1. For Leninist Bolsheviks, the definition of our political orientation must, in all circumstances, include the analysis of the objective conditions, of the social forces involved , of the positions of the different components of the workers’ movement and also the appreciation of the state of mind of the masses (including their illusions).
2. The starting point cannot be the state of mind of the masses, which is always full of illusions.
3. We are on the road to an all-out war. The dominant imperialism must confront the Moscow oligarchy. It is also confronting its own contradictions, which are those of the system of private ownership of the means of production in its death throes.
In this context, France is today the weak link in the imperialist chain, the sick man of Europe. 9 June marks a new stage in the collapse of French imperialism. A collapse that threatens the entire chain of imperialism. This is the context for our analysis.
a) The main source of the crisis in French imperialism is the bourgeoisie’s inability to catch up with its competitors. This is due in particular to the resistance of the working class to the undermining of the value of its labour power.
b) As a result, the crisis of the Fifth Republic is a consequence – deferred, refracted, distorted – of the resistance of the working class, which for 80 years – the revolutionary crisis of 1944-45 – has clung to the defense of the gains that imperialism and its governments are constantly seeking to undermine.
c) On 9 June, it was Macron who was hit. Macron who, by virtue of his position as President of the Republic, and also by virtue of the way in which he has carried himself forward in the last period, has exposed the keystone of the institutions to imminent collapse. This constitutes a threat to the institutions as a whole, and beyond that to the bourgeois state of which they are the envelope.
d) The objective of the dissolution of the national assembly / Parliament is clear from these elements: the political regime of the Ve Republic must be saved. This regime is inseparable from the preservation of the bourgeois state and the social system based on private ownership of the means of production.
e) It is a question, as Macron himself said , of trying to achieve a broadening of the social basis of the regime in one way or another, this because with the 2/3 of the votes lost by Macron in 2 years, his basis is far too narrow to allow him to ensure the enforcement of his tasks in the 3 years of the end of the mandate.
f) Macron can attempt this gamble – the success of which is not guaranteed – because he knows that all the political forces involved are in agreement to preserve him, Macron, and through him to preserve the presidency , and therefore the Ve Republic, and therefore the social regime of private ownership of the means of production. This is true in all cases, except the one in which the irruption of the masses upsets his plans. It should be noted that the essential point of the programme of the new Popular Front is the preservation of the institutions.
4) In this context, everyone’s agreement to provide the means for the war in Ukraine to continue is a major cement in the sacred union. The agreement on armaments and their financing is essential. The nuances on the commitment of ground troops are a secondary difference.
5) Before and after 9 June, an essential characteristic of the situation is the fact that the masses started to move, on their own ground, that of their demands. 9 June was and is seen (more or less consciously) as an encouragement to go further down this road.
6) Back in June 2021, in a resolution passed by our plenum , we pointed out that “the Ve Republic on the road to implosion” called for “the urgent need for an improbable popular front”. It took only 4 days to finalise the “programme” and coalition of the popular front, whose main function is to try to contain the class movement, to embed it within the institutions of the bourgeois state.
7) We must always remember the characterisation of the Popular Front, which is for the Fourth Internationale an element of programmatic delimitation: “the Popular Fronts on the one hand, fascism on the other, are the last political resources of imperialism in the struggle against the proletarian revolution”. This “new Popular Front” has the same counter-revolutionary content as its predecessors, with the difference compared to 1936 that the alliance with the political half-cadaver of the bourgeoisie did not involve a party like the Radical Socialist Party. The alliance with the bourgeoisie is first and foremost :
a) a commitment to preserving all the political institutions of the bourgeois order: the Ve Republic, the European Union, NATO and the ECB. At the moment, this is concentrated on one point: preserving Macron. Submission to the institutions is concentrated in the fact that everyone is preparing to govern with Macron, which means continuing to submit to the representatives of the capitalist order.
b) The other part of the link with the bourgeoisie is the war in Ukraine. And through this, the commitment to join the camp of imperialism, which is not just a military camp, but the camp of the preservation of the interests of the dominant imperialism.
8) To this end, a particular feature of the Popular Front is the emphasis placed on the need to discipline the working class. The unions are called upon to become the conveying belt of the popular front. They are tasked with channelling the class movement along the lines of “all demands raise a single question: the popular front vote”. This position threatens the independence of the trade unions. In other words, their capacity to be a factor in organising the class movement. In the event of a Popular Front victory, it paves the way for a forced march towards corporatist integration. More than ever, we remain on the line we adopted in 1946: we reject the subordination of the unions to the party. We are working with activists of all persuasions who want to preserve the independence of the unions.
9) The special role played by the CCI should be noted in this context.
