elections
Obama: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
There seems to be quite a lot of genuine excitement in the English language media following the election of Barack Obama. Various commentators are talking about it as if it signifies real change within America and even the world, rather than just the end of another of America’s four yearly electoral circuses.
If one were to believe the media it, would appear that after eight long years of Bush America has undergone a real transformation, the first Black President, and a commitment to real radical change.
It sounds like it is too good to be true. Obviously it is.
Obama wins, but will he bring change?
Democrat Barack Obama today became the first African-American president of the United States. But in foreign policy will he deliver the change he has promised?
It is hard not to get carried away by the hysteria of Obamania.
Nepal; a nice little earner for the Maoist ruling class - in Lenin's footsteps
Nepal's Maoist Party has won around 220 seats in the recent Constituent Assembly (CA) election, about one-third of the total. Though the largest party, they don't have an overall majority; they have stated their wish to lead a coalition government.
But as the result became clear Maoist leader Prachanda told journalists “I will be declared the acting President of this country very soon…which will be followed by occupying the post of the all powerful President of New Nepal…this is the peoples’ mandate…no force on earth can disobey this mandate”.
Maoists win the election in Nepal
The Maoist party - former guerrillas CPN(M) - have won a clear majority in last week's elections. But what changes will this mean for Nepal's workers and peasants?
The result so far is for the 240-seats first-past-the-post vote for the Constituent Assembly. Results for the decisive 335-seat proportional representation part of the Assembly will take longer, but the Maoists are expected to do well in this too.
Venezuela: on the dark side of the moon
The editorial group of El Libertario, newspaper of CRA, Comision de Relaciones Anarquistas from Venezuela, reflect on the prospects for the country after the seemingly indisputable electoral victory of Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela has landed on the dark side of the moon. The recently opened 21st century seems to be escaping us for good. We will not have a chance to face it with any prospect of success.
Reforms take away what is gained through the struggle
Editorial of El Libertario #51 (November 2007) putting forward a libertarian position on the Consitutional Reform the regime attempts to impose.
Once again we must consider the dilemma of whether to participate or not in the electoral contest (referendum), this time with the difference that it is not a case of choosing a candidate but rather constitutional norms for the government of collective life. This situation requires careful reflection.
The 'No Land, No House, No Vote' campaign still on for 2009
Article restating Abahlali baseMjondolo's anti-statist, anti-electoral politics seen as more or less treasonable by the state and 'ignorant' by the NGO left, some of whom suggested that Abahlali militants should be given 'voter education' so that they could be taught to 'understand democracy'.
The No Land, No House, No Vote Campaign Still on for 2009
by M'du Hlongwa
We are the restless majority - S'bu Zikode
S'bu Zikode's article after Abahlali baseMjondolo's successful anti-electoral campaign in 2006.
[i]This article by S'bu Zikode appeared in Durban's elite bourgeois newspaper, the Mercury, in July 2006. After Abahlali baseMjondolo put twenty thousand people on the streets in support of a boycott of the February 2006 local government elections in the face of major militarised state intimidation the middle classes began to concede some space to the voices of the militant poor.
Nicolas Sarkozy: A mandate for class war
Conservative politician Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French Presidential election ...
He managed to convince 53% of the population that he represents change and this message has dutifully been repeated in the media over here. Yet he is basically the chosen successor to the incumbent party so, surely, it makes far more sense to say the French were looking for “more of the same” rather than the Royal victory would have been the mandate for “change.”
Dawning of a new era
The Dawning of a New Era
