This document was published on the 13 December 2012, in “Front Line”, organ of the Revolutionary Left Current, It is translated from the Arabic by Luiza Toscane. ( http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/

The Dera’a branch of the Revolutionary Left Current in Syria has been founded. It is made up of left activists and revolutionary Marxists, activists in the Syrian revolutionary movement who have adopted the transitional programme of the revolutionary left in Syria. This is a current which has been active since the beginning of the revolution on Syrian territory. It has led the struggle within the revolution. The attempted confiscation of the revolution, by political and ideological currents lacking a popular character, requires those who identify with the revolutionary left to realise two essential tasks at this stage: the rallying and unification of the ranks of the left, civil and secular youth, participation in the revolution by all means, the highlighting of the democratic aspect and genuine civil character of the revolution. And in the long term, the establishment of a dialogue which is total and without boundaries around the unification of the Syrian revolutionary left in the context of united organizational work leading to the formation of a revolutionary Marxist left party, adopting a political programme aimed at building a society of social justice, the state of citizenship and law.

It is about developing a climate conducive to the development of a democratic consciousness for various currents and parties of different persuasions to practice politics and to think freely. And therefore, to achieve the objective and subjective conditions conducive to proposing programs and mechanisms of action to build a just socialist society. With this in mind, left revolutionaries must carry out several significant tasks, of which the most important are:

1 – A critique of traditional Marxist thought, the renewal of the latter and its adaptation to historical and technological development. The development of new basic principles corresponding to a societal culture, a level of social consciousness and the development of the dominant relations of production.

2 – A review of the failed experiences of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and in the countries of Latin America and the Middle East.

3 – A critique of the traditional Marxist parties, conducted in an objective manner, including the Communist parties in the Arab region.

4 – A fierce struggle to sweep away the leftovers of the counter propaganda and campaigns of disparagement of socialism and of Marxist thought conducted by the imperialist countries at the global level. The latter have used to achieve their objectives the reactionary forces in our region throughout the cold or hot wars engaged by the so-called “socialist camp” and “capitalist camp”.

The experience of the creation of a rank and file organizational structure which is the foundation of our current’s Dera’a section – an experience appropriate to be generalized to all the governorates of the Syria – is in practice the realization of an attempt to build a political party from the base to the summit, in contrast to the form that predominated during the construction of the traditional parties. This reinforces the feeling of satisfaction and serenity towards the future of this nascent party, which will by this method concretise the concept of genuine democratic centralism, and not the caricature that has led to the submission of individuals and the arbitrariness of hereditary leaderships. We call for urgent, but systematic and organised, work, at the same time to build sections in other cities of Syria, bringing together the largest possible number of left revolutionaries and their friends at the local level, in accordance with the outline of the transitional programme of the Syrian revolutionary left and immediately begin executing the essential tasks of the current stage.

Left Revolutionary Current in Syria Dera’a section Liberty-Dignity-Social Justice