WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
ALL-UNION COMMUNIST PARTY OF BOLSHEVIKS
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
FOR BOLSHEVISM INSIDE THE COMMUNIST AND WORKERS’ MOVEMENT
FOR BOLSHEVISM-AUCPB website: http://aucpbenglishwebsite.blogspot.com
Monthly AUCPB bulletin on workers’ movement in ex-USSR with additional reports specific to Britain’s hardest hit
No 12 (117) DECEMBER 2012
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DESTROY THE POWER OF CAPITAL!
AUCPB ON OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks
for Ukraine, Moldova and Transnistria
95 years ago on November 7, 1917, the Great October Socialist Revolution was carried out. Under the leadership of the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the working class, the toiling masses of Russia took power into their own hands. The overthrown exploiting classes - the bourgeoisie and the landlords unleashed a civil war. To their aid came their class brothers - 14 imperialist countries sent troops to Russia to drown in blood the young Soviet Republic. But the Red Army created under the leadership of Lenin, , defeated the enemy and drove the invaders from our territory.
On December 30, 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created - the voluntary union of brotherly peoples and states.
After the death of V.I. Lenin, the party and the proletarian state was led by his closest companion and faithful disciple J.V. STALIN. Under the leadership of the Leninist Bolshevik party led by J.V Stalin, industrialization, collectivization of agriculture and the Cultural Revolution were carried out. Private ownership and the exploiting classes, the exploitation of man by man was over. In our country, socialism had triumphed
By the early 1940-s, the Soviet Union, thanks to the heroic work by the masses liberated from exploitation, became a mighty power, occupying first place in Europe and second in the world in terms of economic potential.
The bourgeoisie of the whole world could not accept the victory of the working people and did their best to stifle the world's first multi-national socialist state. The major imperialist countries - the U.S., Britain, France helped Nazi Germany rebuild its economy, create a powerful army and incited it against the Soviet Union, seeking to destroy socialism using Nazi’s on the ground.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people, under the leadership of Stalin and the Leninist All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik), defeated fascism and liberated the peoples of Europe from fascist slavery. A world socialist system was established. In the countries of People's Democracy in Eastern Europe and in Asia (China, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos), and in 1959 in Cuba, the liberated masses under the leadership of their Communist and workers' parties, built a socialist society. The mighty Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact kept peace in the world, preventing the bloody imperialists from unleashing another world war.
After the death of J.V. STALIN the leader of workers, the oppressed and exploited people of the world, into the government in our country arrived the petty-bourgeois Khrushchev neo-Trotskyite group, who slandered Stalin the leader.
The anti-Stalin campaign unleashed by the Khrushchevites at the 20 Party Congress of the CPSU, laid the cornerstone for the start of the degeneration of the Soviet Communist Party and the proletarian state and ended with the treacherous Gorbachev perestroika-counterrevolution. As a result, the Soviet Union collapsed, and socialism has suffered a temporary defeat.
The working masses of once free sovereign Soviet socialist republics now feel on their own skin and are learning about all the "charms" of capitalist slavery.
In "independent" Ukraine, the population during the years of capitalist reforms have been robbed and brought to a state of poverty. In early 1992, we lived in a Ukraine of 52.25 million people. Now the population stands at 45.5 million. Taking into account those roughly 7 million people who have left the country in search of work abroad and a piece of bread, Ukraine is now home to no more than 38 million people.
Unemployment and poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction, population degradation and extinction – this is the reality of current "independent and sovereign" Ukraine.
The latest election have shown once again that big business has retained its power, authority, aimed at the further strangulation and fierce exploitation of the masses. Bringing the country back to the people through an election victory is impossible. The bourgeoisie will never part with their power and privileged position without a fight. A return to Soviet power, socialism and the restoration and revival our great Soviet land can only be done by the rise in revolutionary struggle for the overthrow of the power of capital, as did our predecessors in 1917
Down with the power of capital?
Long live Great October!
We shall revive the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics!
November 7, 2012 KIEV - UKRAINE
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BOURGEOIS UKRAINE
(According to the official statistics and admissions by representatives of those in power)
The head of the parliamentary committee on health Tatayana Bakhteyeva announced shocking figures on the mortality rate in Ukraine. Almost 700 thousand people die each year, one third of who are citizens of working age. If mortality in the European Union stands at 7 people per 1000 of the population, in Ukraine this figure is more than double at 15 people. During the years of "independence", the population has decreased from 52.2 million people to 45.6 million. That is, a decrease by 6.6 million people.....this high, mortality rate is a distinctive feature of Ukraine even by African standards.
TSN.ua. writes on why every tenth Ukrainian does not live until 35. In 2011, the population of this country fell by 162 thousand people, and on January 1, 2012 the population of Ukraine stood at 45.6 million.
"In terms of adult mortality, Ukraine is at the level of the underdeveloped countries of the Third World, particularly Guinea and Congo," said the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration Iryna Akimova. Indeed, our mortality rate is higher than not only the EU, but also Singapore, Hong Kong, Gaza and almost all of the former Soviet republics. According to the upper house Verkhovna Rada Committee on Health, Ukrainians die on average 10 years earlier than people in the European Union and other countries of the CIS. In particular, Ukraine ranks 150th among the 223 countries of the world in terms of life expectancy. The average life expectancy in Ukraine is 69, in the EU - 74, and in the CIS countries: in Georgia - 76.7, in Moldova - 70.8, in Belarus - 70.63, Uzbekistan - 71.9 m and so on. The average healthy life expectancy in Ukraine is 59.2 years, and in the European Union - 67 years.
