First Published: The Call, Vol. 7, No. 9, March 6, 1978.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
Oslo, Norway–More than 1,700 people packed into this city’s beautiful new concert hall Feb. 18 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Norwegian Workers Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (AKPML).
Similar celebrations were also held in seven other cities featuring speeches from leading Party members, solidarity messages and cultural presentations.
The Oslo meeting featured a speech by Michael Klonsky, Chairman of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) of the U.S. The meeting’s keynote speaker was Asbjorn Elden, a 61-year-old veteran worker who is a poet-novelist and an activist in the AKPML.
Also addressing the enthusiastic crowd was Pal Steigan, the Party’s chairman. In addition, messages were presented from the Party’s youth organizations, fraternal parties and friendly groups and sympathizers.
A message of greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was warmly received by the audience. In its message, the Chinese comrades called the AKPML “a youthful and vigorous party which has grown up in the fierce struggle between the two lines in the international communist movement.”
Klonsky’s speech, delivered on behalf of the CPML, supported the AKPML’s revolutionary work in “leading the masses in the struggle for socialism and national independence, defending Marx-ism-Leninism in the life or death struggle against revisionism, and giving militant support to the exploited and oppressed people throughout the world.”
Klonsky thanked the Norwegian people for the militant support they have given to the struggle of the Afro-American people for civil rights. In particular, he thanked the AKPML for their recent efforts in rallying support for Gary Tyler, the Black youth who is one of the main victims of U.S. imperialism’s systematic racial discrimination.
In their speeches, Klonsky and Steigan both affirmed their support for Mao Tsetung’s theory of the three worlds and called for a united struggle against the two superpowers. Steigan especially pointed to the role of the Soviet Union, which is increasingly threatening Norway. In fact, the USSR already occupies that country’s Svalbard Island and is building up a strong military presence in the Kola Peninsula.
A humorous skit put on by a local cultural group exposed the Norwegian bourgeoisie’s capitulation to the Soviet aggression. The skit revealed recent agreements which allow the Soviet fishing fleet to drain Norwegian waters, with Norway’s fishermen the main victims.
Elden’s speech summed up the AKPML’s experiences over the past five years. He hit hard at the capitalists for promoting reactionary ideas and culture among the masses. He concluded by calling on the Party to unite behind the correct Marxist-Leninist line that had brought them so far already.
A musical performance was presented by a group of Eritrean students living in Norway. The Eritreans received the loudest ovation of the evening, a salute to the Eritrean liberation movement which has received widespread support from the Norwegian Party and people.
The Norwegian celebrations demonstrated the great respect and widespread support that the AKPML has among a significant section of the Norwegian workers and people. They reflected as well the growing unity of the Marxist-Leninists internationally and the leadership that they are providing to the peoples of the world who are faced with a common struggle against the two superpowers.