

Mbeki out as facilitator of Zim power-sharing deal
Sipho Masondo, The Times,
Former president Thabo Mbeki's role as the facilitator of the Zimbabwean power-sharing deal is over.
President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday appointed a new facilitation team that includes his political adviser, Charles Nqakula, special envoy Mac Maharaj and international relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu.
The appointments mean Mbeki will not have any role to play in mediating between the partners in the unity government headed by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Appointed by the SA Development Community as facilitator in March 2007, Mbeki has been widely criticised for being too lenient with Mugabe.
But his efforts did result in a
Even after his ousting from the presidency, Mbeki continued to play a facilitation role as the SADC's pointman.
Earlier this month, Zuma, who was asked by the SADC to step in as the new facilitator in
Presidential spokesman Vusi Mona said: "Mbeki was mediating as head of state, he did so on behalf of
But Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said he had not spoken to the former president and did not know that his boss had been replaced.
When The Times asked him to ask Mbeki if he had been told about the move, he said: "I know he is not in a position to talk right now, he is in a meeting, and I am also in another."
From: http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/article210878.ece
Unified Communist Party of Nepal-M to organize nationwide strike
Lekhnath Neupane
Han
KATHMANDU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The All
The decision was taken at a meeting of the United National People's Movement in the presence of representatives of party headquarters and the chiefs of the sister organizations of the party on Wednesday.
"More than 20,000 students from different schools and colleges would march through major thoroughfares of the
Neupane said such demonstrations would also be organized in major cities on the same day. The students will demonstrate demanding that the school education should be basic education and university's education should be easily accessible to the youth.
The teachers affiliated to UCPN-M have decided to shut schools throughout the nation on Dec. 7.
From: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/26/content_12542421.htm
President Zuma appoints Facilitation Support Team
Presidency, 25 November 2009
President Jacob Zuma has constituted a three-person Facilitation support team to work on the Zimbabwean process.
The President’s political adviser Charles Nqakula leads the team, working with Special Envoy Mac Maharaj and international relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu.
The SADC Summit held on the 5th of November in Maputo, Mozambique, decided that the signatories to the Global Political Agreement, Zanu-PF, the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC led by Arthur Mutambara should engage in dialogue within 15 days, not exceeding 30 days, and that the dialogue should include all outstanding issues relating to the implementation of the Global Political Agreement.
The
The Facilitation team will soon engage with the parties as emissaries of the President, and report back to President Zuma.
The dates of their visit to
Enquiries: Vincent Magwenya on 072 715 0024
From: http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/show.asp?include=president/pr/2009/pr11251524.htm&ID=1898&type=pr
Saharawi activist refuses
Aminatou Haidar
Jose Morales Brum, a trade union leader in
Haidar is at the airport on the
"The government is ready, if Ms Haidar asks, to grant her refugee status as soon as possible and provide her with all the necessary documents (so she can travel)," the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.
The ministry said it would act if the Moroccan consulate in
"Perhaps if Aminatou Haidar recognized her Moroccan nationality, her passport would be returned. At the moment it is impossible," he told reporters.
"It is not
Moroccan authorities arrested Haidar on November 13 on her arrival in Laayoune from
Immigration officials immediately sent her back to the archipelago after confiscating her passport. She used her Spanish residency permit to re-enter the country.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that in the face of Haidar's refusal there was nothing more he could do, adding that he had already expressed his concern about her case Thursday in a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Taieb Fassi Fihri.
In October, Haidar received the Civil Courage Prize from the New York-based Train Foundation for her human rights campaigning in the disputed
Azziman said Haidar had been an activist who never had any problems but had recently "drifted towards the separatist thesis of the Polisario".
Earlier this month
While fighting halted in 1991, UN-sponsored talks on
From: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35873
The following press communique has been issued by the 11th International meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties:
89 participants representing 57 communist and workers' parties and 48 countries participated in the 11th International meeting of the communist and workers' parties held in New Delhi from 20-22 November 2009, on the theme “The international capitalist crisis, the workers’ and peoples’ struggle, the alternatives and the role of the communist and working class movement”, hosted by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India.
The meeting adopted the Delhi Declaration unanimously (see below).
The meeting decided to accept the request of the Workers' Party of Bangladesh to be a part of these international meetings in the future.
The meeting decided that the 12th international meeting would be held in the African continent, hosted by the South African Communist Party. The working group shall subsequently meet to finalise the theme, dates, venue and other details.
The meeting expressed its unflinching solidarity with the worldwide struggles of the workers and people for peace, sovereignty, democracy and social justice.
