An example of the Socialist International's concepto of ​​democracy

Sánchez leads an organization with 11 partners who emerged from single parties of dictatorships

Yesterday, the socialist Pedro Sánchez had the nerve to announce his plan to harass the media entitled it "Action Plan for Democracy".

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From tyrants to social democrats: costumes of the communism in the old Marxist Europe

We can get an idea of ​​Sánchez's peculiar concept of democracy by looking at the abuses of power he has committed since coming to power in 2018, especially his attacks on judges and the media investigating the socialists' corruption scandals, as well as his inability to call left-wing dictatorships "dictatorships". But there is an even more revealing fact.

Currently Sanchez is the president of the Socialist International, an organization whose members include eleven parties that emerged from single-party systems of communist dictatorships, some of which have not even changed the name they used when they exercised power in an undemocratic manner. Let's review:

  1. Angola. Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). It was the single party of the communist dictatorship that ruled that country from 1975 to 1991. It has not even bothered to change its name. The MPLA has continued to govern the country ever since. The Economist Democracy Index rates it as a hybrid regime due to its very low democratic quality.
  2. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP). It was the Bosnian branch of the former single party of the Yugoslav communist dictatorship, called the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina (LCBH), dissolved on January 22, 1991. The last president of the LCBH, Nijaz Duraković, was the first president of the SDP after its foundation in 1992.
  3. Bulgaria. Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). It was the single party of the Bulgarian communist dictatorship, called the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). The BCP was dissolved on April 3, 1990, and on the same day its leaders formed the BSP. Its first president was Aleksandar Lilov, the last president of the BCP and one of the top leaders of the communist dictatorship.
  4. Czech Republic. Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). Then called the Czechoslovak Social Democracy, it was part of the National Front that imposed a communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia in 1948 through a coup d'état. From then on, the National Front became a mere transmission belt of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), acting as a single party under the rule of the KSČ. The Czechoslovak Social Democracy left the National Front after the fall of communism and became the ČSSD after the separation of Czechia and Slovakia in 1993.
  5. Slovakia. Social Democratic Leadership (Smer–SD). Its origins lie in the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), which was part of the National Front that imposed a communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia in 1948 through a coup d’état. The KSS dissolved itself on 22 November 1990 and on the same day formed the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), which gave rise to the Smer–SD in 2004.
  6. Hungary. Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). It was the single party of the Hungarian communist dictatorship from 1956 to 1989, then called the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSzMP). The MSzMP was dissolved on 7 October 1989 and on the same day its leaders founded the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), whose first president was Rezső Nyers, until then president of the single party and last communist dictator of the country.
  7. Lithuania. Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSP). It was the single party of the communist dictatorship imposed after the Soviet invasion and annexation of the country by the USSR. Its name at that time was the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP). After the fall of communism and the independence of Lithuania, the former leaders of the LKP founded the communist Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP), which in 2001 was integrated into the LSP.
  8. Mongolia. Mongolian People's Party. This is the current name of the former single party of the communist dictatorship imposed by the Red Army of the USSR in Mongolia in 1921. After the fall of communism in the country in 1990, it posed as a social democratic party, but kept its name of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) until 2010, when it simply dropped the word "Revolutionary".
  9. Montenegro. Party of Democratic Socialists of Montenegro (DPS). It was the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslav communist dictatorship, called the League of Communists of Montenegro (LCM), dissolved on June 22, 1991. That same day, the leaders of the LCM formed the DPS, which remained in power in that country until 2020.
  10. Mozambique. Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO). It was the single party of the communist dictatorship that ruled the country from 1975 to 1990. Since then it has continued to govern the country without even changing its name. Today, under FRELIMO's rule, Mozambique is considered an authoritarian regime according to The Economist Democracy Index.
  11. Yemen. Yemen Socialist Party. It was the single party of the communist dictatorship of South Yemen from 1978 to 1990. It never even changed its name.

Is it with partners like these that Sánchez intends to give us Spaniards lessons in democracy? Perhaps having members like these in the Socialist International explains the fact that Sánchez never refers to Cuba or Venezuela as "dictatorships".

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Photo: PSOE.

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