New Left Current Explained

Country:	Greece
Colorcode:	D0040C
New Left Current for the Communist Liberation
Native Name:	Νέο Αριστερό Ρεύμα για την Κομμουνιστική Απελευθέρωση
Flag:	Nar-simaia-02.jpg
Foundation:	1990
Headquarters:	Athens
Youth Wing:	Youth Communist Liberation
Ideology:	Communism Anti-capitalism New Left Eco-socialism
Split:	KKE
National:	Antarsya
Colours:	Red
Website:	http://www.narnet.gr

The New Left Current (Greek, Modern (1453-);: '''Νέο Αριστερό Ρεύμα για την Κομμουνιστική Απελευθέρωση'''; Neo Aristero Revma, NAR) is a communist political party in Greece, formed in 1990 mainly by former members of the youth organization of the Communist Party of Greece.

Background

In 1989, following the June and November general legislative elections in Greece, after which no party obtained the necessary majority to be able to form a government, the New Democracy and Synaspismos parties agreed to form a coalition government led by New Democracy's Tzannis Tzannetakis, as prime minister.^[1]

The Synaspismos party was an electoral alliance between the Communist Party of Greece, aka KKE, and the Greek Left party. The coalition government's stated, primary objective was to deal with the Koskotas scandal, ostensibly linked to PASOK's leadership. The decision of the KKE to enter into a government with the liberal-conservative party of New Democracy was met with objections by many of its members, with the strongest ones coming from the party's youth organization.^[2]

The dissidents held the majority in the Youth organization's leadership council and, from November 1989 onward, held a series of meetings and assemblies throughout the country against the "electoral coalition with the Right." The Communist Youth's Secretary General Yannis Grapsas, asked whether he will follow the party's directives, states publicly "I will certainly not obey," the first time that such a disagreement from the Youth leader is revealed in public. In response, KKE expels the dissidents from the Youth organization, along with a significant number of the organization's members.^[3]

At the same time, prominent members of the Communist Party itself, such as Kostas Kappos,^[4] leave KKE.^[5]

Establishment

Following a December 1989 country-wide meeting of sympathizers, a tentative platform is put into circulation, titled "Proposal for a dialogue: For a new prospect of the Left in 1990's Greece," that clearly aims at establishing a new organization.

On 10 and 11 February 1990, the 1st All-Greece Assembly of the New Left Current is held in the facilities of the Athens Polytechnic, in which some four hundred elected representatives from across the country participate, vote on the party's political platform, and elect the Co-ordination Committee.^{[3] [6]}

The Communist Party denounces NAR as "opportunists" and "social democrats", accusing the new party that, in demanding the "re-nationalization of privatized public enterprises," supports the delusion of state capitalism.^[7] Other voices of the Left, accuse NAR of promoting the notion of "managing the capitalist system" rather than replacing it with socialism, and, also, of "smearing KKE."^[8]

Ideology

Αs related by Political Committee member Dimitris Desyllas, the New Left Current supports the collaboration within the movement of the "fighting Left" for the implementation of a radical, anti-capitalist program.^[2] NAR's political objectives are denoted as capitalism's overthrow and the establishment of a workers' democracy in a communist regime. The basic tenets of such a regime would be the end of private, capitalist ownership of the means of production in ever "basic" sector of the economy, control of production by workers' councils, and freedom of expression in society.^[9]

Τhe New Left Current supports the notion that capitalism has evolved beyond what Lenin denoted as its uppermost, ultimate stage, that of imperialism,^[10] into a "totalitarian capitalism," a state of affairs that could not have been foreseen at the time, according to NAR's position, since "inter-state totalities," such as the European Union, did not yet exist.^[11]

Elections: alliances and votes

Soon after its inception, the New Left Current has entered into co-operations and alliances, permanent or tactical/electoral, with other formations of the left.

In 1990, NAR participated in the general election as "New Left Current - People's Opposition" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Νέο Αριστερό Ρεύμα - Λαϊκή Αντιπολίτευση) and received 14,365 votes or 0,22% of the total. Ex-KKE Central Committee member Kostas Kappos was a prominent figure in the party's electoral campaign. In 1993, NAR joined the Left Struggle political coalition, along with the Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece), the Communist Party of Greece (Marxist-Leninist), and the Workers' Revolutionary Party. The Struggle received 8,160 votes in 1993 and 10,443 votes in the 1996 general elections, or 0.11% and 0.21% respectively of the total. In December 1990, Kappos left NAR^[12] and, though he never officially returned to the Communist Party, he would declare he'd never left the KKE.^[13]

In 1999, NAR, the Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece, and the Workers Revolutionary Party, along with other, smaller formations of the left, allied themselves as the Radical Left Front. Some ten years after, in 2009, the New Left Current participates in the broader coalition of ANTARSYA.