The meeting decided that concrete actions must be undertaken in all countries and coordinated globally on the following issues:
1. Against NATO and its global expansion; against renewed imperialist military aggressiveness, and against foreign military bases.
2. To observe 29 November as a day of solidarity with the Palestinians struggle, as per the decision of the extraordinary meeting held in
3. To observe the year 2010 as the sixty-fifth anniversary of the defeat of fascism.
4. To strengthen popular mobilisations in defence of workers rights in coordination with the trade unions.
5. Intensify international solidarity for the release of the Cuban Five.
6. To strengthen popular movements, pressing governments in respective countries, demanding the right to work in coordination with the youth organisations.
This 11th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties, held in
True to their class nature, the response of the respective capitalist governments to overcome this crisis fails to address these basic concerns. All the neo-liberal votaries and social democratic managers of capitalism, who had so far decried the State are now utilising the state for rescuing them, thus underlining a basic fact that the capitalist state has always defended and enlarged avenues for super profits. While the costs of the rescue packages and bailouts are at public expense, the benefits accrue to few. The bailout packages announced, are addressed first to rescue and then enlarge profit making avenues. Banks and financial corporates are now back in business and making profits. Growing unemployment and the depression of real wages is the burden for the working people as against the gift of huge bailout packages for the corporations.
Secondly, capitalism, which in the first place is responsible for the destruction of the environment, is trying to transfer the entire burden of safeguarding the planet from climate change, which in the first place they had caused, onto the shoulders of the working class and working people. Capitalism's proposal for restructuring in the name of climate change has little relation to the protection of the environment. Corporate inspired 'Green development' and 'green economy' are sought to be used to impose new state monopoly regulations which support profit maximisation and impose new hardships on the people. Profit maximisation under capitalism is thus not compatible with environmental protection and peoples' rights.
Imperialism, buoyed by the demise of the
We, the communist and workers' parties coming from all parts of the globe and representing the interests of the working class and all other toiling sections of society (the vast majority of global population) underlining the irreplaceable role of the communist parties call upon the people to join us in strengthening the struggles to declare that socialism is the only real alternative for the future of humankind and that the future is ours.
Hisila Yami, Central Committee member of Communist Party of
Hisila Yami
NOV 16 - What started as a focus on protests against military supremacy has silently led to a focus on support for civilian supremacy. The retirement of Rookmangud Katawal, the ex-military chief and the main person who triggered the present crisis, has de facto diverted the attention of the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to support civil supremacy. This means the Maoist party has now shifted its attention to House supremacy whereby the unconstitutional move of the president overruling the then prime minister’s order should be tabled for discussion at the CA. However, this shift has not brought any consensus between the Maoists and the governing old mainstream parties.
At present, both hands of the Maoists are filled with agendas. The right hand represents civil supremacy, making a People ’s Republic constitution, adhering to the peace agreement, safeguarding nationhood and making a national coalition government. The left hand represents upholding class, ethnic, regional, gender and Dalit issues. In contrast, the governing old mainstream parties have no agenda except to stay in power by hook or crook. They are shamelessly alleging that the Maoists are using civil supremacy as a ploy to capture state power. They forget that the Maoists had resigned from government, not once but thrice, of their own volition on moral grounds.
Among all the above agendas, civil supremacy stands tall as it is on this footing that the rest of the issues can flourish, advance and become institutionalised leading to democracy, peace and stability in the country. To make this point heard, the United National People’s Movement (UNPM), a united front of the UCPN (Maoist), declared a package of protests spanning 13 days. It started with a warm-up consisting of torch rallies (mashal) throughout the country on Nov. 1. This was followed by a gherao [human blockade] of the offices of 58 municipalities and nearly 4,000 village development committees across the country on Nov. 2. Then came a gherao of the district administration offices in all the 75 districts on Nov. 4 and 5. This was followed by a blockade of the capital valley,
The success of this demo lies in the fact that it mobilised all sections of society. Cine artists came forward to show their solidarity by singing, dancing and airing their views, painters came to portray the current mood on canvas and poets came to recite befitting poems to charge the mood of the people. Cultural groups belonging to the Newar, Magar, Tamang, Kumal, Dalit and other communities performed their dances and songs giving a true festive mood to the whole movement. The highlight of the whole street movement was the presence of senior leaders including Prachanda, chairperson of the UCPN (Maoist) and Baburam Bhattarai, vice chairperson of the CPN (Maoist) and UNPM president, who were on the streets from dawn to dusk cheering and controlling the people and cadres.
