Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya

The Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya (in Spanish Party of the Communists of Catalonia, abbreviated PCC) was a Spanish political party with a Catalan scope and ideology communist. It arose in 1982 when the so-called "pro-Soviet" sector, opposed to Eurocommunism, split from the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC).

Its monthly newspaper was Avant and its youth organization was CJC-Joventut Comunista. In November 2014 it dissolved into a new party called Comunistes de Catalunya.

Evolution

Foundation

At the V Congress of the PSUC, held in January 1981, the Eurocommunist theses, then in force in the Party, were defeated by the most orthodox and Pere Ardiaca, who in 1936 was a member of the Communist Party of Catalonia when it merged with other parties to found the PSUC and was a member of the first Executive Committee of the PSUC, he was elected as the new president of the party, with Francisco Frutos as general secretary. However, in May, the Central Committee of the PSUC, at the request of the Committee Executive, recovered the definition of "Eurocommunist" of the party, with the opposition of the pro-Soviet sector. Given these facts, Ardiaca refused to accept the terms of the resolution, and was finally dismissed by the central committee of the PSUC on July 4. On July 12, the IV National Conference of the PSUC ratified the adoption, again, of Eurocommunism. Given the seriousness of the crisis, the central committee decided to convene an extraordinary congress, which was disavowed by the pro-Soviet sector, accusing the executive and central committees of having violated "the policy approved by the fifth congress".

Following the publication of these criticisms, the Central Committee decided to sanction and in some cases expel, as in the case of Ardiaca, the representatives of the pro-Soviet sector, accused of being "factionalists". Finally, the pro-Soviet sector left the PSUC, and in April 1982 the Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya (PCC) was formed, of which Ardiaca was elected president.

In December 1981, four of the deputies of the PSUC in the Parliament of Catalonia belonging to the pro-Soviet sector, left the communist parliamentary group and became non-attached.

The first Executive Committee is made up of: Pere Ardiaca (president), Juan Ramos (general secretary), Josep Serradell (coordination), Rafael Juan (press and propaganda), Paco Trives (organization), Joan Tafalla (management of the communication), Leopoldo Espuny (international politics), Aurora Gómez (secretariat for women), Celestino Sánchez Ramos (political relations), Marià Pere (citizen movement and institutional politics); José María Corral (relations with the media), Jaume Balcells (agrarian policy), Justiniano Martínez (labor movement), Lluís Orri (political leader of Barcelona), Josep Espin (political leader of Vallés Occidental), Juan Muñiz (political leader del Bajo Llobregat), Marçal Giró (training), Quim Boix and Alfred Clemente (without portfolio).

In addition to the 4 deputies (Chema Corral, Pere Ardiaca, Celestino Sánchez and Juan Ramos) in the Parliament of Catalonia who went over to the PCC, almost a hundred councilors who had been elected in the municipal elections by the PSUC went over to the ranks of the new Party, highlighting above all, the case of Barbera del Vallès, where of the 12 councilors elected by the PSUC list, eleven went to the non-attached group of councilors of the PCC. The transfer of communist militants from the PSUC to the PCC in 1982 differed depending on the area and sectors, but official data from the PSUC and the PCC show that although the PSUC had a membership of close to 25,000 militants before the V Congress, with the break, approximately 8,000 went over to the PCC.

Development of the CCP

In 1984 the PCC was one of the promoters of the creation of the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE), thus becoming the first representative of the second in Catalonia. For this task, the PCC sent a dozen political cadres to Madrid, both from the PCC itself and from the youth organization, such as the organization secretary Josep Serradell or the general secretary of the youth, Josep Miquel Céspedes. That same year, in the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia, the PCC reached its electoral ceiling as a solitary party, obtaining 71,130 votes, which accounted for 2.79% of the votes. The 3% limit required to enter the Parliament prevented the PCC from occupying the two seats that, without a minimum number of votes, it would have obtained.

In 1987, the PCC participated in the creation of the Iniciativa per Catalunya coalition, together with the PSUC and ENE. Two years later, in 1989, the PCC was separated from the coalition. In that same year, Juan Ramos Camarero was elected general secretary of the PCPE and the general secretary of the PCC was occupied by Marià Pere.

