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Why Egyptians should reject the proposed consitution

January 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

International Statement – REVOLUTION IC

 

Since the downfall of dictator Mubarak in 2011, Egypt’s people have had to fight tooth and nail to get a new set of laws – a constitution – democratically created. Then they had to vote whether to accept the draft.

On the 15th of December, the first round of the constitution referendum started. The results were published soon after the second round on the 22nd of December with 64% voting for the constitution.

The content is reactionary in it’s Islamist character, defining the Sharia as the main source for jurisdiction, the absence of explicit women’s rights, the discrimination of religious minorities, and the unchanged autonomy and power of the military apparatus. The state shall guarantee the ethics, morals, and the law and order and gives a big space for interpretation for its use of power.

The outcome of the referendum means a preliminary victory of the counterrevolution. It means a setback for the opposition movement and a consolidation of the new – but, in fact, old – regime lead by the Muslim Brotherhood.

 In the struggle for the new constitution, President Morsi gave himself the power that his decisions couldn’t be fought by the court and argued that this would be necessary for the safety of the revolution. He sees himself in a struggle against parts of the state apparatus from the old Mubarak regime which still controls the judiciary. This also explains why only three representatives of the old regime got convicted in the course of the revolution. His fear of the court wanting to dissolve the Constituent Assembly caused him to empower himself and to push the referendum by fast tracking with reactionary means.

This caused huge protests against the president’s self-empowerment and against the constitutional referendum. While bourgeois forces like the liberals, and even openly reactionary forces like the supporters of the old regime, tried to get a voice within the uprising, its social roots lay elsewhere. The oppositional alliance, where even smaller socialist forces were involved, and the radical youth caused mass demonstrations leading to a political crisis in society where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists revealed their reactionary character. The massive protests forced Morsi to withdraw his dictatorial decrees but not the referendum and the draft constitution.

During the protests, scores of clashes between oppositional demonstrators and supporters of Morsi occurred. Parts of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists started attacks on the demonstrations leading to five people being killed and 700 being injured. As a reaction to the attacks from the Islamist forces, radical youths set an office of the Muslim Brotherhood on fire. President Morsi gave permission to the military to take people under arrest and stationed soldiers and tanks near the presidential palace. Although the military asserted not to intervene into the protests, it was clear that it should frighten the demonstrators and should be ready to intervene in case of emergency.

The most militant and progressive element of the opposition is the youth, with many of them tend to Left or anarchistic positions. This is no coincidence; the youth in Egypt suffers the most from the economic crisis. 75 percent of those 15-28 years’ old are unemployed. The biggest influence spurring the youths is the April 6 youth movement, which has a huge range and force for mobilization.

Nevertheless, the movement considers itself not as a party and couldn’t organize the most radical youth on a clear and revolutionary perspective. Still the youth has to be aware to link their struggles to other social layers with a special attention to the organized working class, which is the only force in society which can really take the government and enterprises under pressure by strike and which is able to reorganize the form of production and by that the whole society. Therefore, the youth has build their own independent organization but do so on the basis of a clear and revolutionary program that orientates toward the working class.

It is also the working class which suffers alongside oppressed layers like youths, women, and immigrants from the capitalist crisis and the reactionary regime. The social and political crisis in Egypt sharpens with the ongoing differentiation between rich and poor. The economy lies down suffering under missing incomes from foreign investments and tourism. President Morsi had to make a request for an IMF credit of 4.8 billion Dollars which is as usual connected to cost-cutting measures, in particular the cutbacks of energy subsidies, the tax increase on consumption, and a higher taxation on income.

Although the president abandoned a tax increase shortly before the referendum, which displeased the IMF, one has to consider this measure as a tactic in the referendum. The credit and the cost-cutting measures will then come next year, ruining the life of many workers, peasants, and poor in Egypt. The working class and the trade unions have to pick up a fight against the cutbacks and against the government and the Muslim Brotherhood, which tries to dominate the trade unions by undemocratically replacing the union officials with people appointed from the Manpower Minister for leadership positions.

