The revolutionary situation in Iraq is in its early stages and is characterised by the bravery of the masses against the government formed of various parties and currents on basis of sharing power along sectarian and ethnocentric lines and against its various forces and militias. The revolutionary masses broke the barrier of fear on 25^th February 2011 and came to the forefront despite all despotic measures and false propaganda.  The outcome of the revolutionary situation in its early stages and in a short period of time is changing the balance of power between the masses on the one hand and all bourgeois parties, movements and currents taking part in power and the so-called political process on the other hand. This situation has created new polarization and a balance of power on a political level.

The current historical stage is the stage of revolutions and protesting and progressive movements in the Arab World and the entire region. The revolutionary situation and the revolutionary movements are a nightmare for the bourgeois regimes in the region and the world. Therefore, all the powerful bourgeois states including the USA and the West on the one hand and Russia and China on the other hand along the reactionary bourgeois regimes ruling in the region and the bourgeois opposition forces attempt to thwart the revolution. They attempt to do so through striking deals among various bourgeois movements and forces to avert the danger of revolution on themselves and their economic and political interests and, more importantly, on the capitalist political and economic system. The reactionary and tyrannical bourgeois regimes which ruled the countries of this region for the last 40-50 years through brute oppression, violence and denying the rights and the will of workers and the masses of people have done so through the absolute support of the world capitalist states in the East and the West.

These oppressive regimes were vital to produce and reproduce cheap labour force through oppression and lack of freedoms and prevalence of poverty, hunger and unemployment.  The attendance of the workers and the masses in the region in this spectacular revolutionary form has been a major historical turning point to change this global political and economic system. The bell of revolutions to end the age of these oppressive regimes in the region has rung.

The masses and workers in Iraq are inspired by the revolutionary situation in the Arab World, in particular that of Egypt and Tunisia.  They are inspired by the fact that the revolution is ongoing in these two countries despite relentless attempts by the reactionary international regimes and on top the USA and the West to contain and thwart the revolution through few minor reforms. On the other hand hunger, unemployment and lack of political, civil and political freedoms were the direct reason, which pushed the masses into arms of the revolutionary movement asking for radical change on all levels.

The prominent feature of the current protest movements and their just demands is that it represents in reality the demand of changing the political system, as the demands revolve around bread and freedom. This in the end means increase minimum wages, unemployment benefit, Increase rations dispensed as part of the old oil for food programs, abolish the policy of self-finance, ensure political freedoms, prohibit torture, release detainees, dissolve militias, remove current sectarian and ethnocentric councils, end corruption and take corrupted officials to justice.

The protests movements amid the current revolutionary situation and in the framework of the major historical developments in the region cannot advance without pointing their revolutionary and protest arrows at the current political process brought in by the occupation and the tragedies it created for the masses, workers, women and the youth in Iraq. The occupation has thrown all its political, economic, military and intelligence capacity, with the help of its aides from Islamic and Arab and Kurd ethnocentric bourgeois movements, into creating the hell that we have lived during the last eight years. The political process started with dividing Iraq on sectarian basis after decades of dividing the society on the basis of ethnic identity and the eruption of violent sectarian conflicts and killing on the basis of identity, the spread of reactionary ideas and traditions on social level, the impoverishment of the masses, huge unemployment and legalizing corruption in the heart of the sectarian an ethnocentric regime. Today, the masses of workers, women, and the youth have rung the bell of the revolution amid deep revolutionary situation in the region. They have begun a movement for radical change, with human aspirations thirsty of freedom and changing balance of power in its own interest toward building a better world.

The outcomes of the revolutionary situation so far require the revolutionary movement organization, leadership and a clear political vision to be able to take stable revolutionary steps on political, social and organizational levels and new struggle methods so it is able to arm itself with clear political perspective in every stage and achieve its demands and direct rule.

The strategy of the Party for the revolutionary movement in Iraq.

Party’s goal

The revolutionary masses in Iraq came to the forefront raising substantial demands on increasing wages, unemployment benefits, political freedom, abolishing the policy of self-financing, securing electricity and social services, improving staple food items dispensed by the government, prohibition of torture, releasing detainees, abolishing the militias, overthrowing current provinces’ councils and ending corruption. These demands are the hub of the current protests, which ultimately mean overthrowing the current political process.

The practical alternative which can achieve all the demands of the workers, women and the youth is overthrowing the current government and ending current political process with its constitution, sharing power along sectarian and ethnic lines and corruption and building the direct power of the masses i.e. council power.