According to the committee, one in ten Ukrainians do not live until the age of 35, and one in four do not live until 60. "Mortality of men of working age exceeds even those in countries where gross domestic product is 4-6 times lower than in our country," said Bakhteyeva. Experts attribute this situation with male mortality to several factors. The first and main factor is that men do more dangerous and stressful types of work (miners, police officers, fire-fighters and installers, etc.). A second and important factor is that men more often than women drink alcohol and smoke. By the way, every year, 100 thousand Ukrainians die from smoking, with about 10% being passive smokers. Moreover, this is only the official data. In most cases, the cause of death indicates a specific disease (heart attack, stroke, cancer diseases). "According to statistics, 80% of people who develop lung cancer are smokers. However, many smokers just do not live up to their own lung cancer, and die earlier because of diseases that were brought on by smoking. For example, from cardiovascular disease," says Kharkov based paramedic Alexander Zaika. In addition to the illnesses due to chronic alcohol abuse (which also ultimately reduces life expectancy) Ukrainians occupy a leading position in the CIS for alcohol poisoning. For example, in Ukraine, in 2009, for every 100 000 people there were 23.4 alcohol related deaths of men. There were more only in Belarus and Russia (44 and 25 respectively). According to physicians, inability by men to withstand stress reduces life expectancy. "Ukrainians brought up in the post-Soviet tradition: society forbids men crying and complaining. But this is how to throw out emotions and relieve stress. As a rule, the men experience everything within themselves, and thus their bodies "wear out" faster, says psychologist Elena Dolga.
Experts are also alarmed at the situation with infant mortality. According to the Ministry of Health, during the period of pregnancy (from 22 weeks until 168 hours after birth) in Ukraine last year, 5111 children died, and one child in one hundred die before the age of 12 months in our country. According Bakhteyeva, the infant mortality rate is 2.5 times higher than European rates. Over the last 20 years in Ukraine, child deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular systems, congenital malformations of the circulatory system, infectious diseases and diseases of the nervous system, have increased. And figures for the number of infants dying of cancer are sizable: only in the last year, 27 children died because of tumours. For comparison: 24 children have died from diseases of the digestive system, 16 from HIV-related illness, and 2 from tuberculosis.
In many ways, the reason for such a situation is due to a bad health care system. By the way, Ukraine has one of the world's highest death rates from heart disease: 64% of the total mortality rate - about 500 000 people a year. "In our country, 14 million people are on the medical records related to cardiovascular disease, about one million are cancer patients, a million suffer from diabetes, and there are more HIV-infected people in Ukraine than in other countries of the CIS and Europe," says Bakhteeva. And simple figures testify to the ineffectiveness of the national health system: in particular, in Ukraine there is twice the number of hospital beds than in Europe, but life expectancy is 10 years less. "Right now, for one patient, 83 kopecks a day is allocated for one hospital bed. Are we able to demand from a good doctor, so for that amount, he gave to the patient quality care?" says Irina Akimova. The poor state of the health service is confirmed by ordinary Ukrainians. Thus, data from a survey by the international research agency IFAK, conducted in Ukraine in spring 2011, say that the majority of respondents (68%) are generally not satisfied with the level of public health care. According to results from a study by the Gorshenin Institute, only 40% of respondents who fell ill, contacted the State clinic, 30% prefer to treat themselves, 2.5% turn to traditional healers, and 5.3% let things take their course.
But there are other factors that have built this country to the level of leaders in the number of deaths. For example, a low standard of living: the Ukrainians save on medicines, food, recreation and sport. Among the reasons experts say, is the complete absence in Ukraine of cult propaganda on the healthy way of life.
"Advertising of tobacco and alcoholic drinks exceeds reasonable doses. Moreover, beer in Ukraine is advertised with famous footballers, and so for many guys they are idols, who they want to look like. But social advertising services, who tell Ukrainians the benefits of sport (by the way, regular exercise extends life by 20 years), of healthy lifestyle, and how to cope with stress is absent in Ukraine," explains Elena Dolgaya.
In our opinion, the opinion of the Bolsheviks, the main cause of all negative events in Ukraine, which, in particular, referred to in this article, is CAPITALISM. Only by destroying the bourgeois system, destroying the power of capital and reviving our common Soviet homeland, where people of Ukraine can not die out, but live like human beings.
AN OBSERVER
ON THE ELECTION RESULTS IN UKRAINE
CC AUCPB documents
STOP FASCISM! DESTROY CAPITALISM!
On who is entering the Parliament of Ukraine – results of the latest elections -
National Fascist Party "Svoboda"(Freedom)
The main sensation on 28 October parliamentary elections in Ukraine was the entering into the Upper House (Verkhovna Rada) of the National Fascist Party "Svoboda" of Oleg Tyahnybok.
But is this such a sensational result? We Bolsheviks think not!
The growing national-fascist tendencies in Ukraine are the result of all the nationalist policies of Ukraine’s ruling bourgeois class for the past twenty-one years of so-called "independence" of Ukraine, after the anti-people’s criminal destruction of the multinational state of workers and peasants - the Soviet Union.
