French Communist Party Adopts Alternate Text Ahead of Conference

Members of the French Communist Party (PCF) march in France.

In preparation for the thirty-eighth national party conference for the French Communist Party (PCF), party members have, for the first time in the party’s history, adopted a text other than the one endorsed by the PCF’s National Council. Party members voted from October 4 to 6 to choose a text known as a common base to set topics for discussion at the upcoming party conference, to be held on October 13 and 14.

With 42 percent of the vote, the membership adopted an alternate text titled, “For a Manifesto of the Communist Party of the Twenty-first Century” instead of the text proposed by the party’s National Council, titled “Communism is the Question of the Twenty-First Century” which received 38 percent of the vote. Additionally, two other alternative texts were offered that received 12 and 8 percent of the vote, respectively.

The national secretary of the PCF, Pierre Laurent, has occupied his post since 2010, although rumors are circulating of his replacement. Laurent has reacted to the vote against the party establishment, saying “I respect the choices of the communists.” In addition, he has called for unity within the party. “The coming weeks call us all to work together. I will put all my energy into it,” said Laurent.

The likely successor to the national secretary is André Chassaigne, the president of the communist group in the National Assembly and a proponent of the alternate text adopted by the membership.

The alternate text was written largely in response to recent setbacks for the PCF. In the 2017 legislative elections, the PCF received only 2.7 percent of the national popular vote for the National Assembly, the worst electoral results in the party’s history. Additionally, in the 2017 presidential election, the party did not run an independent candidate. Instead, the party membership endorsed Jean-Luc Mélenchon of Unsubmissive France (FI) by a narrow 53.6 percent vote. Mélenchon later received 20 percent of the vote in the first round of elections for the French presidency, coming out in fourth place closely behind François Fillon.

“For a Manifesto of the Communist Party of the Twenty-first Century” calls for the PCF to re-establish and reinvigorate, from the bottom up, a party that has been on the decline. The text encourages debate within the party to reassess the situation of the party and the world after such poor results in the last election. It contends that the text endorsed by the National Council comes from the same inaction and incomprehensible strategy which has been causing the party to decline over the last decades. In more concrete terms, it calls for the PCF to field strong candidates for upcoming 2019 European Parliament elections and an independent communist candidate for the French presidency in 2022.

Still, much remains to be determined, and the text acknowledges and encourages debates around more specific policies at the upcoming party conference.