'Creative illusions': The ‘Left Government’ slogan today

By Mark Phillips

The 2020 general election saw yet another historic result. After the near-wipe out of Fianna Fáil in 2011 and the collapse of Labour in 2016, 2020 delivered a new low of 43% for the combined forces of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, while Sinn Féin surged from a distant third at 13.8% in 2016 to a narrow first with 24.5% in 2020.[1]

Article originally published in Issue 4 of Rupture, Ireland’s eco-socialist quarterly, buy the print issue:

The driving motivation amongst working class and young people, who voted for Sinn Féin in huge numbers, was to kick out the traditional establishment parties and bring about substantial change. Over 50% of Sinn Féin voters surveyed in the exit poll agreed that ‘the country needs a radical change of direction’ compared to less than 25% of non-Sinn Féin voters.[2] The overlap of transfers between Sinn Féin voters and voters for the radical left, where strong left candidates were present, was striking.[3] Amongst those who voted for Sinn Féin and other parties perceived to be on the left, the ‘Vote Left, Transfer Left’ concept was extremely popular. There was a widespread hope that a government excluding Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael could be formed. 

That anti-establishment mood has deepened since the election. The mishandling of Covid by a government which has placed short-term, private profit before public health has fundamentally undermined Fianna Fáil in particular, who are now polling in the mid-teens. The Greens, who were partial beneficiaries of the ‘Vote Left Transfer Left’ sentiment, have predictably had their support whittled away. The main beneficiary has been Sinn Féin, which has seen its support rise to just under 30%, although Solidarity-People Before Profit and the Social Democrats continue to poll from 2-4%. 

A Sinn Féin-led government seems very likely in the coming years. Working-class and young people will have high expectations for such a government. However, given that Sinn Féin is committed to remaining within the framework of the capitalist system, including obeying the neo-liberal EU fiscal rules, continuing to pay the odious debt, and maintaining Ireland’s low corporation tax, it will inevitably disappoint its base.

This will be a crucial moment for the potential development of a mass socialist or left party in Ireland. Disillusioned Sinn Féin supporters and voters will not inevitably shift leftwards, however. Both the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and Antarsya, a revolutionary left alliance, maintained a critical (and in the case of the KKE in particular, a very sectarian[4]) distance from Syriza before the January 2015 elections. Having predicted the sell-out of Syriza didn’t mean they benefited in the September 2015 elections. Instead, the Greek workers’ movement suffered a major defeat, with widespread demoralisation, the re-election of Syriza on reduced turnout, followed by the return of the right-wing New Democracy in 2019.[5]

In order to encourage people to draw the necessary conclusions from a future betrayal, it is not sufficient to be correct. It is necessary to be engaged fully in the battles of people today to achieve the change that they want. To maximise the chances of the development of a mass left party in the aftermath of a Sinn Féin led government, it is necessary for there to be a clear credible socialist pole - which joins the fight for a left government, puts energy into building and participating in movements from below, while explaining the necessity of ecosocialist policies to actually deliver the change we need.

By campaigning for a left government, while emphasising the necessity of socialist policies and mobilisation from below, the socialist left can connect with the aspirations of broad sections of working-class people, while helping to reveal the reality that Sinn Féin is preparing to govern in coalition with the traditional right-wing parties.[6] It will also help prepare its supporters for the fact that unless a left government agrees to really take on the big polluters, corporate landlords, bankers and the rest of the capitalist class, socialists, while voting to allow the government to be formed, will not take Ministerial positions within it.

Relating to Sinn Féin

When comparing the situation we face today with the historic utilisation of the ‘workers’ government’ and ‘left government’ slogans (see Paul Murphy, ‘Revolutionaries & Workers Governments’), one difference stands out very sharply. Sinn Féin, unlike the German SPD in the 1920s or Labour in Britain in the 1970s and ‘80s, is not a workers’ party. This does not mean that Sinn Fein lacks working-class support, far from it. Nor only that it has a pro-capitalist leadership: Both the SPD and Labour had that. It means crucially that it lacks the mass base in, and active participation of important sections of the working class organised on the basis of class. These are defining features of what Lenin called ‘bourgeois workers’ parties’.

““Even though we are at the early stages of the redevelopment of the workers’ movement ...things are developing in an uneven fashion, and governmental slogans can have wide resonance.””

