Our Scotland - www.our-scotland.org

azzuri · 'Our Scotland' Fossil Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 3776

see - http://www.scottishsocialistvoice.net/pages/page5.html

Be unconventional

The long-delayed launch of the Independence Convention on St Andrew's Day was an event that will be welcomed by everyone who wants to see a democratic Scotland arise from the medieval rubble of the warmongering British state. We should be under no illusion what that event on St Andrew's Day signifies: the political landscape of Scotland has irreversibly changed.

We are now living at the beginning of an exciting new political period for Scotland. For we now have a public commitment from all three political parties who support Scottish independence to work together - for the first time - to build an independence movement. This is uncharted territory which will challenge the democratic credentials and tactical acumen of everyone involved in all three political parties. The pressures of working in co-operation for a common goal will soon will soon separate the democratic wheat from the sectarian chaff.

Although the launch of the Independence Convention was important for what is signifies, it still leaves two great questions hanging in the air unanswered.

Firstly: how do we work together - in a day-to-day practical sense - to turn passive support for Scottish independence into a tangible, visible, organised and unstoppable movement?

And secondly: how do we get a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament who will be able to organise the referendum on Scottish independence that has been agreed upon and is supported by all three political parties.

These are the two questions which will dominate Scottish politics for the foreseeable future. Everything else is subordinate to these two practical considerations since without the democratic tools of government the people of Scotland are disarmed on all the major political and economic issues that matter.

The answer to the first question is limited only by our imaginations. Culture was, and always has been, our primary weapon and will no doubt continue to be so.

The nature of that culture is many faceted and can include everything from community-based cultural festivals to open air music concerts and not discounting the visibility of culture jamming and street art. It is all about mobilising, communicating, and making visible a pro-Scottish culture of resistance to British rule. The second question is the six million dollar one - the one that will dominate and challenge the tactical thinking within the political parties of Independence from now until 1 May 2007.

The second question, because it is tactical, has to take into account the nature of the partial democracy that we have right now. As Alex Salmond correctly stated there is no way that any referendum on independence can be organised by Westminster. The Anglo-British Parliament in London has a track record of rigging these things to suit their own interests. We have to do it ourselves, here in Scotland, disregarding the constraints of the devolution 'settlement'.

So where do we go now? The nature of the Holyrood electoral system will shape our tactics. It makes no sense whatsoever if more than one independence-supporting candidate - from the three main independence parties - stands in the first-past-the-post seats. To do so would be to split the independence vote in the crudest most sectarian manner; it would mean putting narrow party agendas before the interests of the people of Scotland; and would effectively torpedo the fine words of cross-party cooperation we heard from all three parties.

As it stands at present neither the SSP nor the Scottish Greens has a hope in hell of winning even a single first-past-the-post seat. There can only be one logical conclusion drawn that has any tactical or practical credibility. A coherent and credible cross-party strategy for tactical 'independence' voting in both FPTP and list seats needs to be seriously examined.

When this discussion begins the unionists and the strategists (and apologists) for the British state will hit the panic button. But the Scottish people will understand fully and respond instinctively. We should learn to trust the people's instincts. Because the prize of democracy, freedom and independence is now in our grasp.

A very good article - I'm glad it's the Socialists, Greens and SNP that are in this together. Smile

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