PES Manifesto

Abnormal people: the Vienna activists Forum

Published Monday, July 7, 2008 at 15:49
by carlosmoret (883 views and 3 comments)

Was the activists Forum in Vienna an abnormal week-end for abnormal people? Are we abnormal people to start with as Bo Krovig - a campaign specialist of the Swedish party - said?

In a way Bo was right, it was a beautiful week-end, nice and sunny in Vienna and there we were, a bunch of some 300 people sitting in a room with no windows, listening to other speakers talk, at times fighting against sleep, raising our hands to get a chance to say a word when instead we should have been pick-nicking in a park with friends or family. And, to make matters worse, we had to put our hands deep into our pockets to get those Euros out that paid for our trip to Vienna. And there was fatigue too. I had a General Assembly of my PS section and got home late on Thursday night, still having to pack, try to get a few hours of sleep before starting off and finding my way to the airport. Helène worked late on Friday, but I convinced her to go to because I was confident that she would love the experience. And she did, in spite of fatigue.

The Vienna forum was really worth it, and sorry Bo, but I wouldn't have traded it for the best pick-nick in the nicest park or field of the Union with the best possible company; company we had, and the best too! And if you, my fellow activist, missed the Vienna Forum, don't miss Madrid this winter!

"The PES treated us as kings"  

We in France had non-stop elections for the last two years. What's worse, we have our party's National Congress coming in November. Every one is getting busy on it, trying to come out in the best position for him or herself and their friends. And we all have the European elections in June. As I get more and more involved in political activism, the more I want and the more I am frustrated because I feel we didn't do enough, or that we didn't get the chance to do more. On the contrary, I left the Vienna Forum with the impression that there was a lot we could do, that the PES is giving us the chance to act and giving us clues of how to campaign.

Comparing with Porto, we were many more grass-roots activists present and from a much wider array of countries. I do not pretend here to give a complete overview of what went on, just the impressions I got and one or two conclusions I made which I want to share with you.

The PES treated us as kings. We were lodged in a very good hotel and food was excellent, not to say about drink which was good and plenty. We even got a town tour! In that sense, we could not expect more. Or could we? We had to pay for our own trip, and thinking about it, maybe it was probably better that way. Normally the cost of the flight would have been a deterrent for me to join the Forum, but I wonder if it was not better that way because, had the PES sent a limousine to pick me up at my doorstep and then put me on a first class flight to Vienna, would I have been invited or the guests would have only been those who had the right contacts? I believe this is one of the most important aspects we have to take into account: keep activism for dedicated activists and avoid it being coopted by party hierarchy. This of course I say from my limited point of view, and if you don't agree, please speak-up and let’s find the best way to have as may PES members as possible in the next EU parliament.

It was a pleasure to see the Spanish delegation, active and well represented. There were basically two groups, one from Barcelona and another from Madrid. Whereas in Porto there were only a few individuals. Speaking with Francisco Polo who made the presentation of how they campaigned for their election of Zapatero, it became clear to me that the Spanish PES activists have their place because the PSOE leadership does not control it. I don't know how it is with your own MEPs, but I know a little of how it is in France. We have some very good, competent hard working MEPs, but we also have some that are there just there to cash their paychecks and have "Member of European Parliament" printed on their cards. Europe and the PES deserve better. Other delegations were present too, mentioning the Spanish one does not mean that it was the only one.

Exchanging good practices 

Since Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was elected our president, the PES is going through a very important change, mutating from a club of leaders into a real political party made out of leaders as well as of activists. A door was slightly opened for us, lets all get in through it and not let it close behind.

Diversity is our advantage and we should use it as one of our trump cards. In one of the workshops Aidan O'Sullivan shared with us his Irish campaigning experience and how they managed to take advantage of activists that went to Ireland to help; Francisco showed us how they took advantage of the PES in the Zapatero campaign; Jose Reis Santos gave us an insight of the way they draw-up the manifesto in Portugal and Aleksander Glogowsky told us about what the Parisian group did to boost the PES. Out of all this it is clear to me that we have to exchange amongst PES activists as much as possible and share our experiences in order to gain in efficiency.

There is the manifesto2009 all right, a very good idea for next year's election. But the manifesto can't get us the votes all by itself, and the Vienna Forum helped me to see better on how we could organize our campaign. On one side the experience that others shared, my own experience in national and municipal campaigns and the expert advise we got from Bo Krogwig.

We have to exchange amongst activists throughout Europe. Meetings such as this one in Vienna are very good, but we can't have them every week. The PES puts forward some tools for us to use: Yourspace, for instance. Nevertheless, maybe because I don't know how to use it, or for some other reason, I think there is something still missing. Could we have a mailing group? It could be a good way to keep in touch. What do you think? One thing seems clear, let's stay abnormal! Let’s keep things moving!

Tags: elections, forum, PES