Three facts in the recent period.
a) In La France Insoumise ( France Unbowed ) , where the CCI now has at least ten seats as candidates or substitutes for the legislative election, they are at the forefront of the normalisation aimed at ousting MPs, officials and activists opposed to Mélenchon.
b) Secondly, in Force Ouvrière, where they went so far as to organise a block vote in the Confederal Executive Committee on whether the Confederation should join the calls for demonstrations this weekend, breaking the unity of the “confederal majority” at the last confederal congress on this point. Formally, this weekend’s demonstrations are being called by the trade unions against the far right, in support of the demands. Admittedly, this is a thinly disguised operation aimed at getting the trade unions to mobilise in favour of the “popular front” vote. But there will undoubtedly be hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. The fact remains that, in all circumstances, the trade unions must maintain their independence from governmental coalitions today and governments tomorrow. We understand that politically the class movement will be present at these demonstrations with illusions. In this situation, there is no contradiction in our opposing the rallying of the trade unions to the popular front, and in being present in these demonstrations, without rallying to the popular front, in a totally independent way, on our programme, on our call, under our flags. Not only is this not contradictory, but it is a totally coherent position.
c) Third aspect: it is not insignificant that in the same week the front page of Informations ouvrières reproduced the appeal of the new Popular Front and that the last page of the same paper announced a new format for the review La Vérité, which becomes a review of discussion and international information without any formal reference to being an “organ of the IVe International” and that t h e sickle, hammer and 4 disappeared from the cover.
10) In accordance with the Programme, and perhaps even more so today than in the past, the Fourth Internationale does not and cannot have any place in any popular front.
11) We have no place in the Popular Front, but we learned from comrade Lambert to “fight illusions on the terrain of illusions”, i.e. to extract from the “illusions” about the treacherous policies of the apparatuses the healthy core of aspirations which drive the masses to the struggle against the bourgeois state. To do this, we must be able to formulate the demand for breaking with the bourgeoisie in a way that is easy to grasp. The PT’s National Bureau communiqué “Block the road to reactionary policies , out with Macron, workers unity ” expresses this. It affirms both the need to block the road to Bardella, etc. and to put an end to Macron and the Vth Republic, it is part of the mobilisation of millions, it puts forward the slogan “not one vote for the far right, the right, etc.”. At the heart of this appeal is the need for a workers’ government of rupture . We can of course be led to change these formulations on a daily basis.
12) The logical consequence of this position is the decision to stand 20 candidates who combine the demand for a workers’ rupture with the instruction for the 2nd round “Not one vote for the far right, the right, the Macronists, reactionary politics in all its forms”.
13) The only reasons that limit our independent candidacies to 20 are reasons of strength and finance. There may be a few tactical considerations here and there, but they are marginal.
14) We shouldn’t be surprised or even worried by the fact that there is now a movement of both mobilisation and, no doubt, support for the old organisations (including La France insoumise, which also occupies their space by default). This confirms an analysis we’ve already made in the past: in the first stage of their mobilisation, the masses turn to their traditional organisations, whether trade union or political. We learned the lessons of our own history in the revolutionary wave of 1945.
15) This does not mean that the prospects for growth for the IVth International are limited, quite the contrary. We must consider the phase that opened on 9 June – and no one can say when it will close – as extremely favourable to our strengthening in all aspects, on three conditions:
a) remain firmly focused on building the independent revolutionary party, whatever the forms of transition.
b) to formulate our policy, not in denunciation and even less in adaptation, but on a single front that embraces the aspirations of the masses to formulate the need for unity on the basis of rupture.
c) That this orientation be expressed both in propaganda for a government of workers’ rupture and, above all, in independent political activity in the class struggle.
16) Because whatever the developments of the situation, we must understand and make the workers around us understand that the solution will not come from any parliamentary or governmental combination. Our orientation must be that developed by Trotsky in his luminous text of November 1935 opposing the struggle for action committees to the policy of the Popular Front. We must at all levels of the organisation examine the possibility of implementing this orientation in a way that is adapted to the situation.
17) On this basis, priority should be given to recruitment to the IVth International. That is to say, the World Party of Socialist Revolution, which fights to help the masses impose the rupture through their own movement. All the branches will draw up a list of those invited to our branches on 19 and 20 June and will make arrangements to ensure their presence.
18) Even with 20 candidates, the “election campaign” is a central task for the whole organisation. The CFN of the Workers’ Party will be called upon to make the campaign arrangements.
19) Since 9 June, there have been discussions, nuances and disagreements within our ranks. This is normal. They have been overcome by free discussion, careful not to impose anything but to bring people together on the basis of political homogeneity. This is the strength of the French section of the Fourth International and of its militants freely associated on the basis of the Programme.
Passed unanimously by the members of the national leadership on 15 June at 1pm.
Rebuilding the FI in Canada 