We believe that the ultimate emancipation is in building a socialist regime, which ensures freedom and equality. We struggle to achieve this goal through building the struggle capacity of the working class and the deprived and freedom loving masses.

Balance of power

The balance of power between the government and protesting masses changes continuously, according to variable factors amid the current revolutionary situation. The strength and size of the demonstrations and protests have not reached the level of a mass uprising. This is despite the revolutionary masses achieving significant gains which represent restraining the government tyranny, undermining its standing and prestige and forcing it to offer some concessions like passing resolutions on employing unemployed people, dispensing cash on the population, increasing the quantity and quality of staple food rations and putting the government performance under the watch of the society for coming 100 days. On the other hand the current situation has deepened the political and governmental crisis, which has already existed as the demands of the masses, and their political movements have become the main points of conflict among different ruling forces and currents. Each force tries to benefit from the force of the masses under the pretext of defending the masses and their demands.

Advancing, expanding, uniting and organizing the demonstrations will deepen the current governmental and political crisis, which may ultimately lead to change of the regime. The revolutionary forces of the protesting movement have not united in organizational forms suitable for the ever developing revolutionary situation. It is not armed with clear political perspective to replace the current government with its own alternative. On the other hand the government derives its power from provinces. This fact was confirmed by the masses that asked for the overthrow of the current provinces’ councils and in fact overthrew many of them. The ruling bourgeois parties and currents derive their political force and influence and even their political standing from the provinces. The overthrowing of the provinces’ councils by the masses is part of this comprehensive work to change the regime.

Mechanism and methods of political work

The common method of struggle so far is holding demonstrations on streets and public squares in many cities. This method must be strengthened. The horizontal expansion of protests and organizing the protests of masses, workers, students, youth and women in all social fields from neighbourhoods to state institutions, to factories, universities and hospital is a struggle suitable for the current revolutionary situation and turning it into a revolution in all sense of the word. Factories and neighbourhoods are suitable frameworks to organize around a clear political vision, as mentioned above and a big step to ripen the revolutionary situation and turning it into revolution.

Different struggle methods can emerge from the current revolutionary situation. All organizational forms and innovations starting from the formation of various youth and student groupings to the committee of neighbourhoods, factories committees or any other form of mass and workers organizations are essential steps to achieve general assemblies and build councils in neighbourhoods and factories. It is also important to form committees to lead protests and coordinate among different fields and organize them according to a clear political vision. All these are different struggle methods, which may lead to organizing the broadest masses to escalate the current revolutionary situation and turning it into a sweeping uprising.

Organizing all these movements under a united field leadership, and not allowing or giving an excuse for the forces of the government and its various militias to turn the protests to acts of violence  and to militarise the society is in the core of the meticulous struggle methods necessary to advance and expand the protests. Formation of various security committees by the demonstrators is essential to protect the demonstrations and demonstrators and to stand up to any act of thuggery and find agents of the government and prevent the demonstrations from turning into acts of looting.

Tasks of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq

The party fights with all its partisan force and all available political means to expand mass and workers protests and raise the organizational and struggle preparedness of their leaders. It struggles to unite the ranks of the protest movements in a sweeping mass movement and to arm it with clear political vision and struggle and organizational methods.

The party will be battle using all its capabilities with the support of the protesting masses to stand against any attempt, in any form by the forces of the government and its militias to turn protesting movements to violence and to militarise the society and protesting places like squares, streets and neighbourhoods.

The Party will battle in every stage of the revolutionary movement to maintain the revolutionary policy of the protest movements and ensure a distinct class policy.

The party will criticise all political attempts by the local or international bourgeois movements, parties and governments to end the revolutionary situation, undermine it or turn it into deals struck behind the curtains. It will stand up to any attempts to damage the reputation and the prestige of the mass movements and their leaders. It will criticise political views and tendencies within the protest movements that try to restrict the protests in narrow political frameworks or push the movements toward violence by alien practices or provocative slogans. The party will struggle to organize protest movements on the level of squares, neighbourhoods, factories, universities and state institutions.

The party will fight to expand the protests in neighbourhoods, factories, universities according to struggle methods suitable for every region and city and building mass, workers, and youth groupings and committees as a form of organization and as a step to organize these movements and expand them horizontally.

