Article by Mathias Orbeck in "Leipziger Volkszeitung", 21 April 2008
“The Left needs to become a party that commits actively to re-communalisation“, stressed European deputy Sahra Wagenknecht (THE LEFT) at a conference to which the European Parliament fraction, the Leipzig city association, and the city council fraction of the LEFT PARTY as well as the Local Policy Forum, Saxony had invited on Saturday to the New Town Hall. Under the slogan “(Re)communalisation instead of privatisation“, there were exchanged experiences from different cities and countries.
“The fact that the conference takes place here is a recognition of our successful work for the maintenance of local property“, said city council fraction head Ilse Lauter. And also Mike Nagler of the citizens' initiative “Stop the sell-out of our city!“ referred on the way in which almost 150,000 Leipzig citizens at the citizens' vote in January forced a privatisation stop for the large local enterprises, binding for three years, onto the city administration. This success, it was said, certainly had federation-wide significance.
Twelve speakers from Germany and abroad made clear that they considered “public existential services an inalienable human right“ and that the “current neoliberal privatisation craze in practice had almost always led to higher prices, to the reduction of jobs and social benefits. The people are fed up with the tale that privatisations lead to lower prices and better service“, emphasised Wagenknecht. In fact, on the European average, every fourth job in energy supply and in sales had been destroyed by privatisation. “The costs are lowered by way of wage dumping and cheap wages, necessary investments are then pushed onto the tax-payers“, she said. An example was also water supply in London.
Special resonance was encountered by the contribution of Asbjørn Wahl, who in his capacity as National Coordinator of the Norwegian campaign for the welfare state, reported on his voluminous alliance-political experiences. “In Trondheim an alliance initiated by the trade unions has resulted in two retirement homes as well as half of waste disposal again being operated publicly.“ He knew some examples, where recommunalisation had again led to higher consumer satisfaction as well as a better financial position of the communities. “The citizens are in no way frustrated with politics. They want to get involved when it is a matter of important decisions in their city“, thus Nagler. In Leipzig, there should be a discussion about the future orientation of the city works, he demanded. Questions such as whether they should be allowed to speculate on the stock market or engage in foreign ventures or vice versa, should be discussed with the citizens. “We need citizens' budget and planning cells; however, the city administration does not seem to have the will for that.“