In 1994 the PCPE and the PCC broke their brotherhood, and from that year the Partit Comunista del Poble de Catalunya (PCPC) became the new representative organization of the PCPE in Catalonia. In the mid-1990s, the PCC promoted, together with other organizations, a social political platform called Unitat d'Esquerres ("Left Unity") that would end up becoming Esquerra Unida i Alternativa in 1998. The PCC therefore participated in the creation of EUiA together with the PSUC-viu, the POR, Col.lectiu per una Esquerra Alternativa, Col.lectius llibertaris, the Socialist Action Party (PASOC) and members of different independent social organizations of the Catalan left.

After a reflection that lasted between 1998 and 2006, the PCC adopted a new organizational scheme. According to party documents, in addition to the postulates of mass organization and the vanguard that has been theorized since 1983, is added the need for the PCC to be a true organic party of society.

Left Front

The PCC project is the so-called "Left Front" (Front d'Esquerres) in Catalonia. This thesis was elaborated in 1983 and extended in the different political conferences and congresses of the formation.

It is committed to the construction of a great alliance around the working class, through which to make possible a policy of radical political, social, economic and cultural transformations. The renunciation of the break with the Franco dictatorship and the acceptance of the parties of that time to the reform are critically analyzed, which caused, according to the PCC, the loss of the unitary tradition of the people of Catalonia and that the "bourgeoisie" continue to play a leading role in society. In addition, the militancy was demobilized and disorganized to channel it towards the institutions, for which the PCC considers that the main task is to rebuild class unity and the unity of the left.

Further on, it is stated that the leftist front cannot advance without the existence of a strong Communist Party with the capacity to articulate the social and political forces in the struggle for the application of a transforming leftist program. A Left Front, therefore, must articulate left-wing political-social forces, coordinating the work for the left-wing program, managing to become an alternative to left-wing power. The Left Front must be organized at all levels of society, including all forces willing to join. Within the partisan framework, the PCC proposal speaks of a left-wing front capable of grouping the three fundamental currents of the Catalan left: the "reformist" (PSUC), the nationalist (ERC and ENE) and the communist (PCC).

In the economic, social, cultural and political spheres, the PCC intends to structure the movements of resistance to capitalism and guide them in the perspective of overcoming socialism. Organizations such as unions, neighborhood associations, social movements, unitary platforms, feminist movements and for gender equality, environmental movements, for culture... are the organizations where the PCC intends to organize the left-wing front.

The organizational changes that ended in the XII Congress of the PCC show a firm commitment to the consolidation of the organization as an "organic party of society and revolutionary cadres". On the other hand, PCC militants are part of the new leadership of the Workers' Commissions (CCOO), the United Left (IU), the United Left and Alternative and the European Left Party.

The principles and postulates of the PCC are grouped into 7 basic points, the so-called "7 proposals for a leftist policy".

The PCC until 2014

The PCC was integrated into the EUiA, worked in Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), where it participates in the critical sector of the union in Catalonia, bringing together, according to the IX CCOO Congress held in 2008, more than 43% of the union. This critical sector supported in said Congress the candidacy of Ignacio Fernández Toxo, who was the winner. The Toxo leadership counts among its leaders Jordi Ribó, a member of the PCC who is, together with José Fuentes, the two members of the PCC who participate in the CCOO Confederal Executive.

On the other hand, the theoretical magazine of the PCC (Realitat) was published regularly again from 2010, thus recovering the magazine of deep theoretical and intellectual elaboration of the communists and of broad sectors of the transformative left.

U.S. Militants in Ebro Corbera.

The coordinator of EUiA is Jordi Miralles and deputy to the Parliament of Catalonia for ICV-EUiA. Merce Civit, also a deputy, and Joan Josep Nuet, a senator, also elected by the ICV-EUiA coalition, are members of the Executive Committee and the Central Committee of the PCC. In EUiA, the PCC is a majority member, bringing together more than 80% of the militancy in its current, according to the last National Assembly, where there was no alternative candidacy to the Nou Impuls proposal. Jordi Miralles was elected with 92% of the delegates' votes. The candidacy led by the PCC was able to bring together independent militants, the POR, the PASOC and a sector of the PSUC-viu.