Various former NAR members became prominent figures in the Syriza party, some of them becoming ministers in the Suriza government as well, such as Nadia Valavani, Nikos Kotzias, Pavlos Polakis, and others.^[9] Foundational NAR member Kostas Kappos, one of the most heavily tortured prisoners of the 1967-74 dictatorial regime, enjoyed the respect of the Greek left's whole ideological spectrum, as shown by the expressions of mourning upon his 2005 death, such as the KKE obituary.^{[14] [15]}

Election results

Results since 1990 (year links to election page) Year Type of Election Electoral coalition Votes % Representatives 1990 Parliament Popular Opposition 14,365 0.21% 0/300 1993 Parliament Left Struggle 8,160 0.11% 0/300 1994 European Parliament Left Movement Against EU 14,006 0.21% 0/25 1996 Parliament Left Struggle 10,416 0.15% 0/300 1999 European Parliament MERA^1 10,884 0.17% 0/25 2000 Parliament MERA 8,183 0.11% 0/300 2004 Parliament MERA 11,285 0.15% 0/300 2004 European Parliament MERA 13,387 0.22% 0/24 2007 Parliament MERA 11,859 0.17% 0/300 2009 European Parliament ANTARSYA^2 21,951 0.43% 0/22 2009 Parliament ANTARSYA 24,737 0.36% 0/300 2010 Regional ANTARSYA 97,496 1.80% 7/725 2012 Parliament ANTARSYA 75,439 1.19% 0/300 2012 Parliament ANTARSYA 20.389 0,33% 0/300 2014 Regional ANTARSYA 128,154 2.27% 9/703 2014 European Parliament ANTARSYA 41,299 0.72% 0/21 2015 Parliament ANTARSYA - MARS^3 39,497 0.64% 0/300 2015 Parliament ANTARSYA - EEK^4 46,094 0.85% 0/300 2019 ANTARSYA 36,327 0.64% 0/21 2019 Regional ANTARSYA 87,676 1.62% 13/703 2019 Parliament ANTARSYA 23,239 0.41% 0/300 May 2023 Parliament ANTARSYA 31,746 0.54% 0/300 June 2023 Parliament ANTARSYA 15,969 0.31% 0/300 ^1 Radical Left Front ^2 Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow ^3 Left Front Coalition ^4 Workers Revolutionary Party

Youth League

The New Left Current's youth organization, the Youth of Communist Liberation (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Νεολαία Κομμουνιστική Απελευθέρωση or nKA), participates in the United Independent Left Movement, a coalition of left-wing student formations, and is active in the country's educational institutions.^[16]

By the 2010s, nKA has come to define itself as "politically autonomous."^[17]

