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10 years since the death of Harilaos Florakis: He was a leader of the people because he was a communist
The events organized by the KKE to mark the 10th anniversary of Harilaos Florakis’ death came to an end in an emotional atmosphere and with a sense of militant determination. The activity of H. Florakis, GS of the CC of the KKE and later Honorary President of the party has left its mark on history of the KKE’s heroic struggles. Cde. Harilaos’ entire life was identified with the course of the KKE.
On Friday, the central political event was held in Athens to honour the memory of Harilaos Florakis with the participation of large number of people, especially young people. The central speaker was Dimitris Koutsoumpas, the GS of the CC of the KKE. The event was held at the Educational Centre-Library “H. Florakis” which the CC of the KKE created as a centre to support young scientists, historians and all those workers who seek the historical truth. This centre with its multifaceted archival material is housed in Harilaos Florakis’ home. In this space an exhibition was organized with photographic and archival material about the life and activity of Harilaos Florakis in the major strike struggles in occupied Athens, in the National Resistance of EAM-ELAS, in the Democratic Army of Greece, in the prisons and in exile.
The civil memorial for Harilaos Florakis was held on Sunday 24/5 at his grave in his birthplace, Paliozoglopi, Karditsa, in Central Greece.
The GS of the CC of the KKE, D. Koutsoumpas, at the central political event on Friday in Athens stressed the following things in reference to H. FLorakis’ life and contribution.
“When the counterrevolution began in the former socialist countries, during it and afterwards, in a period when well-known leaders of many communist parties retreated and retracted, cde. Harilaos Florakis was one of the exceptions to the rule. He remained upright, defended the KKE against those who attempted to liquidate it with the assistance and behind the scenes participation of bourgeois forces.
He made a decisive contribution at the so-called “Wide Plenum of the CC” in 1990, as well as at the 13th Congress of the KKE (February 1991), when the main assault to dissolve the KKE into what was then Synaspismos was attempted. This was when our party was attacked form within, in the name of “renewal”, which meant the adjustment of the KKE to the system.
Cde H. Florakis used to say characteristically:
“What renewal, comrades? There are different kinds of renewal. There is revolutionary renewal that is based on the fundamental principles of communism. There is also renewal that seeks what is new not inside the framework of principles, but beyond them, and even against them.”
D. Koutsoumpas also underlined in his speech: “Harilaos Flroakis was a son of the KKE. The KKE and its heroic struggles distinguished him as a leader, who was appreciated not only by communists, but also by many workers who do not identify with the ideology of our party.” He also made reference to the attacks carried out by the well-known representatives of bourgeois ideology as well as by the opportunists and revisers of the communist worldview and ideology, the falsifiers of history, who speak many times in the name of allegedly defending Harilaos Florakis, who are today gathered in SYRIZA or inside its components and platforms, and he noted “They carry out underhand and hypocritical polemics, hiding behind a fake defense of Marxism-Leninism and older programmatic positions of the party. On many occasions, as cde Harilaos himself often used to say, “they praise the dead in order to bury the living.”
The GS of the CC of the KKE added: “The development of the revolutionary theory and political line of a party is a precondition for the continuous reconfirmation of its communist character, i.e. as the ideological-political vanguard. This does not mean rupture with its history, nor stagnation. These forces are consciously holding onto from the past everything that is outdated, that has been tested with negative results. The opportunists hold onto anything from the past that excuses their compromise with capitalist power, that rationalizes its alleged reforms to the people’s benefit and the participation of the workers’ party in alliances in order to exercise bourgeois governance with the support of the people’s movement.”
In conclusion, D. Koutsoumpas stressed that: “h. Florakis was a leader of the people because he was a communist. Only this quality could have provided him all that it provided, only this quality could have made him a leader of the people.”
25.05.2015
