International Socialist Organization (Zimbabwe)
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Template:Politics of Zimbabwe The International Socialist Organization is a Trotskyist organisation in Zimbabwe. It is part of the International Socialist Tendency led by the British Socialist Workers Party.
It produces a newspaper called Socialist Worker.
It opposes both ZANU-PF and the MDC and claims to be under state harassment.
'On the whole it is not safe for us to do street sales with our paper any more, though we can still hold public meetings if we are careful about security. The new press laws pushed through by Mugabe are going to make a lot of what we say very difficult to publish, because of course it is critical of the government.' - ISO statment
Relationship with MDC
The ISO joined the MDC from its inception in 1999. This move was based upon the tactic of Entryism. The ISO viewed the MDC as a United front, with the aim 'Firstly to facilitate maximum unity between revolutionaries and reformists' and 'Secondly ... as a platform to increase the influence of revolutionary politics and to build a revolutionary organisation'. The union was described as 'Kuchaya mapoto, husahwira hwe mubhawa', that is like the temporary marriages of migrant workers enter in to in rural areas in the absences of their wives. Munyaradzi Gwisai became an MDC member of parliament for Highfeild constituency. The relationship between the ISO and the MDC leadership was never acromonyas, for example MDC leaders made a series of personal attacks on Gwisai following a publication of a ISO paper blaming the party's declining fortunes on 'the high jacking of the party by the bourgeoisie' and failure to deal with the question of land reform.
The ISO was finally expelled from the MDC in April 2002, they stood for reelection in the Highfeild constituency against the MDC but failed to get re-elected and getting a disappointing vote.
The ISO blames the failure of the MDC to over throw Mugabe's regime on their lack of radicalism and their shift rightwards and the fact that this has allowed ZANU-PF to gain by left posturing.
References
- See 'Revolutionaries Resistance and Crisis in Zimbabwe' pamphlet by Munyardzi Gwisai 2002, available from the IST
- Also see report on Zimbabwe in International Socialist Tendency Discussion Bulletin umber Two January 2003 (http://www.istendency.net/pdf/international_2_2003.pdf)
- Plus, Discussion between the ISO and SWP as to the way forward after the expulsion from the MDC International Socialist Tendency Discussion Bulletin 3 June 2003 (http://www.istendency.net/pdf/international_3_2003.pdf)
- And Gwisais reply in International Socialist Tendency Discussion Bulletin 4 January 2004 (http://www.istendency.net/pdf/international_4_2004%20.pdf)
External links
- ISO in Zimbabwe (http://voiceoftheturtle.org/iso/index.html)