While that might be the most striking difference, it is not the only one. The fact that large groups of workers look to a party that does not seek to represent workers as workers is related to underlying major differences between then and now - a relative decline in class consciousness and a low level of political organisation of the working class. The peculiar situation where we have a weak, undeveloped workers’ movement and yet the idea of a left government has wide resonance is not unique to Ireland. It is an international phenomenon - with the movements around Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders epitomising it. A positive difference in Ireland, as a consequence of the electoral system, is that while the main momentum towards a ‘left government’ is behind Sinn Féin, there is space for others, including for the revolutionary left.

These rapid shifts towards not entirely coherent “left” alternatives are a consequence of the hollowing out and undermining of the traditional capitalist “centre”, the crises resulting from the capitalist system, and people feeling a desperate need for radical change. The result is that even though we are at the early stages of the redevelopment of the workers’ movement in terms of the trade unions, mass political organisation and socialist consciousness - things are developing in an uneven fashion, and governmental slogans can have wide resonance.

It would be a mistake to shy away from this development, while we simply work on redeveloping the workers’ movement at the root. That would be to miss an opportunity to use these movements precisely as an aid in redeveloping the movement. The movement around Sanders in the US, for instance, dramatically increased the popularity of socialist ideas, helping to create tens of thousands of self-identified socialists in the US. Many of them now play a role in the construction of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and in important trade union disputes like the teachers strike in West Virginia.[7] Those who look towards and vote for Sinn Féin now can, and will likely, play a crucial role in the development of a mass socialist movement in Ireland later.

Does the ‘left government’ slogan still have relevance for the socialist left when the mass of people will hear it as referring to a government led by a party which is not a workers’ party? 

Yes - because the audience we want to have a conversation with are the hundreds of thousands of working-class and young people who look towards Sinn Féin. They largely have similar motivations to those which led large sections of workers and young people to look to social democratic parties in the past. This is despite the fact that their connection to Sinn Féin is qualitatively different in the sense that it is almost entirely a relationship limited to voting as opposed to being activists or members.

The exit poll from the 2020 election showed that for almost 40% of Sinn Féin voters, housing was the most important issue, for almost 30% it was health, while for 10% it was the pension age, and for 7% it was jobs. On each of those issues, Sinn Féin voters would largely agree with the policies put forward by the ecosocialist left - to build public housing on a mass scale, to build an Irish National Health Service, to bring the pension age back to 65, and to create jobs through public investment.

The same central contradiction between the aspirations of people looking to Sinn Féin and the reality of their capitalist policies exists as it did in the case of traditional reformist workers’ parties. That is a contradiction we do not want to just passively observe, but to help sharpen. 

In a sense, the idea that electing a Sinn Féin led government will deliver a substantial change on those issues is an illusion. Revolutionary socialists know that it will be far more complicated than people hope because behind Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is a capitalist class which will not simply roll over when faced with the ‘wrong’ election result, from their perspective. In reality, Sinn Féin’s commitment to the orderly functioning of the capitalist system fundamentally undermines its capacity to bring about meaningful change. Even a government committed to implementing a real socialist programme would face ferocious resistance from the capitalist class and it would require a mass mobilisation from below to successfully carry out the needed revolution. 

One side of that illusion is a negative one - the side which can re-enforce passivity and point away from active struggle today because of the idea that a left-wing government in the future will resolve the crises that people face. On the other side is something that can, following Trotsky and Breitman[8], be qualified as a ‘creative illusion’. That is the side that helps to set people into motion against the traditional establishment parties, and imbues people with a sense that an alternative sort of government is necessary and possible.

Standing on the sidelines and pouring cold water on the hopes and aspirations of working-class people in the name of dispelling illusions will not advance the situation. Following Karl Radek’s advice[9] to realise and deepen ‘what the masses believe to be a possible way out of the situation’, we should instead enthusiastically take up the slogan of a left government, while demonstrating that in order for it to meet people’s aspirations, it would have to implement genuinely socialist policies while basing itself on mass mobilisations from below.

““A ‘creative illusion’...helps to set people into motion against the traditional establishment parties and imbues people with a sense that an alternative sort of government is necessary and possible.””

A revolutionary socialist position on left government

Socialists should promote and advocate the necessity of a left government with ecosocialist policies. We should outline clearly that any government which includes the political representatives of the capitalist class will not be willing to take the measures necessary to deliver the change that people need. People already have experience of Labour and the Greens disappointing in coalition with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. There is a widespread understanding of this point. The more left-wing sections of those looking towards Sinn Féin or others understand that if they enter into a coalition government with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, they will betray any hope of meaningful change. 