This is a result of the years of the anti-Stalin campaign launched under Khrushchev's leadership after the death of the Stalin, and openly proclaimed at the 20th Congress of the CPSU. Gorbachev's anti-Stalin campaign in the years of perestroika, the treacherous perestroika-counter revolution,grew into an anti-Leninist, anti-communist campaign that and led to the temporary defeat of socialism and the destruction of the Soviet Union. The greatest contribution towards the destruction of our great Soviet Motherland was made by the nationalists of RUKH, in particular, in the Ukraine. Namely RUKH was the forerunner of all the existing nationalist organizations in Ukraine, including "Svoboda".
In previous years, "Svoboda" had already won the most seats put under their control provincial and local councils in three regions of Western Ukraine - Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil. And as a result of the recent parliamentary elections, "Svoboda" has entered the national arena, and gained international fame.
"Svoboda" is going to "create" a Ukrainian state on the basis of the Act of 30 June 1941., announced by Deputy to Bandera, Yaroslav Stetsko in Lviv, occupied by the Nazis and their minions - warriors of OUN. In the third paragraph of the act it states: "A revived Ukrainian state will work closely with National Socialist Greater Germany, which under the leadership of Adolf Hitler is creating a new order in Europe and the world and helping the Ukrainian people to break free from Moscow's occupation. The Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army, which will be created on Ukrainian soil, will continue fighting alongside the Federal German Army against Moscow's occupation for a sovereign Ukrainian Catholic state, and a new order in the whole world." The gathering of nationalists led by the Nazis, who accepted this so-called act, ended with greetings to the German warriors and the "leader of the people" Adolf Hitler, and the shouting out of "Glory," and "Heil!".
"Svoboda" is the direct heir and successor to the cause of the fascist lackeys and minions, Ukrainian nationalists and their leaders - S.Petlyura, E. Konovalets, St.Bandera, and R.Shuhevich – blood soaked butchers of the Ukrainian people.
We Bolsheviks appeal to the working class, the working people of Ukraine, including the workers of Western Ukraine with a call to:
- STOP FASCISM!
(A detailed analysis of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be made by us in the "Workers 'and Peasants' Truth» № 12, after the announcement and publication of the official results of the election).
A. Mayevsky, Secretary of the CC AUCPB, November 1, 2012
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ANOTHER ELECTION SHOW TO DECEIVE THE WORKING PEOPLE OF BELARUS
On the results of recent parliamentary elections
On September 23, 2012 in Belarus, elections to the House of Representatives of the fifth convocation, in which 110 deputies were elected in single-mandate districts, were held. 109 deputies were elected. According to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus, voter participation in the election amounted to 74.6% (from 59.2% in Belarus to 80.7% in the Vitebsk region) included in the voter lists, which is slightly less than the number of voters who took part in the elections in 2008, although observers from the pro-Western opposition claimed that the election of a number polling stations failed due to low turnout.
Most of the pro-Western opposition parties boycotted the election, but not one politician who took part in the election from opposition was elected. Since 1995, none of the opposition candidates have held a seat in the Belarusian parliament. In the current parliament, only five representatives of political parties were elected (3 from the Communist Party of Belarus (CPB), 1 from the Agrarian Party, 1 - from the Republican Party of Labour and Justice) from the 15 parties registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic. The result, of course, is unique not just for the post-Soviet territory.
OSCE observers pointed to an improvement in the organization of the voting process, but noted the persistence of arbitrary interpretation of the electoral law and the partiality of the national media and the CEC, pointing also to a deterioration of the transparency of vote counting. CIS observers found the elections to be transparent and open.
The Belarusian Bolshevik position on these elections was published in the August issue of our newspaper. We recall in brief. It is based on the famous Leninist thesis on the tactics of the class struggle. Without rejecting the possibility of participation of the Bolsheviks in bourgeois elections to promote their ideas, V.I. Lenin, however, said the proletariat cannot win, without winning over the majority of the population and that limiting or conditioning this victory to the acquisition of a majority gain in votes in elections under the rule of the bourgeoisie is a impenetrable blockhead, or just a sell-out of the workers.
So basically, the Belarusian Bolsheviks’ electoral tactics was to:
1. Explain the reasons to citizens of Belarus our reason not to participate in elections to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Belarus, and expose the myths relating to choosing "worthy" members of parliament to improve the lives of working people.
2. Not to nominate AUCPB candidates for deputies, not to campaign and collect signatures for the registration of candidates, and not to send representatives to the electoral commission.
3. In those constituencies, where the candidates are registered representatives of the pro-Western wing reactionary organizations, as well as their hidden accomplices, we should agitate "AGAINST" these most reactionary candidates who are pushing into Belarus the interests of the imperialist states of Europe and the ziono-imperialist U.S., and to take an active part in preventing them gaining in the future parliamentary platform to promote their despicable designs, but not "for" representatives of the bourgeois parties and fake “communists” as this makes no difference which of them will accept the bourgeois laws.
5. Use the election campaign to promote the party's position on issues of power, class struggle and the advancement of socialist revolution."
In Belarus, there is currently no other political party (organization) that occupies such a clear class Bolshevik position on the elections under the rule of the bourgeoisie. With regard to political organizations claiming to be left-wing forces, they adopted a completely different position on elections. Actively joining the struggle for parliamentary seats was the so-called communists from the Communist Party of Belarus (the leader at the time of elections T. Golubeva) and the Belarusian Party of the Left "Fair World" - the successor of the former Communist Party of Belarus (PCB leader S. Kalyakin).
