Conscience and Politics

Helen Blau

Politics as the science or art of government has been of interest to me for quite a long time already. Although I do not consider myself a professional politician, I often contemplate both home and foreign policy. Whenever I start penetrating more deeply into its essence, it becomes apparent that it is pregnant with complicated phenomena and any discussion of it is bound to reflect more than one angle of vision. The more deeply I penetrate into the essence of both politics and political activities the more questions arise. For instance, why do many people consider that politics lacks ethics? But is it factually marked by it? Can moral politics be pursued? Could it be possible and would it be a proper thing to free politics from moral estimation and lay it all aside, good and evil? Why do many people treat politics as a "dirty thing" and amoral activity? And why do a great many people all loathe politics? Maybe the reason for that is in the realistic features of a particular policy as well as in the features of politics in general? Can politics be a "clean thing" and will it ever be such?

Perhaps it would not be a false supposition to suggest that politics could acquire a better image if power did not provide its possessors with high prestige and did not attract to the state "sinecure" those people who hunger for fame and enrichment. Wouldn't the good image of politics be raised if, for instance, expensive marble were used for the finish of, say underground subway stations designed for public use, as it was under J.V. Stalin's socialist government, but not for the finish of private multistory residences as it is widely practiced under the bourgeois regimes?

Politics is a sphere of activity which deals with class and national relations as well as with the relations with other social groups. The core of politics is the problem of winning state power, holding and using it. But for what purposes? – that is the question which just springs up at this point.

The content of a policy is always finally determined by the interests of a class or a union of classes. Any public problem acquires a political character if its solution is directly or indirectly connected with the class interests and the problem of power.

Politics, unlike economy or culture, refers to such phenomena of public life which have historically transient features. In view of this, it cannot be excluded that a tidal wave of popular indignation will some day wipe off the face of the earth all of the imperialist fascist regimes. It cannot be excluded either that some day we all shall witness the establishment of public Communist self-government. Maybe the establishment of social uniformity of humanity will lead to the end of politics as a specific form of human activity and then the global harmony and peace will thus be achieved.

However idealistic the above idea may seem, it leaves the door open for further discussions.

But turning to the present-day reality one cannot but admit that the image of the current Georgian home policy is unfortunately too far from being ideal.

The following material will serve to prove it.

Anti-Socialist, anti-Communist, anti-Soviet and also anti-Russian hysteria has burst forth with a new strength. It started long ago after President Shevernadze, the former First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union placed himself at the head of the struggle against the Communists, supporters of Socialism of the Soviet type.

If some years ago the United Communist Party of Georgia openly declared about the danger of fascism taking root, nowadays we can proclaim to the whole world that at the head of all the government bodies have come the forces quite evidently going along the fascist path.

At present, at the head of Georgian power are those people who became rich at the expense of the people's blood, who exert every form of pressure on all of the working people, decimate anti-Communism and chauvinism, who take maximum control of the public, of group and individual opinions. In all sections of the population they have their "own" hired people, listening to the telephone conversations, they open the envelopes and publicly read private letters! It is this power that established the civil political and public associations, which are aimed at squaring accounts with the political opponents. It is the Georgian governing toadies, supported by the police forces that resort to lies, pursue national and social demagogy, set up Mafia clans and create Western economy, organizes terrorist and other anti-social actions. Every indication of fascism is revealed through the violation of human rights, through the genocide of the Georgian people, through public, political, social and economic and moral and psychological spheres.

A seemingly insignificant event – a march of the participants of the Congress of the Georgian public organization "Soviets of the Working People of Georgia" to the place where a meeting was going to be held after the Congress had completed its work – caused another anti-popular, anti-patriotic and vicious anti-Communist hysteria. A fierce anti-Communist Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr. Zhvenia, the Minister of Justice Mr. Saakashvili and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee Mr. Baramidze, like fascists, together with the pro-fascist like-minded persons, demanded that the United Communist Party of Georgia be immediately banned.

The Central Committee of the United Communist Party of Georgia declares that it did not give and will not give in the future any cause for the powers to bar the Party. The activities of the Communists did not exceed and are not going to exceed the limits of the Constitution. The CC of the UCPG points out that the Party was duly registered and re-registered in accordance with the Organic Law which is currently in force in Georgia. That is why we demand that the state bodies and all their representatives properly look through both the Program and the Statutes of the above mentioned party in order to understand their contents before bringing accusations against the United Communist Party of Georgia.

The United Communist Party of Georgia made and makes no secret of the fact that it is an active supporter of changing the Constitution of the present regime in Georgia. At the same time, the UCPG is sure that the opposition between the Party in power and the UCPG and its supporters is "civilized" and whether this opposition is in line with the Constitution depends on the authority but not on the Georgian Communists-Patriots.

The UCPG shares an opinion that the Georgian people have the right to preserve their life, their human and national dignity and in order to stop the genocide, to defend themselves by using all the suitable and available means, until the Georgian authority retires and the Parliament of Georgia is dissolved. The UCPG demands that the present authority immediately stop persecuting the Communists and their supporters, dismissing them from office, insulting them by action, conducting searchers, interrogating, blackmailing and intimidating for their political ideas.

The CC of UCPG informs the President and the Parliament that the Communists, together with all of the People's Patriotic Forces, will make complaints against the present Georgian authorities, which both through its actions and inactivity brought the country and its statehood, economy, science, culture and consciousness to an unprecedented decay. It compelled about two million citizens to leave their Motherland in search of livelihood, it divided the society into "its own people" and "strangers" with the purpose of opposing them to each other and thus causing destabilization in the country. We decided to prove in legal form as to who violates the Constitution.

We, the Communists-Patriots, call upon the President of Georgia immediately to dismiss from office the Chairman of the Parliament, the Minister of Justice, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee and other high-level extremists, revanchists, to relieve them of their posts, because they themselves create destabilization which will certainly bring all of the country to the tragic event.

Three short words plus the medal Workers Glory. They imply so well what the working people here in Georgia want to have!

The Central Committee of the United Communist Party of Georgia once again expresses gratitude to all citizens, political and public organizations, to the Orthodox Church and the representatives of other religious confessions as well as to the foreign Communist and Workers Parties and their leaders who gave support to our Party at this very difficult time, at the time of struggle against neo-fascists who threatened to square accounts with the representatives of the Communist movement in Georgia.

The CC of UCPG calls upon each Communist to act according to the plan, to be on his or her guard, not to fall under any provocation and to resolutely defend his/her constitutional rights.

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