Documents of
OCTOBER
Danish Communist Party-building Organization

Founding Declaration

The founding conference on the 3rd of August 1997 decided to create OCTOBER, a nation-wide Communist organization.

The preparation for and creation of one strong communist party in Denmark are the main task of OCTOBER - a communist organization on the basis of Marxism-Leninism.

OCTOBER was founded on the basis of the best traditions of the Danish working class and revolutionary movement - from the time of Frederik Dreier of the revolutionary social-democratic party of Pio and Brix. And of the revolutionary DKP, which was the revolutionary vanguard party of the Danish working class until the breakthrough of modern revisionism. OCTOBER is going to defend and carry on these traditions.

OCTOBER will defend and carry on the fight against modern revisionism, upholding especially the political line of "Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti/Marxister-Leninister", (DKP/ML) from its foundation in 1978 until its 7th congress in 1997.

OCTOBER is founded on the best traditions of the international communist movement - from the International of Marx, the 2nd International and the Communist International (Comintern), from the fight against modern revisionism (that was adopted at the 20th - congress of the CPSU in 1956), until the present international communist movement. OCTOBER will also defend these traditions.

OCTOBER is founded on the basis of scientific socialism and will defend it, as conceived and developed by its founders, Marx and Engels. OCTOBER is also founded on the doctrine of Lenin - Leninism - which is Marxism in the epoch of imperialism - and on the contributions to the development of Marxism-Leninism provided by Stalin, Enver Hoxha and other great Marxists.

The goal and main task of OCTOBER is to contribute to the creation of the ideological, political and organizational prerequisites for the foundation of one strong communist party in Denmark, of "Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti", which can take its rightful position in the international communist movement as the communist vanguard party of the Danish working class. When this task succeeds, OCTOBER will be dissolved.

OCTOBER endeavors to create such a party on the basis of the statement: "Towards to one strong communist party" and the other documents adopted on the conference of foundation.

The organizational principle of OCTOBER is democratic centralism.

Copenhagen August 1997

 

(From the founding documents of OCTOBER, August 3rd 1997)

Towards one strong communist party

The strategic task of the Danish communist party is to guide the Danish working class and its allies to the victory in the socialist revolution and to the construction of a socialist Denmark under proletarian dictatorship until the establishment of a classless communist society. The creation of one strong communist party on a Marxist-Leninist basis became a necessity with DKP's transition to modern revisionism and the influence of modern revisionism in all its varieties in the Danish and international communist movement - from Soviet revisionism to "eurocommunism" and Maoism.

This struggle in Denmark has traversed a number of stages since the sixties. The Marxist-Leninist movement arose in the sixties in opposition to the breakthrough of Soviet revisionism in the DKP and decided to create a genuine communist party opposing modern revisionism.

While surmounting several aberrations of modern revisionist and Maoist character - from the KAK theory of the bribed working class to KAP's embracing of Chinese modern revisionism and "the theory of three worlds" in 1978 the communists managed to found "Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti/Marxister-Leninister", a small, but genuine communist party, that with Klaus Riis as chairman in the following 18 years developed a revolutionary line and politics, strategy and tactics for the fight of the Danish working class for the new society.

The period of 1989-91 was a critical one for the communist movement. The Soviet Union and the Soviet revisionist camp collapsed, the revisionist counter-revolution was replaced by the openly bourgeois counter-revolution in the former socialist countries, and the capitalist law of the jungle and the free market forces conquered these countries with a violent force and immense and disastrous consequences. When socialism fell in Albania socialism was wiped out in Europe. On a world scale the international communist movement received several shocks. The transition of modern revisionism to social-democracy was completed. In our country the DKP went down, the daily "Land & Folk" was liquidated and the youth organization DKU was shut down. The remains of the DKP were transformed from a party into a loosely knit network organization, today functioning as a special grouping within the "Enhedslisten" party.

The breakdown of the DKP was also the start of "Kommunistisk Forum", that was transformed into the "Kommunistisk Parti i Danmark" (KPiD). This party maintains the programmatic modern revisionism and defends Soviet revisionism in the shape it acquired in the Brezhnev period, but opposes Gorbachovism.

DKP/ML remained relatively unhurt by the upheaval in the Danish and international communist movement in' the late 80's and early 90's. The party developed its line and tactics for the new period of working class and popular struggle under the so-called "New World order". In accordance with the situation of the communist movement in Denmark the party raised the slogan of unification of the communists in one strong party founded on Marxism-Leninism. In the following years the party took a number of steps to prepare the unification of communists and to create a strong party qualitatively and quantitatively.