The policy framework of the CPB and the party "Fair World" was published in great detail in the same August issue of the newspaper "Vperyod". A brief summary of their policy is as follows: both parties are social-democratic in essence and do not accept the Marxist theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat, thereby cheating workers, inspiring them with the Menshevik idea about the possibility of restoring the socialist system without a socialist revolution through elections and within the bourgeois law. Both parties assume to exist in the economy of private ownership.
For example, in the pre-election platform of the CPB, published on the eve of elections, it say that members of the party would "maintain the diversity and equality of all forms of property ... to support a socially responsible private sector, including individual entrepreneurship as an embodiment of labour property and providing self-employment to the citizen" ( See "Communist of Belarus. Ourselves and time" № 34 dated 25.08.2008).
The party "Fair World" dropped the name "communist" and is committed to the ideology of democratic socialism - reformist political theory and the concept of transformation of capitalism into socialism through democratic reforms. The ideology of democratic socialism is hostile to Marxism-Leninism. Supporters of Democratic Socialism reject major provisions of the Marxist-Leninist theory: the classes and class struggle, the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and instead advocates the idea of "people's capitalism."
That is, on main political issues, the positions of the two parties do not differ from the bourgeois opposition parties or the candidates' programs running in the election from the "party of power", i.e. officials of various government structures and business leaders. Thus, the CPB and the party "Fair World" can be described as parties of the petty and middle bourgeoisie.
But the positions of the parties, and the difference can be noted, and it is the question in the first instance of foreign policy: the party "Fair World" in defending the interests of the corrupt comprador bourgeoisie, is Western-oriented and against President Alexander Lukashenko, but the CPB, which defends the interests of the national bourgeoisie, which is developing its own production and cooperates with Russia, supports President Lukashenko.
The so-called steering committee of the Belarusian Communist Party of Workers (leaders and I. Akinchits and L. Shkolnikov) encouraged participation in the elections, ignoring the above-mentioned observation of V.I. Lenin on feeble minds, and published in their appeal the following opportunistic position: "You need to go to the polls and vote for those candidates who are willing and able with their lawmaking, to express the indigenous interests of the people and promote the following:
- the restoration of the integrity of the Soviets and their powers ...;
- the termination of market reforms and a return to a full-scale planned economic system, that is, put an end to f the transition from socialism to capitalism, with its unsustainable development, ... to return to the path of true (scientific) socialism, which, above all, means giving up the privatization of state property and socializing inefficient private companies ... ". After reading this, you'd think the bourgeoisie would allow this to happen under its rule. That is, the organizers of the party, using the terminology of the left, in fact, preach opportunism, but more subtle and sophisticated. That is how Trotsky did it in his time..
Still, the main intrigue in the past election campaign lies not in the pseudo-communists, whose role in the current alignment of political forces of Belarus is too small, but in the question: will the bourgeois opposition parties, many of which are financed from abroad, be able to oppose something completely now under the control of the current government electoral system. So far, all attempts have been unsuccessful, and even high-profile opposition protests in December 19, 2010 with the storming of the Government House after the presidential election, which the media called "The Square", ended with zilch. Moreover, the current government, using "The Square" campaign, got its hands on the arguments to use for counter propaganda against the opposition grovelling before the West.
Not knowing how to work with the large handouts from the West, the opposition was confused, and on the eve of elections a split occurred in its ranks on the issue of participation in the elections. Some parties and representatives of the collaborators announced their participation in the upcoming elections.These were – the Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), the United Civic Party (UCP), the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Gromada) - BSDPG, the public campaign "Tell the Truth", and NGO "For Freedom". 29 candidates from the party "Fair World" decided to participate in the election until the end, and also opposing the current president Alexander Lukashenko. The greatest number of candidates for election (70), were put forward by the Liberal Democratic Party (leader S. Gaidukevich) – a party that considers itself the opposition, although supports alliance with Russia, and distances itself from the pro-Western bloc of parties.
The Conservative Christian Party (led by outspoken nationalist and a Russophobe Z. Poznyak) has boycotted all recent elections in modern Belarus, and this time from the start of the election campaign called for an active boycott. After some hesitation, on 15 September, the BPF and UCP held their congress where it was decided they would withdraw their candidates due to non-fulfillment of demands (release of political prisoners and ensuring transparency of elections). On September 21, the youth organization "Young Front", the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD), the organizing committee of the Belarusian movement, the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of the Radio Electronic Industry and the Union of Belarusian intellectuals also called for a boycott of the elections.
In light of the above, I would like to emphasize once again and draw a line: the principles of non-participation of the pro-Western opposition in the parliamentary elections of 2012 are radically different when compared with the foregoing principles of non-participation by the Belarusian Bolsheviks. As noted in our position, appearing in the August issue of our newspaper; "Firstly, the existing bourgeois order suits all of the opposition, as well as the candidates that support the current government. However, the Bolsheviks are irreconcilable opponents of private ownership over the means of production, capitalism and capitalist exploitation of workers. Secondly, the electoral system under bourgeois democracy suits all of the opposition, as well as the candidates that support the current government, and they believe that these elections can be fair. But the opposition that is not involved in the September 2012 elections, declare that the electoral system in a bourgeois democracy, now controlled by the current Belarusian authorities, is unfair, so they have no chance of being elected - hence the outcome of their decision not to participate. With this, they use the example in the electoral system in Western bourgeois democracy. We, the Bolsheviks, believe that the electoral system in a bourgeois democracy is never ever fair, neither in America, nor in Germany or France, or anywhere else, because only the proteges of capital win, who have no interests in the workers, peasants and intellectuals."
