Prologue
These Statutes were adopted by the 15th Congress of the Communist Party
of Greece which was held in May 1996. They were formulated to reflect the amendments and
supplements to Statutes approved by the PartyÆs 9th, 10th and 13th Congresses.
Experience from the distant and more recent past was also utilized in drafting them.
The Statutes determine the aims and nature of the CPG, and the principles on which it is
structured and operates.
They define the rights, obligations, primary duties and rules of action by the PartyÆs
members, organisations and bodies.
The great value and significance of the statutory principles and operating regulations of
this new type of party have been fully confirmed during the approximately eight decades of
the CPGÆs existence and action, as well as by the rich experience of the international
communist movement.
To defend these principles in a conscientious and resolute way and to observe and apply
them persistently and creatively constitutes the paramount duty of every Party member.
This duty is identified with the defence of the PartyÆs very existence and of the main
conditions which enable it to accomplish its historic mission.
The principles enshrined in the Statutes ensure the basic conditions necessary for the
personal virtues, abilities and activities of every member to be manifested and developed
freely, and to be harmoniously joined together with those of other members and to
contribute as a whole to the decisive strengthening of the Party and its political
influence, to the effective defence and promotion of the immediate and long-term interests
of the working class and all working people and to advance the ideas and values of the
Party.
Introduction
a. The CPG is the party of the working class, its conscientious
organised vanguard, its supreme form of organisation. It is a revolutionary organisation
of like-minded volunteers which is struggling to overthrow capitalism and build the
socialist-communist society in which all exploitation of man by man and all oppression
will be abolished, and in which a higher standard of living, the rights of the people and
equality of opportunities and rights will be assured, as will the all-round progress of
the Greek people.
The CPG aims to devote all its forces to building this better society, being fully aware
that it will be the task of the working people themselves and of their substantial
participation both in the struggle to win it, and in the process of building, safeguarding
and consolidating it. In this struggle, the CPG expresses the interests of all the working
people in both towns and villages, of women and youth, and of all those who are suffering
under the power of capital and whose interests lie in replacing this power. The working
clas, bearer of socialist change, fighting in the front ranks of the struggle to overthrow
capitalism, are striving not only for their own liberation, but for the liberation of all
working people.
For these reasons, it is a historical necessity for the CPG to exist and grow stronger in
Greek society. In order to win its fight against daily capitalist oppression and to end
manÆs exploitation of man, the working class needs its own independent political
oganisation, a mass revolutionary party capable of guiding the struggle for their vital
interests and the building of a new society.
b. In its activities to realise these noble aims, the CPG is guided by the ideology
of Marxism-Leninism and by proletarian internationalism. It is inspired by the great
October Socialist Revolution, and by the rich militant traditions of the Greek people. It
utilises the positive and negative lessons learned from the building of socialism as we
saw it.
The CPG, supported by its world theory, has drawn up its programme and policy based on the
analysis of the Greek and international situation, on the generalisation of experiences
from social and political struggles and on the progress of knowledge in Greece and
throughout the world.
c. The transition from the capitalist society, which is going through a profound
crisis, to a socialist society presupposes the winning of political power by the working
class, the socialisation of the main means of production and the liberation of the
creative activity of the working people, the youth and the people in general. The CPG is
fighting with all its forces to make the working class and its allies aware of this need.
To this end, it explores every opportunity in its daily struggles to improve the lives of
the working people, to protect and extend their economic, political, trade union, and
cultural rights and freedoms, to defend national independence and peace and to protect the
environment.
In this struggle it seeks to join all the working people together in a strong alliance
against imperialism, against rampant exploitation, against activities by the economic
oligarchy, domestic and foreign alike, and for substantial anti-imperialist,
anti-monopoly, democratic changes.
d. The organisational structure and operation of the CPG are in harmony with its
aims and its revolutionary nature. Its fundamental principles are democratic centralism,
collectivity, follow-up, criticism and self-criticism.
The consistent, integrated and creative application of these principles, particularly that
of democratic centralism, ensures unity of word and deed, collective and personal
responsibility, democratic discussion and operation and at the same time it ensures united
conscientious discipline in action. It contributes to the training of fighters with
authority, ethics and a developed stance of criticism and self-criticism and to the
continued broadening and strengthening of its links with the working class, the working
people and the people as a whole.
The ideological, political and organisational unity of the Party is a necessary condition
for it to achieve its goals.
e. The CPG is founded on the principle of proletarian internationalism. It bases
its internationalism on the common interests of the working class, and on the common
dreams and goals of communists in all countries. It trains its members in the spirit of
proletarian internationalism, international solidarity and cooperation with working people
all over the world. It fulfils its internationalist obligations consistently and takes
part in the struggle to rebuild, unite and strengthen the international communist and
workersÆ movement.
The CPG associates internationalism dialectically with patriotism. It is the true and worthy inheritor of the national, democratic and revolutionary traditions of the Greek people. It fights against all manifestations of fascism, nationalism, chauvinism and racism.
Patry members: Obligations and rights
Organising principles on which the CPG is constituted and operates
The leading bodies of the CPG
The party's base organisation (BO)
Communists in mass organisations and in public offices - Relations between
the party and KNE
The party's finances measures to uphold and defend the statutes