In this positive situation this fight saw a serious setback. The central committee of DKP/ML, elected on the 7th congress, and the new chairman of the party Jurgen Petersen decided to exclude the former chairman Klaus Riis, the veteran communist Frede Klitgrd, as well as former CC-member and district leader in Copenhagen Dorte Grena. At the same time - and contrary to the decisions of the congress -a new anti-Leninist conception of the party and a new direction of the construction of the party was launched.

The lightning and putsch-like exclusions were the climax of a party struggle up till the 7th congress, that divided the Central committee and the party in a majority and a minority on the question of party conception, on what was the main danger for the party and the communist movement, and a number of other strategic and tactical questions.

The exclusions lead to a split of the party. A big minority of about a third of the party left. The DKP/ML was divided into a strongly reduced party and a group of excluded/seceded members about half the size of the party. The split of the DKP/ML in a favorable situation for the party and for the unification of the communists in one strong party is a serious setback for communism in Denmark, which otherwise would be in a positive phase of revival and rebuilding.

The responsibility for this setback, which serves the ruling class and the enemies of communism, and for its many negative consequences, must be assumed by the central committee of the DKP/ML, which has moved from Marxist-Leninist positions towards reconciliation with modern revisionism.

The DKP/ML can no longer be considered the leading force in the communist movement in our country, but has reduced itself to one more small group inspired by revisionism and opportunism.

In spite of this serious setback the fight goes on to surmount the negative consequences to the communist movement in Denmark caused by revisionism and to create a strong communist party on a Marxist-Leninist basis. The necessity of the strong communist party is more urgent than ever in a situation, when imperialism and the ruling bourgeoisie, organized in the "United Europe" of the monopolies, have started a long-term offensive against the working class and its allies in order to eliminate the results of the victories of socialism and the fight of the Danish working class including the destruction of the so-called "welfare society" and the suspension of the Danish national state in favor of the supranational EU. According to the plans of the ruling class Denmark in the future is supposed to act as an aggressive errand boy for bigger imperialist powers and imperialist organizations like NATO and EU, for instance as a participant in imperialist military adventure everywhere on the globe.

The strong communist party is necessary both for a defense of the interests of the working class and its allies - the large majority - in the day to-day fight and for the preparation and the accomplishment of the historic mission of the working class: the creation of the socialist and communist society by overthrowing ruling class and destroying its state apparatus and its links to imperialism and the imperialist agencies by proletarian revolution.

A "peaceful transition to socialism" or transition to socialism "by parliamentary means" is a dangerous and objectively considered anti-revolutionary illusion.

The strong communist party required must surmount the opportunistic, reformist and revisionist illusions and ideas, that are so wide-spread in the working class and even in the revolutionary and communist movement in Denmark, where the bourgeois labor party, the Social Democrats, has had a dominant role, and where modern revisionism in the shape given by SF, "Venstresocialisterne" and the revisionist DKP has had great influence on the most advanced and class conscious part of the working class and the revolutionary movement through decades. This party must master and in a creative manner use the revolutionary theory of scientific socialism, Marxism-Leninism. The main danger for the communist movement and the strong communist party comes from the Right, Right opportunism, that is the influence of reformism and modern revisionism in its different varieties. Also Trotskyism and anarchism in various new varieties are dangers to be disclosed and suppressed.

The strong communist party is not a constituency organization, a parliamentary party, even if it endeavors to master any kind of fight, including the parliamentary arena.

The communist party is the party of revolutionary action, the party of class action and class struggle.

The strong communist party prefers quality to quantity. Not the numeric size of the party, but its revolutionary quality and striking power, including its close relations with the working class and the popular movements, is decisive for its political influence and impact and in order that it can fulfill its mission as the revolutionary vanguard party of the working class. Passive members - that means members in name, but not in fact - do not belong in a communist party that is based on the organized activity of the members through the basic organizations of the party.

The strong communist party brings together the most able members of the working class and the best of the revolutionary minded intellectuals and from other strata. It sharply rejects the reformist and revisionist practice of opening the doors for anyone who wants to become a member of the party, including careerists, pseudo-revolutionaries and agents of all kinds.

The strong communist party is based on the communist organizational principle - Democratic centralism - which develops a lively internal democracy and unique vigor in the implementation of the policy, decided on by the party. The strong communist party stresses the permanent ideological and political education of cadres and members. It strives to ensure a comprehensive communist basic education of all members. ...

WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE

Address:

Oktober, Kommunistisk Politik
Willemoesgade 58 E 2100
Kobenhavn
Denmark
Phone: 45 - 35 43 49 50
E-mail: oktober@post8.tele.dk

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