EuropeBoard

Party general secretary Klaus Ernst presides over his first Congress since being elected in early 2022.

EAST BERLIN - This weekend, delegates of the the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) have gathered at the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin, to determine the future of their party, and their country. As they do so, delegates from such countries as Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Russia, Belarus, Transnistria, China, Great Britain, India, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Waiku, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have also gathered to attend the Congress as honored guests. President Vladimir Putin, most notably, was scheduled to attend and deliver an Address to the Congress, but was forced to cancel his attendance. His speech was instead delivered by the Russian ambassador to the German Democratic Republic, Sergei Nechaev.

The Congress was opened by General Secretary Klaus Ernst on Saturday the 25th of June, whom began by stating his intention to recommit the Party to the principles of Marxist-Leninist theory, while also considering the modern socioeconomic conditions that the GDR finds itself in. Comrade Ernst declared that the Socialist Unity Party must view itself as the inheritor of the responsibility to advance Socialism in Europe, and that the driving force of this proccess must be the complete cooperation and coordination of all organs within the Party.

Furthermore, Ernst unveiled his plan to give workers more control, by giving them the opportunity and ability to elect worker's councils for each enterprise in the GDR, on an annual basis. These councils would have to work alongside each enterprise's managerial board, and would be able to determine wages, regular working hours, and criteria for bonuses. However, at the same time, all such determinations will need to be approved by the state, and the so-called 'wage tariff system' would continue to stay in place as a counterbalance.

Next came comrade Gennady Zyuganov, the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, whom has served in that capacity since 1993. G.A. Zyuganov gave an Address, in which he roundly praised the German Democratic Republic for having the courage and strength to resist the abandonment of socialism, and for have clarity of mind to reinterpret, and reimagine Leninism for the 21st century. The General Secretary criticized the Russian government for the mass privatization of the 1990s, and for Russia's declining agricultural production in more recent times. He also voiced outrage at the lack of state support for rural regions.

"My dear comrades of the German Democratic Republic", Zyuganov said in part, "Our parties have always served the people and the state. My personal point of view is that without a strong central state, the country of the working people cannot exist. You have managed, against great odds I must tell you, to ensure that the working class in your country has a strong Party to guide them, a vast country to nurture them, and a great idea to inspire them. Comrades, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation draws great inspiration from your successes. Indeed, if the USSR had modified its politics and adopted the East German model, our great country would not have disappeared. You were able to change as the times changed without shedding your Leninist principles, and for that, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany deserves great praise".

Other speakers included the likes of Aliaksiej Sokal, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus; Roman Golovchenko, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus; José Ventura, the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba; Wu Hongbo, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the German Democratic Republic and; Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the U.K. Labour Party.

The second day of the Congress continues on Sunday, June the 26th.