See also

• Revolutions of 1989
• List of political parties in Greece

External links

• New Left Current official page
• Youth of Communist Liberation official page

Notes and References

1. News: Chrostodoulou. Kostis. 2 July 2014. Τέλος εποχής: Από τον Συνασπισμό των Φλωράκη και Κύρκου στον Σύριζα του Τσίπρα. Greek. End of an era: From the Alliance of Florakis and Kyrkos to Tsipras' Syriza. I Efimerida. 10 December 2023. 19 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220819043700/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/. dead.
2. News: Markopoulos. Yorgos. 1 January 2020. Καίριες απαντήσεις σε καίρια ερωτήματα προς τον Δημήτρη Δεσύλλα. Greek. Timely answers by Dimitris Desyllas to timely questions. Pantiera. 10 December 2023. 9 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209230226/http://pandiera.gr/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%AF%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B5%CF%82-%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%AE%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%82-%CF%83%CE%B5-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%AF%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%B5%CF%81%CF%89%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1/. live.
3. Web site: Η ανταρσία της ΚΝΕ 1989 - Χρονικό . Greek . The 1989 KNE rebellion - Chronicle . NAR . 20 September 2019 . narnet . 10 December 2023 . 19 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119234540/https://narnet.gr/articles/%CE%B7-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%81%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%BD%CE%B5-1989-%CF%87%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C . live .
4. Kappos, as member of the Greek Parliament, representing KKE, refused to give a confidence vote for the New Democracy-Synaspismos government in June 1989 and was expelled from the party's Central Committee. See in.gr (2005).
5. News: 11 September 2005. Πέθανε o Κώστας Κάππος, πρώην κοινοβουλευτικός εκπρόσωπος του ΚΚΕ. Greek. Kostas Kappos, ex-KKE MP, died. in.gr. 10 December 2023. 9 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209145845/https://www.in.gr/2005/09/11/greece/pethane-o-kwstas-kappos-prwin-koinoboyleytikos-ekproswpos-toy-kke/. live.
6. NAR's Co-ordination Committee became in a short time its Political Committee. See Pantiera (2020).
7. News: January–March 2023. The opportunist current in a dead end again. Greek. Το οπορτουνιστικό ρεύμα ξανά σε αδιέξοδο. Communist Review. 10 December 2023. 30 September 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230930030653/https://www.komep.gr/m-article/To-oportoynistiko-rema-ksana-se-adieksodo/. live.
8. News: Mottas. Nikos. 10 February 2019. ANTARSYA: The specialists of opportunism as KKE smearers. Greek. ΑΝΤΑΡΣΥΑ: Οι επιστήμονες του οπορτουνισμού σε ρόλο συκοφάντη ενάντια στο ΚΚΕ. Atechnos. 10 December 2023. 4 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220704094126/https://atexnos.gr/%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%81%CF%83%CF%85%CE%B1-%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85-%CE%BF%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BD/. live.
9. News: Mottas. Nikos. 4 December 2023. NAR: The left party in which members were Kotzias, Valavani, and ...Polakis. Greek. ΝΑΡ: Το κόμμα της Αριστεράς στο οποίο ήταν ο Κοτζιάς, η Βαλαβάνη και ο… Πολάκης. Atechnos. 10 December 2023. 9 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209145843/https://www.mononews.gr/politics/nar-to-komma-tis-aristeras-sto-opio-itan-o-kotzias-i-valavani-ke-o-polakis. live.
10. Web site: Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Lenin. Vladimir. Vladimir Lenin. Marxists Internet Archive. 2018. 1916. Marxists.org. 10 December 2023. 18 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211218082710/https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/. live.
11. News: June 1997. The Co-ordinating Committee positions: The modern capitalist society - new stage of capitalism's evolution and crisis. Greek. Θέσεις Σ.Ε.: Η σύγχρονη καπιταλιστική κοινωνία - Νέο στάδιο ανάπτυξης και κρίσης του καπιταλισμού. NAR. narnet. 10 December 2023. 23 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231123010815/https://narnet.gr/content/%CE%B8%CE%AD%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%82-%CF%83%CE%B5-%CE%B7-%CF%83%CF%8D%CE%B3%CF%87%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%B7-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE-%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BD%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CE%BD%CE%AD%CE%BF-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%BF-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%AC%CF%80%CF%84%CF%85%CE%BE%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AF%CF%83%CE%B7%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%8D. live.
12. Web site: Κώστας Κάππος . Greek. Kostas Kappos. . 2023 . 10 December 2023.
13. News: 10 September 2018. Κώστας Κάππος: 'Ποτέ δεν έφυγα από το ΚΚΕ. Είναι δυνατόν να αρνούμαστε και τις ιδέες μας τώρα;'. Greek. Kostas Kappos: I never left KKE. Can we really fefure our ideology?. Katiousa. 10 December 2023. 10 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231210133109/https://www.katiousa.gr/afieromata-istoria/100-chronia-kke-50-chronia-kne/kostas-kappos-pote-den-efiga-apo-to-kke/. live.
14. News: 13 September 2005 . 'Εφυγε' ο Κώστας Κάππος. Greek. Kostas Kappos 'gone' . . 10 December 2023.
15. News: 15 October 2017. Κώστας Κάππος – Το μόνο που δεν ήξερε ήταν η αντοχή του. Greek. Kostas Kappos - The one thing he did not know was his endurance. Katiousa. 10 December 2023. 10 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231210165108/https://www.katiousa.gr/istoria/prosopa-istoria/kostas-kappos-mono-pou-den-iksere-itan-antochi-tou/. live.
16. Web site: Youth Communist Liberation. Ανακοίνωση νΚΑ για τις φοιτητικές εκλογές. nKA announcement for the student elections. el. 23 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120204112136/http://www.nka.gr/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=405. nKA. 4 February 2012 . 10 December 2023.
17. Web site: Youth Communist Liberation. Τι είναι η νΚΑ. What is nKA. nKA. el. 23 May 2011. 10 December 2023. 9 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209145845/https://nka.gr/ti-einai-i-nka/. live.