Sinn Féin TDs have sometimes tried to cause confusion about their willingness to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael by inventing a meaningless distinction between a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as the largest party and a coalition where they are a minority - as in the case of Eoin Ó’Broin.[10] However, regardless of how many seats they had in government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would use those positions to block any measures which would hurt the capitalist class they represent, e.g. they would vociferously oppose rent control, significant increases in the minimum wage, nevermind widespread nationalisations. That means any government which includes Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael will disappoint those looking for radical change. 

The socialist left should relentlessly hammer this point - Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats, if they are serious about delivering real change, should rule out coalition with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. If they won’t do so, then they are revealing in the clearest possible way the limits of their ambitions for change.

This is not only a demand about government negotiations after the elections - it is a demand for now. We should argue that by ruling out coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and committing to fighting for a left government it increases the chance of it actually happening by mobilising new voters with an expectation of substantial change.

““This is not only a demand about government negotiations after the elections - it is a demand for now.””

Secondly, the socialist left should also be explicit - while we will vote for a government excluding Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael without agreement on programme, we will not be participating (i.e. taking ministerial positions) in any government which does not agree to implement necessary socialist measures. The exact details of what these measures are may vary depending on the political context - but crucially they should relate to people’s real experiences and needs on the one side, and on the other illustrate the anti-capitalist and ecosocialist measures necessary to resolve those issues.

After the last election, in an article for The Village magazine, Paul Murphy outlined:

“... the kind of left government with socialist policies that we would participate in is one that would challenge the rule of the 1% in this state and open the door to fundamental socialist change. Essential red lines would include; a commitment to take on the big landlords and developers by eliminating the housing list within three years and cutting rents including through nationalisation of the big corporate landlords and introducing a new model of public housing accessible to all; to commence the building of a single-tier properly resourced National Health Service by taking private hospitals into public ownership and incorporating them into the public health service; and to cut net carbon emissions by 10% a year, which would require public ownership of the big polluters.”[11]

We also need to emphasise that if a left government is to successfully carry out socialist change it must base itself on struggle from below. Therefore, a genuine left government would have to be committed to mobilising the power of the workers’ movement through general strikes, occupations, and mass protests to overcome the resistance of the capitalist class. This should include a commitment to promote mass participative assemblies and Councils at local and workplace level to provide the outline of an alternative state.

Without this emphasis on the socialist measures necessary, the left is in danger of creating a trap for itself - by creating a widespread illusion that it will enter into a government managing capitalist business-as-usual with Sinn Féin. Clearly at this stage of politics in Ireland, if we do have a government which excludes the traditional capitalist parties, it will be a government which does not seek to break with capitalism. In those circumstances, while socialists should vote in favour of its formation, and vote in favour of measures which would represent positive reforms, we would stay outside of the government. We would use the expectations aroused by its election to build movements from below and the forces for revolutionary socialism.

In advance of the next general election, we can best prepare the ground by being champions of a left government, while emphasising that we would only join the government on the basis of a series of ecosocialist measures being implemented. This enables the socialist left to put the focus on the key political issues we want to talk about, while raising awareness, in a popular way, of the revolutionary change necessary. 

NOTES

1. irishtimes.com/election2020/results-hub

2. Irish Times, ‘Detailed election 2020 exit poll results: How voters answered 15 questions’, 9 February 2020.

3. Almost 60% of SF voters in Dublin South West transferred to Solidarity-People Before Profit. In Dublin South-Central, it was even stronger, with almost 80% of SF voters transferring to either Bríd Smith (PBP) or Joan Collins (I4C). See details at electionsireland.org.

4. A central election slogan of the KKE was ‘Don’t trust Syriza’, Mittendrein & Schwarz, ‘If Syriza wins the Greek election, what will happen next?’ Red Pepper, 31 December 2014. 

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2015_Greek_legislative_election

6. Irish Times, ‘Clear shift in Fianna Fáil’s position towards Sinn Féin, Eoin Ó Broin says’, 9 February 202. 

7. Eric Blanc, ‘How Bernie helped spark the teachers’ revolt’, Jacobin, 30 October 2019. 

8. George Breitman, ‘The Liberating Influence of the Transitional Program: Three Talks’, published in Le Blanc, Wald, Breitman eds. Trotskyism in the United States: Historical Essays and Reconsiderations (2016) pp. 88-137.

9. Quoted in Pierre Broué, History of the German Revolution, p. 653.

10. Irish Examiner ‘Government formation: Sinn Féin open to Fianna Fáil coalition if tonight’s votes fall through’, 26 June 2020.  

11. Paul Murphy, ‘Left Government needed’ Village Magazine 2 February 2020.