The party will fight to organize the protests along the traditions of the council movement across the country. WCP Iraq struggles on cooperation, solidarity and coordination between the protest movements in Iraq and Kurdistan. It struggles to build communist committees, which is an essential step to empower worker-communism and its party.

It battles on to become a capable political party, a social party able to influence the political situation in favour of the working class and the current revolutionary movement.

Urgent tasks

The goal from the urgent tasks:

Overthrowing the current provinces’ councils is a stage in raising the capability of the revolutionary movement and its victory. 

The practical outcome of the revolutionary situation so far is overthrowing a number of ruling provinces’ councils and forcing many governors to resign. Organizing and leading the masses on level of cities and towns around the perspective of overthrowing the current councils and building mass councils as expression of the direct power of the masses are great steps to raise the capability of the revolutionary movement and expanding it as a model for mass authority in cities and towns. These mass councils will strive to end corruption and any attempts to plunder the livelihood of the masses, secure political freedoms ensure unconditional and unrestricted freedom of demonstration and ensure security and social services. These are at the same time steps to pull the rag from under the feet of the Islamic and ethnocentric forces, whose force is based in these cities and towns. Seizing power, in this meaning, in a number of provinces will change balance of power decisively in favour of the revolutionary movement and its active forces and will help expand the movement, raise its preparedness, capability and unity and clarify its perspective to seize power on the scale of the country.

Therefore:

First: Building councils in neighbourhoods and workers councils in factories, and various youth, student and women groupings, gatherings and organizations is a big step to establish the direct masses’ authority and then building provinces’ councils on this basis. These Councils will build through electing the actual representatives from neighbourhood and factory councils and groupings and organizations through general assembly of the resident of the specific suburb or the employees of the specific factory or any other location. The representative of every suburb or factory will elect their representative(s), according to the populations, to represent them in the council of the province. The province council will be formed from representatives from all neighbourhoods, factories and institutions in that province and a governor will be elected from the province council for each province. Every representative and official in these councils will be continuously monitored. Anyone who violates the laws of province or engages in corruption or acts against the interests of the masses will be withdrawn from the post immediately. These will occur through the council that has elected him or her and through regular meetings of the council within maximum period of six months.  The province councils in this sense are an expression of the direct power, decision and the will of the masses.  Elections for the councils should be held every 3-4 years, but the masses do not hand them a blank cheque during this period. As any official or member that is proven to be incompetent will be removed in a maximum period of six months.

Second: We fight to abolish all official institutions, yellow unions and labour, youth and women federations and organizations imposed from above and against the interests of these sections of the society and that try to obstruct the current revolutionary movement. In the same time, the party fights to enable the masses to build their free mass organization, which represent their social movement.

Third: We concentrate on certain regions being on country level or city level according to the development of the mass and party battle. We fight to establish neighbourhoods or factory councils and to consolidate, unite and organize the protests in general in these areas. We struggle to advance the partisan battle in them according to a studied plan.

Fourth:  The party fights to build workers, youth, student and women and other mass groupings according to specific demands and uniting their ranks being on the level of streets, squares, neighbourhoods, factories and universities.

Fifth: The party fights to change and develop mechanisms and methods of the partisan work according to the current situation. It fights to change mechanisms and methods of working of the partisan committees and change party publications in quantity and quality and distributing them according to mechanisms which suit the current situation. Printing publications and booklets for Marx, Lenin, and Mansoor Hekmat.  Partisan organization according to a plan worked out carefully.

We call on all secular and leftist forces and progressive and freedom loving personalities to fully support this plan. We call on them to participate in joint work on specific agendas in each stage of our movement. At the same time we fight to gain the support and solidarity of labour, progressive and freedom loving movement worldwide.

The plenum of the Central Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq

The end of Mars 2011

The concluding statement of the 24^th plenum of the Central Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq

The Central Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq-WCPIraq held its 24^th exceptional plenum on 28^th March 2011. In attendance was the majority of its members and a delegate from the leadership of the Worker-communist Party of Kurdistan- WCPKurditan formed of Othman Alhaj Marif, the secretary of the party and Khisro Saya, the member of Politburo. The meeting was also attended by members of the party’s committees in Basra, Nasyria, Salahadeen and Baghdad, and heads of the youth and mass organizations.

The plenum was commenced by Internationale and a minute of silence was followed in commemoration of those who sacrificed themselves for the cause of socialism, freedom and equality and those who fell in fields of the latest revolutionary struggle in Iraq and the region.