And yet, despite the fact that a boycott is the most powerful tool in the fight for power, we must openly admit that many analysts estimated the boycott tactics in general in Belarus have failed, apart from some areas, for example in Minsk, where there was a slight decrease in voter attendance as a result of a lot more activity by the pro-Western opposition. I.e. the people brainwashed with pro-government media, still believe in the present bourgeois government, and does not trust the pro-Western bourgeois opposition, but is not yet ready to go and for scrapping the capitalist market relations in general.
Deceived philistines still do not notice that the economic platform of the vast number of Belarusian political parties, including those who call themselves communist, and economic platforms of candidates from the current government, that is, the "party of power", are very close. For all of them, private property and market relations are that "sacred cow", without which they can not conceive of a modern economy. But every day, the workers of the former Soviet republics have become increasingly aware that private property and market relations, introduced in the Soviet economy under Gorbachev, have led to the inevitable under capitalism contradiction between the social character of production and the private form of appropriation of the products of labour. And this is the real reason for the burgeoning global crisis, worsening the standard of living, especially of the working people.
Therefore, all candidates who ran in the last election, no matter how resourceful they excelled in advertising their programs and merciless criticism of each other, promising their constituents to improve their lives, essentially fool and deceive them, so people do not see the light and rise up against the market economic system and against capitalism.
At the same time, in all elections held in Belarus in recent years, an important question is addressed what vector in foreign policy will prevail in the foreign policy of Belarus: to the west or east. Belarus currently holds significant economic ties with Russia, is building the Union State, however, on a bourgeois basis, which guarantees the free movement of capital, labour, goods and services, the creation of financial-industrial groups, the increase in commodity markets and, hence, an increase resulting in Belarus producing profits. Of course, most of these gains are not accrued by the Belarusian workers. But the Belarusian workers, like workers in other republics of the former Soviet Union, are interested in the creation of the Union State, even on a capitalist basis, as it helps to bring people to the labour struggle against capitalism and for the revival of the workers', peasants and intellectuals Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Western countries have long been trying, through its "fifth column" collaborators listed in the above opposition parties of the bourgeois-nationalist sense, to tear Belarus from Russia and to close the encirclement of Russia by hostile states and to then proceed to the main goal the destruction of Russia and the seizure of its natural resources, thus prolonging its existence and the agony of the world capitalist system. To this end, the U.S. secret services organized the "orange revolution" in other former Soviet republics. But in Belarus, meanwhile the proteges of the West have not justified the hopes of their masters. They have a certain chance in the latest parliamentary election after the registration of 124 opposition candidates (a total of 363 candidates participated in the elections).
Elections to the House of Representatives on 23 September this year were in a much more relaxed atmosphere than the presidential elections in December 2010. Journalists from many publications have even called this election boring, because they love the sensational scandals.
Belarusian legislation guarantees the right of candidates to free air time on radio or television, and to a free placement of materials in local newspapers. However, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee noted the existence of censorship during the part of campaigning. During the first week of election campaign broadcast speeches, we became aware of at least five cases of failure of TV and radio to allow broadcasting speeches of opposition candidates, although at least three speeches were still on the air.
Who was elected to the new parliament? The deputies were renewed almost completely - only 21 members of the former convocation will continue (the other members of the previous session did not stand for election.) Among the new members are 30 heads of administrative bodies (the chairmen and vice-chairmen of district executive committees and executive committees, heads of departments, committees and offices), six "law enforcers", 15 representatives of educational institutions (mostly - principals, deans and university presidents), 6 - Health (chief physicians and heads of departments), 10 - different industries (mainly heads, their deputies or supervisors of unions of cells of large enterprises - Gomselmash, Belpromstroiproekt, BelAZ, etc.), including energy and utilities. Several deputies are from agriculture, science, the judiciary, journalism, banking, public sector services and sports. 63 deputies are members of the NGO "Belaya Rus". Five deputies, as noted above, are from the political parties.
Representatives of the workers and peasants in the elected House of Representatives of the fifth convocation are absent, thus the composition can be seen of whose interests will be represented by this parliament.
What conclusions can be made after the latest election campaign in Belarus?
Firstly, the newly elected Parliament in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus of the bourgeois will continue to accept the bourgeois laws for the wealthy sectors of the Belarusian society, but not in the interests of the workers, peasants and intellectuals. Once again, we will witness the trueness of the Marxist-Leninist principle that the interests of workers in bourgeois society are impossible to fully defend.
Secondly, the newly elected Parliament shows that it increased the number of representatives of the government and policy-makers, that is, this parliament will be even more remote from the interests of the working people than the last one.
Thirdly, despite the fact that in Belarus, 15 political parties are registered there is no developed bourgeois democracy and multiparty system in the country. The weight and role of most parties in Belarusian politics are now slim. The number of representatives from political parties in the parliament is even more reduced compared to the previous. It is noteworthy that the entrance to the House of Representatives of the fourth 7 deputies from the pro-presidential CPB is not shown, and they do not say a word against the introduction of the slavery contract system of employment and the abolition of benefits for pensioners and students, but rather supported the anti-peoples decisions.
