigners
that are living off of state oil money subcidities and claim they will raise
pensions and the living standards of Norweigans!

In the present atmosophere of capitalist counter-revolution and right wing
reaction the program of the right wing populalists is appealing to the man
on the street. It is a program of action which appeals to the anti-communist
and racist atmosphere that the traditional parties helped to creat since the
end of the second world war. 

In fact ordinary people are not stupid. If they have to chose between 
the above program of Carl E.Hagen's party and the Social Democratic 
program on this question which is to say the least incredible.

The Social democrats for example just made a deal with the klan 
cheifs in Somalia to send back hundreds of Somalian refugees. The 
Social democrats agree to send millions of Norwegian oil dollars to 
the klan chiefs and the klan cheifs in return would allow the 
Somalian refugees back into Somali!

Lacking a Bolshevik/Leninist alternative in Norway as elsewhere in
Scandinavia the people had a choice in Norway of voting for the program of
Carl E. Hagens party which is basically throw out the refugees and use the
money for pensions and raising the living standard of Norwegians and the
program of the Social democracy of giving the money to the klan cheifs
in Somalia in exchange for the klan cheifs taking the refugees back into 
country and helping capitalism cut the public sector and use the money
for profitable capitalist enterprise. Naturally many of them unfortunately
are jumping on the bandwagon of this popular racist demogue and his program
of action..

In fact it is just the growing class devide between the new rich and
middle class and the growing poverty of workers, especially women, old
people and the youth in desperation who have turned to these rascist
demogues and their promises of being on their side..

The left in Norway is in a horrible mess. Tailing what is left of 
"traditional" Social Democracy from the left they are trying to 
at best reform the Social Democratic Party. And like the left
internationally the Norwegian left when not capitulating to
traditional Social democracy are being the best builders of
single issue campaigns around envionmental issues or the
No to member ship in the common mareket campaigns. The left
in Norway having no Trotskyist tradition other then 
thefact that Trotsky resided there for a short time has led 
to that never has there been a serious Bolshevik/Leninist
Trotskyist organisation in this country to take up battle with
the Social Democracxy and the ex-Stalinist Euro Communist trends.

So we have a spectular situation of a dramatic shift to the right by
a considerable part (18%!) of the electorate to a extremely rightwing
program of action much like the National Front in France.

Years of bankrupt political leadership and now the destruction of
the Soviet Union has created a vacum where the proletariat finds
itself beheaded of any kind of leadership. Workers will not and
can not stand still and unless a serious revolutionary alternative
develops here in Scandinavia as elsewhere they will be drawn in there
desperation to parties like Karl E. Hagens and perhaps much worse!

In the aftermath of the elections the Social Democracy party leader 
has resigned and desolved the coalition government it once led. Leaving
things in the hands of the bougeois parties and now the popular rascist
party of Carl E. hagen to build a new government. It is to early to
report what the new government and its components will be but the
fact that Hagens party is now the second largest party in Norway
will certainly be and interesting dilema which I will report 
on in the future. 

Already the press are connecting the victory of Hagens party to
the election victories of Le Penns National Front in france and
a European trend! 

The crisis of leadership of the proletariat being unsolved in
the creation of Bolshevik/Leninist organisations means in concrete
reality that what we will be seeing in Europe is growing racist/
populalist and fascist solutions to the crisis. Just as the
bankrupt leadership of the Stalinist KPD in Germany failed to
show away out of the dead end imperialism leads too and the 
victory of facism.

So the stakes are very high as the present trend in Norway which
the election results show. It is either a new Bolshevik/Leninist
Trotskyist world party or the barbarism of right wing 
populalist/racist and facist solutions waiting around the corner...

This is Bob Malecki reporting for Straight Facts Radio in Sweden.

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