The speeches focusing on civilian supremacy could not but have influenced the civil police as they are very aware of the effect that democratisation of the military has had on their own relationship with it. The speakers tried to harness their support by reminding them of their class, ethnic, regional and gender fraternity. No wonder there were very few skirmishes with the police except in a few places which were brought under control immediately. The beauty of the movement was that by chanting for enforcement of civilian supremacy, democracy and peace, it embodied the strength of civilians, the strength of street protests, the strength of a legal struggle, the power of the collective people, the power of a disciplined mass, the power of peaceful protest!
Another hallmark of the present movement was that it tried to prevent causing inconvenience to the people as much as possible. On the other hand, the movement tried to harass and embarrass the government as much as possible. The ministers’ last-minute, face-saving attempt to enter Singha Durbar at dawn exposed them further as it seemed that they were underground and illegal while the movement was legal and overground. If the parties who are in government had any sense of dignity, responsibility or maturity, they should have resigned by now.
The international observers, conflict management experts and political analysts studying conflict in South Asia must have noted the big difference between the people’s movement in
In contrast, the movements in
It is important to note that the Maoists do what they say; and should they make a mistake, they apologise and try to rectify it. During wartime, they were damn serious about the war; and during peacetime, they are damn serious about the peace process. During the war, they upheld ideological supremacy over military supremacy; and now during peacetime, they are upholding civilian supremacy over military supremacy.
The problem of the Nepali Congress is that it is not upholding its own agendas such as civilian supremacy, rule of law, legislative supremacy, constitutional supremacy, commitment to the peace agreement and respect for the voters’ verdict. And the problem with the UML is that it is following the way of the Nepali Congress. What makes the Nepali Congress pathetically defensive is that they are contradicting their own stand. They recently passed collective leadership in place of a strong president in their own party. It is strange that they are advocating presidential supremacy over prime ministerial supremacy in a prime ministerial system which they themselves chose!
So the problem lies not with the Maoists but with the Nepali Congress and its stooge the UML who have not been able to play their historical roles as demanded by the occasion. Therefore, they are to be blamed if a third and more intense movement is launched after Nov. 20, the deadline given to the government to reach a national consensus to solve the present crisis. International stakeholders, particularly
From: http://www.ekantipur.com/2009/11/16/Oped/That-was-a-good-show/302950/
The
The CU has since then been off the air intermittently, mainly because of repeated and extended difficulties with the vital CU Telkom ADSL connection, now fixed.
The “Generic Courses” are presently being re-worked for better use of HTML, among other reasons. The eight that have been published should be sufficient for regular purposes. No new “Generic Courses” are planned to be blogged any time soon.
One possible future (ten-part) course could be on Marx’s “Capital”, Volumes 2 & 3. These works are being referred to with increasing frequency by leadership, e.g. concerning the tendency of the rate of profit to fall (“TRPF”).
The other main possible future “Generic Course” would be on Hegel’s “Philosophy of Right” and “Logic”, supplemented by Marx’s writing on the former, and Lenin’s writing on the latter, plus Lenin’s “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”; also in ten parts.
These two projects would put us in a powerful position. We are not likely to be intellectually challenged on any higher level than this. The two new “Generic Courses” could be realised within six months or so.
That being so, what should then be the content of the CU over the next few months, i.e. while the two new courses are being prepared?
One thing that the CU used to do was to pick up and re-circulate certain news stories, press-releases and documents. We used to archive them and link several each day. There is still a need for such a service, or a similar service, also within the Freirean principle, because these texts are intended to be such as can be used as the basis for study-circle discussion, alongside the classics.
I therefore propose to use the CU blog (and the e-mail circulation that it generates) to publish a mixture of media reports and other documents. This time around they will be published one by one, directly to the blog (i.e. the blog will be the archive), and generally without comment or “gloss” in the first place. They will not be regular, but will be maintained, if possible, at the same rate as recently, which is to say at a minimum average of one per working weekday. There may be occasional “editorials”.
These blogs will be relayed, as a rule, to the YCLSA Discussion Forum and to the DEBATE Forum, and to specialist solidarity groups as appropriate, where more discussion can happen. If more people would do likewise, the work would become less arduous for all.
Stories we would expect to be prominent in the coming weeks and months are Western Sahara and Nepal; the SACP Special National Congress; the January 8th Statement of the ANC; the NHI; and the battle for union rights within the armed services, and in general for the “special bodies of armed men” to be loyal to the people’s movement, and not to the bourgeoisie in South Africa, just as in Nepal.
The picture is of Prachanda.
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