In Belarus, there is not even a special party in power, which is, for example, in Russia, "United Russia", as this role is performed in Belarus by the presidential vertical, i.e. the administration. For some time, there has been talk of plans to convert the Republican public association "Belaya Rus", created under the auspices of the same administration, into a party, but even by the last election, this was not done. Perhaps then, when transformed into a party, "Belaya Rus", numbering 112,000 members (by the standards of Belarus is a very large organization), it will act as similar to those that run the "United Russia" party in Russia.
Certainly, the current government has done everything possible to reduce as much as possible the role of the Belarusian parties in the political life of the country. For example, the de facto ban on rallies, demonstrations and pickets in the centre of Minsk, the introduction of a sophisticated statement filing system when the political situation is developing rapidly, and applications for holding rallies etc that should be submitted within 15 days, and in such cases, for unauthorized activities the police just use batons, has led to a decline in activity of the masses. For example, the social organisation "Otechestvo" has been repeatedly denied been the right to hold anti-imperialist pickets outside the U.S. Embassy under false pretenses. Citizens of the Republic have gradually lost the experience of mass action.
This has especially affected the activity of the Left. Before the split in 1996 of the single PCB into two parties, the PCB and the CPB, in the centre of Minsk under the red flags at rallies and demonstrations on May 1 and November 7, up to 40,000 people marched. In recent years, such public events have no longer been held, which, of course, can not please the bourgeois power.
Thus, today's political system in Belarus can be described as bourgeois democracy with considerable authoritarianism.
But a situation where the parties in the political life of the country have little or no influence of any, have ceased to satisfy even the presidential administration, and this recently during a meeting with the second secretary of the CPB Karpenko himself was expressed by the Belarusian president himself who then spoke of his intention to support the party of patriotic direction and firstly the CPB (a CPB plenum recently elected I. Karpenko as first secretary of the CPB).
Fourthly, despite the huge mass of observers who observed the voting process, as expected there was not genuine transparency in the elections. At many sites, as evidenced by the observers, there were a lot of violations, but the Central Election Commission does not recognize them. The involvement of a powerful administrative resource could not but play its role. It is hard to believe that absolutely in all 109 constituencies where elections were held, the winning candidate won more than 50% of the vote in the first round and a second round of voting was not needed. Even from the point of view of mathematical statistics with low public awareness of the candidates, this result would be unlikely. Indeed, in some counties, up to four candidates were running for election, so it is more likely to be a variant in which the distribution of votes among all the candidates would not allow any of them to win more than 50% of votes in the first round needed to be elected to Parliament under the Electoral Code of Belarus. In conversations with ordinary people, one becomes quickly convinced that all the candidates from both the current government and the opposition, with the similarity of the programs, each of which is filled with promises of a good life, are all exactly the same, and for farmers in remote villages such disorientation was simply dominant .
Such are the results of a "managed democracy."
Fifthly, the decline in the ratings of the bourgeois opposition parties of pro-Western orientation was also due to the fact that many of the provisions of their programs in terms of capitalization of economic life of the country have already been successfully implemented by the current bourgeois government, so the opposition leaders have lost their jobs and have not yet claimed Belarusian capital which without them, life is good. Of course, this is promoted and achieved at a moment of stability of the political situation in the country, because capital needs a steady income and not shocks.
Very interesting reading on this issue, even self-critical revelation itself by the main opposition is found in the newspaper of Belarus "Narodnaya Volya» (№ № 165-166 on October 23, 2012), which states: "The author of these lines (A. Klaskovski) is not imposing anything, but would like to once again focus on the isolation of an entire world perception of opposition leaders (which have turned into de facto flaming commentators and untethered bloggers) from the perception of the masses. For example, from their mouths has become a commonplace assertion that people have finally stopped believing in the government and do not consider elections as real elections.
But! According to a survey IISEPS, 47.5% of Belarusians - almost half - believe the elections free and fair, and only 27% disagree ... One may lament the naivety, apathy, low revolutionary consciousness of the masses, but it is better to proceed from the fact that there is no other prescribed by the opposition leaders to defeat the dictatorship of Brussels." Very frank! Even their own masters did not hesitate to speak out like this.
Sixthly, noting with satisfaction that no candidate from the pro-Western wing reactionary organizations managed to enter parliament and, therefore, the far-right nationalists have not yet gained a parliamentary rostrum, thus we Bolsheviks appeal to the working people of Belarus to be vigilant, because there is no doubt that the imperialist powers of Europe and the Zionist-imperialist U.S. will not leave Belarus alone, but will look for new ways to bring their puppets to power in our country. We need to remember the experience of Yugoslavia, Georgia and Ukraine (Yushchenko period), where pro-Western policies of their individual personalities put these countries under the control of the Western powers, the people condemned to instability and deterioration of life, and in Yugoslavia and Georgia led to bloodshed.
Seventhly, summing up all the criteria, we can conclude that the elections to the House of Representatives of the bourgeois Republic of Belarus, held on September 23, 2012, reaffirmed for workers that they have no choice. Workers are better not dashing off like mad to the polls in the hope of electing a "worthy" candidate who would provide them with a better life, but to instead, ratchet up the class struggle. The global crisis has led many people to remember the classics of Marxism-Leninism, the luminaries of the class struggle, that the economy of the Soviet Union was not affected by any crisis. Despite the fact that the capitalist world is constantly in crisis via fever stock markets, falling oil prices, companies going bust, growing unemployment, rising prices of essential commodities we in Belarus have been largely unaffected. Our prices in Soviet Belarus were so stable that they were hammered on metal objects, and the Soviet ruble placed in a savings account, in ten years still maintained their value until the bourgeois counter-revolutionaries led by Gorbachev came to power.