Then, Faris Mahmood, the secretary of the Central Committee gave the opening speech. He  stressed the extraordinary nature of the current stage in the political and social life of the society in Iraq and the region and that this situation is one of the very significant  consequences of the deep economic crisis which engulf the international capitalist system. He also stressed that this revolutionary situation and the revolutionary movements in Iraq and the region provide a historical opportunity for the communists and the Worker-communist movement and the Worker-communist Party. He also stressed the importance of the current stage to develop and strengthen the party through leading and advancing the current revolutionary situation which has huge international dimensions through its political and struggle means. Then a committee was elected to chair the meeting.  This was followed by endorsing the agenda which included:

·         On the current revolutionary situation

·         The practical-political plan of the party for the current revolutionary changes

·         The fifth congress of the party

·         Other resolutions and articles

·         Elections

The discussion started with the first article. Faris Mahmood presented a thesis about the current revolutionary situation. He emphasised the importance of the current situation, an unprecedented revolutionary situation in the temporary history of Iraq and the region, both locally and internationally.  He touched on the causes of this situation; on the one hand corruption, poverty, hunger, unemployment, lack of social service and lack of social and individual freedoms. This included the accumulation of large wealth at hands of a handful of officials of ruling political parties on the other hand. He also broached the effect of the revolutions in the region and in Tunisia and Egypt in particular on the current revolutionary situation in Iraq. Faris concluded his thesis by talking about the endeavour to remove the current government and build a council power based on the free will of the masses and their direct and conscious involvement.

The attendees discussed this thesis from political, practical and organizational aspects. The meeting stressed that the events in Iraq are a normal outcome of the class struggle on the one hand. On the other hand is the current and ongoing revolutionary developments in the Arab World and the region as a strong revolutionary wave which is overthrowing the ruling bourgeois dictatorships. The attendees also stressed the importance of the political vision and perspective of the revolutionary movement and identifying different stages of its progression according to the revolutionary mood of the masses of people. They also declared the importance of organizing this movement, raising its revolutionary capacity and directing it according to meticulous tactics in every stage and leading it to the goal of the revolution. This goal being achieving the aspirations and demands of the protestors and building council power which reflects the direct power of the masses. After detailed discussions the meeting decided on issuing a statement on the current revolutionary situation according to the political view adopted by the meeting.

Then, Saman Karim presented a thesis on the practical political plan to face the current situation and ways to push the revolutionary situation to revolution according to the communist struggle methods and traditions in all levels including  on streets and squares in various cities and neighbourhoods, factories, state  institutions and  universities. The thesis tackled two main issues: the political view of the working class and the Worker-communist Movement and the importance of maintaining the political independence of the revolutionary movement in every revolutionary stage; and developing and expanding the mass, workers and the youth protests and extending them to all parts of the society by various struggle methods.  The thesis was then discussed and the meeting concentrated on the role of the working class and importance of advancing its political movements as class political movements with distinct class views and aspirations. The meeting also explored the importance of the class independence of the party in different revolutionary stages and its role in developing the protests in various fields of political and class struggle.

The attendees stressed that all acts of violence in this stage is not in favour of the protestors and their revolutionary cause, especially the ruling militia are trying in many ways to divert the course of the current protests to violence and chaos as is the case in Libya. The meeting emphasised that mass and partisan mobilizing and organization and creating various mass organizational frameworks in different fields of struggle is a suitable mean to push the movement toward growing, progressing and building capacity and then achieving its goals and demands. The meeting decided to write a practical political plan for the party according to the views endorsed by the meeting.

The fifth congress was postponed recently by the politburo due to the rapid revolutionary developments in Iraq. The meeting endorsed the decision of the politburo and authorised it to decide on a new date for convening this congress any time it sees suitable.

The meeting was concluded by the article of resolutions and a number of organizational matters of the party. The endorsed resolutions include; launching a wide political campaign against torture and arrests which take place against demonstrators and their leaders in Baghdad and other cities, and launching a fundraising campaign to enable the party to carry out its plan and other resolutions.

In the end, in the election article, Saman Karim was elected secretary of the Central Committee and Azad Ahmad as his deputy. The 24^th plenum thanked Faris Mahmood for leading the party in the previous period. The meeting elected nine members to politburo and they are ; Faris Mahmood, Samir Adil, Moyad Ahmad, Mohammad Azia, Rashid Ismail, Ramathan Saber and Nadia mahmood in addition to the secretary and his deputy. The meeting concluded its work with Internationale.

30^th March 2011.