The Ballot Box

To often I hear criticism from left wing activists and various other republicans about Sinn Féin using electoral politics. They are two things they suggest one of them is that we are delusional and won’t create radical change through elections, the other one is that we are part of the establishment because we run in elections. Well the second statement is absolutely ridiculous because the people that suggest we are part of the establishment do various things that are themselves contradictory. For example these people may say electoral politics makes Sinn Féin part of the establishment while they are supporting Jeremy Corbyn, the FSLN in Nicaragua and the PSUV in Venezuela who are using elections to try and create an alternative to capitalism in their countries. These people ignore our links to left wing/revolutionary governments and movements including the Cuban government, the Venezuelan government, Basque nationalists, Palestinian nationalists and Corbyn’s Labour Party. So as these people are being contradictory in their stance we will move on to how electoral politics can create radical change.

We will begin by looking at international examples of left leaning parties creating social change when they get elected into government. In Bolivia poverty has been reduced from 60.6% (2005) of the population to 38.6% (2016), Extreme poverty from 38% to 16.8%. The minimum wage has risen from 440 bolivars a month to 2,000 a month. In 2001 only 25% of the population had electricity in 2015 66% had electricity. 4.8 million Bolivians benefits from the programs in healthcare and education today set about by Evo Morales and his left wing MAS party. Before MAS came to power 5% of property owners owned 70% of the land by 2010 35 million hectares were handed over to the indigenous population to be run communally. 55% percent is now owned by small farmers which has not been the case since before European colonialism first set foot in Bolivia. In Venezuela major changes began when Hugo Chavez was elected. Infant mortality was 20 per 1000 reduced to 13, free education at all levels and creating 100 literacy and the creation of 8000 subsidised supermarkets and small markets that served 8 million Venezuelans every month. Redistribution of power by setting up 35,000 community councils and over 130,000 grassroots circles. These councils are not led by an elite and are completely run by community activists, these communities develop cooperatives, small communal businesses and other social programs. 2 million houses were built by Chavez’s successor Nicolas Maduro with the help of community programs. The Sandinistas did use a revolution in 1979 to overthrow the Somoza dictatorship, from there they made radical social policies which benefited the majority of Nicaraguans but they lost an election in 1990. After 17 years of Neoliberalism Danial Ortega and the FSLN won the election and he’s been president ever since. Achievements include reducing poverty from 48.3% to 24.9% and extreme poverty from 17.2% to 6.9%. They are the 5th most gender equal country in terms of pay and political representation. The Sandinistas introduced the highest level of workers rights in the region. They’ve redeveloped the cooperatives that they set up before the 1990 election and Nicaragua is recognised as the safest country in Central America. I could carry on listing other examples of successes that were made internationally by leftist governments by using elections but the point isn’t necessarily about the achievements of other governments, its about how republicans and progressives can use elections to create the republic based on the principles of the proclamation. But some of our critics are right we shouldn’t only focus on electoral politics, we must combine it with activism, we must make a powerful grassroots movement who should be ready to mobilise against the current neoliberal policies of the establishment parties and when elections come around we will have a grass roots who would become instrumental in securing a victory. With a strong grassroots movement it could allow us to decentralise power to communities. Sinn Féin firmly believe that the community is at the centre of the Republican project and that is evident. Sinn Féin have delivered on local and national level over the years. For example certain county councils supported the ban on Israeli goods, they managed to deliver rented social housing at cheap rates and made the case for workers rights. Sinn Féin introduced progressive legislation on housing, workers right to own tips, establishing a living wage and several more. We have policies on the development of worker owned cooperatives and the nationalisation of vital services. You have the irrelevant so called republican parties that still believe abstentionism and armed struggle is the only way these outdated principles will achieve the republic, that may have been true in the past but on the global stage FARC, ETA and so on are following the political route which shows revolutionary groups have changed their tactics as has Sinn Féin. Then you have what I’d call the ultra leftists who are expecting some pure social revolution where everything will happen overnight.

Like the examples I listed the transition to a new Ireland will take time but short term radical goals are achievable as seen above. To those who think Sinn Féin is the establishment look at how the media speak about Sinn Féin, look at the bills the establishment blocked and look at how they want to exclude us from the councils etc. If all those countries can undue colonialism, and create radical social change nothing is stopping republicans from doing the same. We will create a 32 county socialist republic and the ballot box plays a huge part in that process no matter how our critics suggest otherwise. Although we have had setbacks it should be evaluated like all tactics in our past and worked on.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin speaking at the 1999 commemoration of IRA volunteer Michael McVerry said “The form of struggle changes, we go through many phases of struggle, and we adapt our strategy and tactics to suit new political circumstances – and indeed to create new political circumstances – but we remain steadfast in pursuit of our ultimate goal.”

- Adrian Gallagher, Donegal Ógra Shinn Féin