Version imprimableThe year 2024 is particularly important in electoral terms, as Belgians will be going to the polls for all levels of government (European, federal, regional in June, and municipal in October). In addition to the French-speaking parties in the outgoing government (PS - social democrats, Écolo - ecologists, MR - liberals) and the “centrist” Les Engagés, the Gauche anticapitaliste is competing with the PTB (Belgian Labour Party) in the European elections, while providing critical support for it in the other elections. There are differences between our two organizations on a number of issues, including degrowth, the regularization of the status of undocumented migrants and, above all, international issues, in particular support for the Ukrainian people in their resistance to the Russian invasion. The choice for the European elections is based in particular on this link with the rise of the PTB, as well as having the advantage of being able to mobilize the entire organisation in a campaign for a single list throughout French-speaking Belgium.
Philippe Poutou as candidate
This level of power also allows internationalist values to be put forward, both in the programme and on the list, which includes Philippe Poutou, three-time presidential candidate in France, thus strengthening the links between the Gauche anticapitaliste and the NPA. Alongside him are activists active in various fields, notably in the climate, trade union, feminist, LGBTI and anti-fascist movements. Led by Denis Verstraeten, a maths teacher in a working-class neighbourhood and activist in the climate movement, and Charlotte Thomas, a shop steward and worker at Delhaize (a supermarket that went on strike in 2023 following its franchising policy), the list aims to bring the voice of the struggles, the oppressed and the exploited into the political and media arena. The Belgian-French collaboration and the presence of Philippe Poutou are a significant advantage in terms of visibility.
The urgent need for a new world
The candidates on the Anticapitalistes list are determined to provide political outlets for their struggles and to bring them together to strike against the capitalist system. From a drastic reduction in working hours to solidarity with peoples in struggle around the world, via the socialization of energy, banks and insurance, the disarmament and definition of the police and massive investment in the fight against gender violence, the programme of the Gauche anticapitaliste convincingly defends the eco-socialist, feminist, anti-racist and internationalist alternative.
25 April 2024
Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.
