Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr says the Election of Adam Price as leader of Plaid Cymru on a programme that clearly spells out Independence by 2030 is to be welcomed - if only because Independence is no longer hidden but is asserted as central to Plaid Cymru and the Welsh National Movement,
The programme of Adam Price has been put into seven steps and we will look at these closely.
1: Elect a pro-independence government for Wales in 2021. Plaid Cymru needs to be in government in 2021. It is only Plaid Cymru who can do the necessary nation-building to secure independence.
2: Pass a Wales 2030 Referendum Act. We need a nation-wide debate on our future. By the end of the next decade, we will give the people of Wales a vote on self-determination.
3: Set up a National Commission as part of the 2030 Process. Creating the new Wales is the work of the entire nation. The National Commission will oversee the 2030 Process and give Welsh citizens a say in what an independent Wales will look like.
4: Be bold, radical, and visionary. We must act as if we are already independent. All we do must make Wales a healthier, fairer, more prosperous place to live. In 2026, we must win re-election.
5: Reduce the gap between our income and our spending. We must show that we’re not too small for independence. By 2030, our fiscal gap can be sustainable and we’ll have proved that Wales is not too small to stand on her own two feet.
6: Grow Wales’ economy. We need to improve Wales’ economic performance. This will improve the lives of the people of Wales and make our independence an attractive and realistic option.
7: Build a new Welsh media. Our nation needs a thriving media. A strong and diverse Welsh media is crucial to the national debate on our future.
Our fundamental criticism of what we see above so far is that is still pure Plaid Cymru Electoralism the "Party of Power" not the party of Protest moving into action.
It is clearly not yet the organization of social movements.
We are aware that Adam Price was at the Harvard Kennedy School for Government and we are told he was influenced by the ideas of Marshall Ganz a believer in social movements and their organization - we challenge Adam Price to help organize social movements in Wales - it will be a test of his sincerity and commitment to an Independent Wales.
Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr since our inception in 2012 has argued and organised around the necessity of Welsh social movements underpinning and underlying any political movement. We have identified at least three social movements that are fundamental to proceed to Welsh Independence.
1. Banking/Money - we take the view that a Welsh Banking System is a necessary pre- requisite of any road to Welsh Independence - The absence of such a Welsh Banking System would make for token and not actual independence, it requires much more than just a re-branding of Finance for Wales as a Welsh Bank as advocated by Adam Price.
2.Water - Welsh Water resources are ultimately controlled by the Secretary of State for Wales and are not under the sovereignty of the Welsh People - this valuable natural resource of "white gold" must be brought under the control of the Nation,
3.Land - Welsh Land is one of the least discussed and most abused resources of the People of Wales even by the Welsh Assembly - a Welsh Land Commission should work toward at a minimum of one million acres of Welsh Land being returned to the People of Wales from the English Lords and Monarchy and UK Ministry of Defense and Forestry Commission which has appropriated them.
We realize the immense amount of work that needs to be done to raise the level of Independence politics in Wales to the level of a real independence movement.
Being all things to all men and women the core of Electoralist Populist Politics lowers rather than raises the people's democratic abilities and powers.
Which why we reject Populism which Adam Price finds attractive in his public utterances in favour of the hard work of mass movements and mass line that raises people up and does not demean them.
In October 2016 at our First Welsh Socialist Republican Congress we called for an education campaign in Wales on the necessity of a Welsh Banking system and a Welsh Bank Act – we called for mass Movement on the Questions of Welsh Water and Land and Acts to protect our Welsh Resources.
A true understanding of these political questions will win people to support Welsh Independence - but work has to be done for people to come to that conclusion.
We have to raise the level of political discourse not lower it.
We have pointed out that Independence like the term Socialism have been emptied of their content by multiple misuse of these terms and mischievous opportunists exploit this fact especially the new brand of Welsh Fascists.
We took the opportunity in our 2016 Congress to define what we mean by these terms – the loose use of these terms by Populists can make them mean all things to all people and provide the political base for opportunism of electing people who can do anything they want because we never really defined what they should achieve or stood for in the first place.
If there are no mass movements on Banking, Water and Land in Wales then there is nobody to call to account whatever political representatives are elected under the Independence banner – we do not want free agents or representatives but direct democracy of the people so we can replace opportunists who serve themselves and not the people as soon as they raise their ugly head.
We want Mass Movements and the Mass Line NOT Populism
To these ends we at Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr are working towards a July 2019 Caernafon Declaration on the 50th Anniversary of the Anti Investiture Protests in Wales to go beyond mere talk to concrete steps on the road to Welsh Independence based on social movements around Banking and Water and Land - driving the politics of Welsh Independence and not just Plaid Cymru Electoralism
BLAST FROM THE PAST : OUR STATEMENT ON LEANNE WOOD WHEN SHE WAS ELECTED LEADER OF PLAID CYMRU IN 2012
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