| Workers' Party of Belgium Partij van de Arbeid van België Parti du Travail de Belgique |
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|---|---|
| Leader | Peter Mertens |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Preceded by | AMADA |
| Headquarters | M.Lemonnierlaan 171, 1000 Brussels |
| Ideology | Marxism-Leninism Maoism (Historical) |
| International affiliation | International Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties, International Communist Seminar |
| European affiliation | None |
| Official colours | Red |
| Website | |
| www.pvda.be (Dutch) www.ptb.be (French) |
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| Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections |
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The Workers' Party of Belgium (Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid van België, PVDA, French: Parti du Travail de Belgique, PTB) is a Marxist[1] political party in Belgium. It is one of the few parties that operates as a single Belgian party. Most other parties are either Flemish or Francophone.
The PVDA-PTB hosts the International Communist Seminar, which in recent years has become one of the main worldwide gatherings of communist parties.[2]
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The Workers' Party of Belgium originated in the student movement at the end of the 1960s. Radicalized students (organized in the student union SVB - Studenten VakBeweging), mainly from the Catholic University of Leuven, turned towards the working-class movement. They considered the politics of the existing Communist Party of Belgium revisionist, i.e. too much turned toward the social-democratic politics (represented in Belgium by the Belgian Socialist Party). They were influenced by the ideas of the Communist Party of China, guerrilla movements in Latin America, the movement against the Vietnam War, the Leuven-Vlaams movement, all perceived as aspects of a worldwide struggle against colonial or neocolonial oppression and for civil or workers' rights.
Their support and participation in an important strike in the coalmines turned the movement into a political party. They founded a periodical, AMADA (Alle Macht Aan De Arbeiders - all power to the workers), which became the first name of their party. In 1979 the first congress was held, which adopted a Maoist programme and changed the name into PVDA-PTB. Ludo Martens became the first president, and remained an important ideologist of the party until his death in 2011.
On March 2, 2008 the PTB has closed its eighth Congress. It was placed under the sign of renewal. He, among others, adopted new statutes and elected a new Central Committee. It has elected a new president in the person of Peter Mertens. The latter is 39 years old, graduated in sociology from the University of Ghent, including author "The working class in the era of transnational corporations" (Marxist Studies No. 72 - www.marx.be)
Recent developments
Following his electoral defeat of 2003 on, the PTB has fundamentally changed its working methods and communication. On the one hand, the PTB said it would refocus on working with factory workers as well as field work in communities where it operates. On the other hand, the PTB said officially break with what he calls his sectarian past to get closer to the concrete demands of citizens. This is an authentic Marxist must blend in with the people as a fish in water (Mao). This is reflected particularly by the claims put forward very concrete progress on lower drug prices, the reduction of VAT on energy products from 21% to 6%, an increase of the minimum pension, better control of rents or the lower cost of trash bags.
In view of the Belgian elections of June 2007, the Solidarity newspaper and the website of the party were merged in order to reach a wider public. The structures have also been "open" to a broader layer of activists.
On March 2, 2008, the work of the Eighth Congress of the PTB have been completed at a closing meeting at the VUB. This Congress has been placed under the sign of a "party renewal." The Central Committee elected to Congress VIIIime PTB in turn elected a new Bureau of the Party. It consists of:
Peter Mertens, 39. President
Neufcourt Lydia, 54. Responsible for expanding the party
Hedebouw Raoul, 31. National voice of the PTB
Jef Bruynseels, 58. Head of union relations
Cottenier Jo, 61. Responsible for the socio-economic issues
Baudouin Deckers, 62. Head of International Relations. Former Secretary General of the PTB.
Hasaers January, 41. Communication Manager.
David Pestieau, 39. Editor of Solidarity.
This 'shift' seems to have produced some positive results as a slight increase in membership and a rebound (albeit moderate) the electoral score of the PTB in the last elections. There is also an increase in media coverage of the party (even if it is still extremely low). During his VIIIième congress, the party reaffirmed the Marxist principles firm but flexible approach to the citizen. Playing politics with people and not for people!
More than 4500 members in June 2011 Its weekly publication "Solidarity / Solidarity" has between 3,000 and 5,000 subscribers. Comac its youth movement is active in all the universities in Belgium and in secondary schools (both in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels). Eleven medical centers of Medicine for the people.
The four law firms progressive "Progress Lawyers Network".
The PTB boss a Marxist Studies Institute organizes every year a summer school and publishes the quarterly journal Studies Marxists.
The PTB, the newspaper Solidarity and medical centers Medicine for the People (which provide access to free primary care and quality) create "Manifiesta", the festival of solidarity between communities and the left Belgium. The first edition was held in Bredene (at sea) 25 September 2010 and brought together 6,000 people from both North and South of Belgium.
In the municipal elections of 2006 the PVDA-PTB won the best score in Zelzate, where it obtained 21,67 % of the vote and 6 out of 23 seats in the municipal council. Also in seven other municipalities or city districts the party is now represented in the council: Hoboken, Herstal, Deurne, Genk, La Louvière, Lommel and Seraing.
The general elections of 2007 saw the PVDA-PTB obtaining 0.88 % in the Flemish electoral district and 0.81 % in Wallonia.
In the regional elections in 2009 the PVDA-PTB gained 1.04 % of the vote in Flanders (+ 0.48) and 1.24 % of the vote in Wallonia (+ 0.62). For the European elections on the same day the results were: 0.98 % in the Dutch-speaking electoral college (+ 0.37) and 1.16 % in the French-speaking electoral college (+ 0.35).
The progress is very limited in Wallonia and much stronger in Flanders. In total, the PTB to improve its score of approximately 18 000 votes compared to 2003 and 10 000 votes compared to the 2004 European elections to a total of 55,000 votes.
In the General elections of June 2010 the PTB growed a little bit. In Flanders it now represents 1,3 % (+0,4%) of the votes for the chamber of representatives and 1,4 % (+0,5%) for the senate. Especially in the cities progress was noted with high scores in Antwerp (4,1%) andt Liège (4,2%). The highest score was gained in the region of Herstal (9,8%), Assenede (7,5%) and Seraing (7,3%), places where the PTB traditionally is strong.
While acknowledging that this is not a solid progress, the PTB is satisfied, however, his score makes him the first indisputably electoral party of the radical left in Belgium, before the PC and PSL. However, the PTB makes a renewal of qualifying left party but always referring to Marxism. In June 2010, days before the election in 2010 after the fall of the government led by the liberal Open VLD, polls give the PTB to 1.9% of voting intentions for Sunday, June 13, 2010. It was not as far as the poll gave him but has doubled its number of votes at the last election was 101,000 votes out of the whole of Belgium.
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