Hinrich Kuhls quoted:
>
> "... Die Erleichterung, dass es in Berlin endlich zu einer neuen
> politischen Mehrheit kommt, bedeutet nicht, dass große Hoffnungen in einen
> politischen Neuanfang gerechtfertigt sind. Die trostlose Sanierungsaufgabe
> besteht darin, die Bevölkerung für eine Fortführung des Sparkurses zu
> gewinnen, damit eine Privatisierung der Bankgesellschaft Berlin möglich
> wird.
>
Since this is the key passage from the Sozialismus editorial here is a rough translation:
"The relief over the fact that there will be a new political majority in Berlin, does not mean great expectations of a fresh start are justified. The bleak task of consolidating the budget means to win over the population for a continuation of budget cuts in order to make a privatisation of Bankgesellschaft Berlin possible."
One has to keep in mind for who Sozialismus is catering: the lower ranks of the union beaurocracy having symphatizing with the PDS. This clientele has to be prepared that a government participation by the PDS does not mean budget expanison in a Keynesian style but the continuation of the strict auterity policy began by the conservatives. In return for advertising this bleak perspective the PDS is promised to become part of the 'respectable' parties. In this respect the anti-communist camapign by conservatives is functional as well: It puts pressure on the PDS to proof they are a 'responsible' political force. The best way they can do this is to defend the continuation of austerity policies.
Perhaps there is something to rejoice for all the PDS bureaucrats who are going to be awarded jobs in the Berlin administration for containing social protest against budget cuts, but for all those who have to bear the effects of those cuts there is little to rejoice.
Below is an excerpt from a WSWS article showing the readiness of the PDS of becoming 'respectable'. Full text at: http://wsws.org/articles/2001/jun2001/berl-j09.shtml Johannes
"The SPD is striving to establish a coalition with the Green Party and the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism-formerly the Stalinist Socialist Unity Party) and has made clear that its main task will be to consolidate the state budget with a strict policy of cuts. Amongst other measures, the SPD is planning to save 150 million marks at the city's three universities.
When the finance speaker of the CDU fraction, Alexander Kaczmarek, sought to justify a policy of privatisation with the words, "The events at the BGB show that the city is a poor employer", a speaker for the SPD retorted that such remarks were "cynical". Meanwhile the SPD is considering selling off the city's 83 swimming pools, in addition to privatising state-owned housing societies and the Benjamin Franklin clinic.
Both the Green Party and the PDS have signalled their readiness to support such cuts. The chairman of the PDS fraction in the Berlin parliament, Harald Wolf, emphasised at a press conference that in light of the parlous financial situation, there was no alternative to "deep and painful cuts in all areas". The increased debt of 9.6 billion marks "exceeds all previous dimensions," said Wolf.
Should the SPD "seriously be ready to make a new beginning in the city " the PDS "would not evade its responsibilities," Wolf continued. Then it would be necessary to discuss, without taboos, "what, if anything, the city can afford".
Targets for cuts include cultural institutions as well as two university clinics. The change in government, according to Wolf, is required to create the necessary acceptance in the population at large for such "painful cuts".
When he was asked how it was possible to reconcile such a position with the PDS's previous opposition to the "slash and burn policies of the Senate", he replied that the PDS "had never ruled out the prospect of consolidating the budget".