A national organ of ninety representatives, chosen by local activists, and a concluding document in which ‘a sum of individual’ has become a ‘political subjectivity’ was the outcome of the two-day national assembly of L’Altra Europa con Tsipras, on 18-19 April.
The national assembly came after dozens of local assemblies that involved 7,000 people. In the end, more than 300 crowded into the Sala Roma Eventi centre in Rome, staying until the end when the chair called the vote on the final document.
The document, which was passed by a large majority, declares: ‘No more politics of mere testimony or just affirming a sectoral and oppositional identity; instead, the building of relations of force capable of producing a shift at the government level in our society – in our country and in Europe’.
The next deadlines for Altra Europa are the local elections in May, ‘even if we continue to believe that the local level is less propitious for our general project’. ‘To be credible it is not enough to be right. We must also show that we have the strength needed to turn our proposals into facts – the strength of ideas but also of numbers. Without this ‘demonstration of strength you cannot bring back people who have withdrawn from politics’. The intention for the upcoming elections is to encourage ‘the most unified’ electoral lists ‘possible that are clear alternatives to the Partito Democratico’.
Also in the context of the strategy and alliances, Altra Europa ‘enthusiastically welcomes the initiative taken by Maurizio Landini and the FIOM (the Italian Metalworkers’ Union – CGIL), ‘understanding that this constitutes the necessary condition’ for the resumption of the mass political struggles ‘even if it is not a sufficient condition’. It is not enough because it will need something that ‘connects it to a parliamentary and institutional entity’. For Altra Europa, Liberation Day (25 April), May Day, and the ‘No Expo’ demonstration in Milan are the first important days in the political calendar. Greece, Europe, innovative political action, mutual aid in the crisis, and gender questions are the central issues to be thought through first.
Through its team of MEPs in the European Parliament, Altra Europa will take aim at the ECB, Frontex, and TTIP.
Marco Revelli, who has been a key figure in the transition group of the movement’s first phase, has said: ‘We took a very important step: We constituted a genuine political subjectivity, within a community that knows what ties it together and which is able to speak up in public and make common decisions. Until now we were a multitude of individuals who identified generically with the project of the electoral list Altra Europa con Tsipras and that agreed on the need to enlarge the field and continue after the European elections.’
Translation: Eric Canepa
For an interview with Marco Revelli, conducted by Fabio Sebastiani during the national assembly of Altra Europa click here.