Recent events in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy (waves of mass rallies and strikes in the summer and fall of 2012) suggest that the ground under the feet of the world capital is burning. In the West, once again people have begun to study "Capital" by Karl Marx. The laws of dialectics, the laws of social development are relentless: a movement backwards is impossible. Even making a temporary reverse back, society will still go forward, that is, towards socialism and communism.
We, the Bolsheviks therefore reiterate, as noted in our position before the elections: "Only the class struggle under the leadership of a Communist Bolshevik Party, standing firmly on Marxist-Leninist positions, driven to the dictatorship of the proletariat, can restore Soviet power as the power of the workers, peasants and intellectuals Socialism, to revive the great Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and exit the current severe socio-economic and political situation."
V. Zelikov, Secretary of the CC AUCPB,
Chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the AUCPB
for Belarus and the Kaliningrad region
MEANWHILE, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN BRITAIN?
A Short Review of some of the workers’ struggles in Britain gathered by For Bolshevism-AUCPB for November 2012
Pensions
As capitalism nips in the bud the career aspirations of those preparing to enter work for the first time, it is at the same time blighting the retirement prospects of their mums and dads. Whilst ballots by the FBU (fire brigades) and POA (prison officers) unions have continued to demonstrate that members are standing firm against the government’s ‘final offer’ on public-service pensions, both Unison members and (in local government) Unite members have voted to accept the imposed deal, which requires workers to retire later and pay more for a reduced pension.
Some idea of the treacherous role played by the social-democratic leadership of Unison can be gleaned from their actions before and during the ballot. Not only were members recommended to accept the offer, but local branches were bombarded with communications telling them to campaign for a Yes vote and under no circumstances to campaign for a No vote.
When it became clear that some branches were continuing to stand firm on the issue, the leadership then truly acted as gendarmes in the working-class movement, instructing regional organisers to shop any branches or individuals who continued to resist the capitulation. As one leaked email put it:
“For all ROs [regional officers] who have a county or unitary/met borough branch can you please (casually and unobtrusively) check with your branch secs that they have received and read my email from Sunday and try to establish if their branch is going to follow these guidelines. I’m asking we focus on the County and unitary councils as this is where the bulk of the membership is and where we are likely to have the most problems.
“Please have these discussions in a casual way and don’t say ‘I’ve been asked to do this by the regional secretary’ – we need to be subtle about this. Please report back the results of your discussion to me ... If you are out and about at a branch committee meeting and this is discussed and the branch seek to vote to campaign against the SGE recommendations remind them of the points in the third bullet point in the email below. If they then vote on the issues please ask them to take a recorded vote and also take your own private notes of who voted to breach the guidelines.”
The hardest hit
The orgy of feel-good sentimentality that the media whipped up around the Paralympics stands in stark contrast to the way the disabled are actually treated the rest of the time under capitalism.
Nobody knows this better than the 1,700 disabled Remploy workers facing the boot as more than half the 54 workshops are set to close by year-end as these ‘assets’ are sold off. This follows on from a similar jobs cull at Remploy two years ago. Two years on, 85 percent of those workers remain unemployed.
The Paralympics originated in the non-PC ‘Wheelchair Games’ at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, as a way of using competitive sport to help rebuild the health and confidence of men whose bodies were shattered in the last world war. Remploy began in the same period and under a similar impulse, with the rationale of providing productive and sociable work for those whose war injuries excluded them from more mainstream employment.
It is a cruel irony that, whilst the government talks a blue streak about empowering the disabled by cutting off their benefits and telling them to get a job, the Remploy workshops which did actually get the handicapped into work are now sacrificed on the altar of profitability.
Remploy workers are fighting back, however. Workers who were casually sacked opted to occupy Remploy’s head office in Leicester, with further strikes at the Chesterfield and Springburn works, both of which are to be sold off.
Meanwhile, the Paralympics dream lost some of its shine when the sordid reality of its business sponsors obtruded. One sponsor who had hoped to capitalise on the feel-good vibe was Visa. Taking advantage of its lucrative monopoly on provision of card payment services and cash machines, it had already raised eyebrows during the Olympics when it turned out that you had to have a Visa card to buy tickets. Now this patron of the disabled games has incurred the wrath of the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
The RNIB threatened legal action against Visa when it turned out that none of the eight on-site cash points were equipped with ‘talking ATM’ facilities, arguing that this infringed equality law. Visa dodged the lawyers by promising to modify just two of the machines, then went ahead and did nothing, breaking its promise to accommodate partially-sighted visitors. In a lame defence, Visa blamed the short notice, though they knew the timescale when they made the commitment.
First prize for hypocrisy, though, had to go to Atos, the bounty hunters charged with the task of vetting disability benefit claimants and finding them fit for work with scant regard for the medical evidence. Their outrageous attempt to live down their reputation as tormentors of the disabled by sponsoring the Paralympics has backfired badly, triggering a rash of protests by disabled rights activists.