Between January 23 and January 24, 2010, the XII Congress of the PCC was held, where the reorganization of the Party that began in the VIII Congress came to an end. In this Congress there was a renewal in the Central Committee, the new organizational model was put to an end and Joan Josep Nuet, senator from EUiA and head of the IU Organization Area, was elected as the new secretary general. The Congress took place in the Garages de Sants, where the almost 400 delegates (representing the more than 2,000 members of the PCC) from federations and territories of the organization participated in the days of discussion and voting.

Joan Josep Nuet thus succeeds Marià Pere as general secretary, who had held this responsibility since the VIII Congress of the PCC.

Election results

In the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia in 1995, the PCC formed part of the Iniciativa per Catalunya-Els Verds (IC-EV) coalition with Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds-Ecological Confederació de Catalunya, obtaining an autonomous deputy, from the eleven that the coalition obtained, for the district of Barcelona, the general secretary of the CJC - Joventut Comunista, Fidel Lora. Since 1998, the PCC has been part of the Esquerra Unida i Alternativa coalition, through which it has run for the rest of the elections until today.

In the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia in 2006, the PCC won two regional deputies, as part of EUiA, which ran in coalition with Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, as well as a senator by regional designation, Joan Josep Nuet. The PCC was represented in the Ministry of Environment and Housing, as well as in Institutional Relations, having refused, on the other hand, to participate in the Ministry of the Interior. In the 2007 municipal elections, EUiA obtained 70 councilors and two mayors in Catalonia. In the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia in 2010, the PCC once again managed to revalidate its two national deputies, Jordi Miralles and Mercè Civit, as part of EUiA, which presented itself in coalition with Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, as well as a senator by regional designation, Joan Josep Nuet. In the 2011 municipal elections, the PCC integrated into EUiA manages to improve its representation in councilors and maintains its mayoralties. In the 2011 general elections, EUiA participated in a coalition with ICV in Catalonia, added to the United Left - The Greens coalition. In these elections, the coalition obtained 3 deputies, one of them being Joan Josep Nuet - general secretary of the PCC and Esquerra Unida i Alternativa.

The PCC and the "Catalan Syriza"

Since the victory of Joan Josep Nuet for the general secretariat of the PCC and later for the general coordination of Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, the proposal of the "Catalan Syriza" referring to the coalition - and later party - of the Greek anti-capitalist left.

Throughout 2011 and 2012 the first meetings took place between Joan Josep Nuet and leaders of parties from the center-left and the left of Catalonia, such as the PSC, ICV, ERC, CUP, En Lluita or Izquierda Anticapitalista.

The PCC and communist unity

From the victory of Joan Josep Nuet in the general secretariat of the PCC, the process of organic unity of the communists in Catalonia was decisively promoted. Starting in 2010, the ground for this objective began to be prepared and it was at the beginning of 2013 when the PCC took a decisive step, creating a specific commission for the unit. An important moment in the process took place on May 1, 2013, when in the framework of the demonstration for Labor Day, the PCC together with the PSUCviu and people from the environment formed a unitary communist bloc. Likewise, the two most representative communist parties in Catalonia agreed on a text in support of the communist unity process. The unification of the two parties is one more part of a broader process that aims to bring together all expressions of communism in a single party. Other actions have also taken place between the two parties, such as the joint organization of a party, which is intended to be annual The party had in the first place a "taula rodona" with the participation of prominent activists from the Catalan communist space such as Fidel Lora, Joan Tafalla, David Fernàndez, Alfred Clemente and Joan Josep Nuet. Likewise, the food of the party brought together more than a thousand attendees and included a conference by the deputy of IU Alberto Garzón.

Dissolution of the PCC and founding of Communists of Catalonia

In coherence with its unitary postulates, the 14th Congress of the PCC decided by a large majority to dissolve the party and to contribute all its human, political and material capital to a new unitary organization of the communists: Communistes de Catalunya. On November 1, 2014 in La Farga de Hospitalet de Llobregat, the dissolved PCC militants came together with other communist sectors, from the PSUC Viu and communist groups without a party, in the Comunistes de Catalunya foundation. The Central Committee that emerged from the first congress of the new organization elected Joan Josep Nuet as general secretary of the new party.