Source - Proletarian online
20 NOVEMBER NUS MARCH IN LONDON – report
At the start of the march there were up to ten thousand students from all over the country - directed on an agreed route to Kennington park in South London (hardly the seat of government), barely a thousand made it as far as the rally which then ended in chaos as NUS president Liam Burns was pelted with eggs as some activists invaded the stage
The students, many bussed in from around the country, assembled on the morning of November 20 at Temple Park on the embankment, and then shortly after midday they headed west. Despite the fact that parliament square was not on the route, the palace of Westminster was protected by double fencing boxes weighed down by sandbags, and hundreds of police mounted an operation which included very visible horses, to discourage and prevent any students from diverting to Whitehall or Parliament Square.
The same box fences barred the way at Westminster Bridge Road, and as the students marched past, several hundred broke out of the cordon and ran straight for the barricades where a few minor scuffles ensued. Some police drew batons as protestors tried to dismantle one of the fences, and other lines of police briefly pushed protestors back.
The huge number of NUS stewards were anxiously instructing students to keep moving and to walk over Westminster Bridge away from the place where all the decisions about EMA, tuition fees, and education cuts, have been made. They wanted their peers to walk through the pouring rain to a rally a couple of miles away in a muddy park. Many, unsurprisingly, didn't want to go.
There was a sit-down on the bridge, a samba band started playing on the Westminster side, and progress was very very slow.
Even along the route to the park, a large group had stopped under the railway bridge behind waterloo station, causing traffic chaos, enjoying the shelter, and making lots of noise, echoing under the bridge. Still the stewards begged them to keep moving.
Who are these unpaid police aids? Senior stewards wired with earpieces and in direct communication with police, barking instructions to their teams, hiding behind the language of safety and inclusivity while helping the state to prevent any meaningful protest. And of course the baby-blue-tabarded police 'protest liaison' officers were also strongly represented, intruding into the crowd and engaging people in conversation, wired for sound while FIT teams filmed and photographed from a distance, collecting their intelligence and assessing the mood.
No wonder by the time the rally arrived at Kennington Park, there were less than a thousand left.
We've previously had protests banned from ending in rallies in royal parks because of the possible damage to the grass. but the grass in South London is clearly deemed far less important, and as the turf turned to mud under the trampling crowd, Josie Long (god bless her), took to the stage to try to uplift and entertain the sodden students, before introducing the first speakers.
Union officials traipsed one after another on to the stage, speaking of winning the fight, of unity, of breaking the government, but not one of them calling for real action or a general strike.
A group of several dozen activists were intent on exposing the hypocrisy of these speakers, and heckled, called for that strike, shouted down the platitudes, and when liam burns, NUS president, took to the stage, they chanted "NUS, shame on you. Where the fuck have you brought us to", and started pelting him with eggs, forcing him to dance around dodging them.
Finally, a dozen or so tore down the barriers, and despite the heavy-handed efforts of private security, they occupied the stage, forcing Liam Burns to make a hasty exit. Attempting to speak to the ever-diminishing crowd, they found the microphone instantly turned off, but with a loud-hailer, they exhorted people to ignore the police section 12 conditions in place and to join them marching back to Westminster to make their voices heard in front of parliament.
The miserable weather, the fading light, the muddy park, and the lines of coaches ready to transport out-of-towners back home, all conspired to deflate the small revolution, and besides, parliament square was still locked down and classed as a "sterile area" by police who turned away the few students still in the area.
So the 2012 demo was once again made impotent by the state, helped by student organisers and union VIPs, and given a bare minimum of coverage by most of the media.
The majority of MPs still fiddle their expenses, while the poor and dispossessed suffer, and most of the the education system becomes a privatised, second-rate, money-spinner, with good education only available to the rich and the privileged. And the young face joblessness or menial slave labour disguised as workfare, while the companies they toil for pay no taxes. but at least they had their day of democracy, in a muddy park in South London.
rikki
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TATA CLOSES 12 SITES AND CUTS 900 STEEL JOBS
Steel-maker Tata said today that it will cut 900 jobs and close 12 of its sites in Britain.
Five-hundred of those will come from its Port Talbot plant in unemployment-racked south Wales.
The firm said getting rid of the workers would make it more competitive.
The job losses at Tata follow 12,500 recent redundancies at Vion, 900 at Hovis bread-maker Premier Foods, 140 at Standard Life, 2,600 at Turning Point, 735 at Comet and 1,300 at Newcastle City Council.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "The news at Tata rounds off a dark seven days for the UK economy.
"Tens of thousands of people will be facing a Christmas of uncertainty thanks to the jobs carnage wrought by this government's bungling handling of the economy."
Steelworkers' union Community general secretary Michael Leahy said he wants an urgent meeting with Tata bosses "to ensure our principle of no compulsory redundancies is upheld."
A Welsh government spokesman called it "very disappointing and a massive blow.
"Tata's decision reflects the serious and ongoing challenges faced by manufacturing industries."
Shadow Welsh secretary Owen Smith said: "I am deeply concerned at the government's intransigence in the face of repeated calls from companies such as Tata about the challenges that high energy costs and uncertainty over government policy are posing."
Tata said it will restart one of two blast furnaces at Port Talbot in the first quarter of next year as part of a £250 million investment programme.
Its European chief executive Karl Kohler said: "We will be working with our trade unions and government at a national and local level."
The company employs 19,000 people in its British steel business and limply claimed that it was committed to investing in it "to help create long-term stability."
Friday 23 November 2012
by Tony Patey Industrial Reporter (Source – Morning Star)
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