Also the government led by the Muslim Brotherhood dropped a draft law for the freedom of trade unions. Mursi’s attempts to weaken and take over the trade unions is a preparation for a bigger attack on the working class. That’s why the struggle of the workers and the trade unions must also be struggle against the Muslim Brotherhood and the constitution.

The Constituent Assembly is dominated by the Muslim brotherhood and the Salafists and doesn’t represent the people. It had been elected by the parliament with almost no discussion about the procedure of vote and without a minimum number of female representatives and representatives of religious minorities and, therefore, had been boycotted by many liberals and secularists. Moreover, the April 6 youth movement reports about the constitution referendum on later opened polling and voters being affected by members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The movement sent members to different towns to observe the referendum. In Damietta, Islamists offered money for votes for the constitution; in the province Menufija, a judge had to dismiss his advance men, because they tried to persuade voters for the constitution. Also, preachers in mosques called for the constitution. Nevertheless, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists claim that the votes for the constitution mean the will of the people in spite of the ridiculous voter participation of 32%.

A representative constitution must be a constitution of the masses of the workers, peasants, and youth. There must be a constituent assembly elected by democratic councils in districts, towns, and workplaces with delegates which can be elected and deselected. These councils have to control the assembly and have to build a power which can challenge the bureaucratic, state apparatus. They have to be defended by self-defense committees and workers and peasants’ militias. This is the only way to guarantee a constitution in the interest of the masses.

But even this isn’t enough. A new, revolutionary constitution cannot limit itself to be a democratic one, since it cannot change the living conditions of the people as long as they are being exploited and oppressed by imperialism and the Egyptian capitalist class. The capitalists will fight every democratic reform by every mean as soon as it becomes a threat to their rule and their profits.

The revolution has to go on to build up democratic councils of the masses and build dual power; it has to arm itself; it has to take the power and build it on the councils of workers, peasants, youth, and the poor. It has to decide a revolutionary constitution which dis-empowers the capitalists and landlords and, therefore, nationalizes the most important companies under worker’s control, and further steps ahead to a socialist society of justice, freedom, and equality.

This requires the buildup of a common workers’ party on a revolutionary communist program, which can fight for the power of the masses and for a socialist constitution by dual power. Currently,  the elections to parliament after the passed constitution will be an important process of political dispute and an optimal opportunity create such a workers’ party.

redrevologonew

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Can the Syrian revolution win?

July 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The revolutionary wave that toppled dictators in Tunisia,Egypt and Libya is continued by those fighting to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad inSyria. Like Gadaffi in Libya, Assad tried to prevent uprisings by bribing different parts of the population and playing Syria’s many religious and ethnic minorities against each other.

We know that the Kurds, who make up around 10% of the population, were bribed with Syrian citizenship – but this citizenship forced them to identify as Syrians, denying their true Kurdish heritage. The Kurds are a powerful force in parts of Syria, with many links to Kurdish communities in Iraq and Turkey which are fighting for an independent homeland.

By granting some autonomy and privileges to them, Assad hopes that they will side with him against the revolutionaries. Kurds, Assyrians and Azeris have long been the target of Assad’s Alawite gangs, but now he has made his main target Syria’s Sunni Muslims.

According to the UN, Syria’s death toll has exceeded 7,500 since the rising started in 2011. The true figure is probably several times higher, with thousands ‘disappeared’ into the regime’s torture camps, and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes.

Kofi Annan’s “master plan” to make UN members and Syria commit to peaceful negotiations failed because China and Russia are locked into astruggle for influence in the region with the big western powers.

Assad and his family are the loyal servants of Russian and Chinese imperialism… just as Mubarak and Gadaffi were the puppets of US, French and British oil interests in north Africa.

The Assad family have rule Syria with an iron fist fordecades – surviving by acting loyally on behalf of one or other of the great powers.

Previously in power was Bashar’s father, Hafez Al-Assad. Hafez was recognised as a man of genocide, killing thousands in places such asHoms which is also being targeted today. It’s true when they say, like father like son, huh?

On May 25 this year a total of 108 people were butchered in the Houla Massacre; the toll included 34 women, and 49 children. Militas known as Shabiha (translated to thugs in Arabic) were responsible and obviously, this incident only strengthened peoples’anger and determination to rid their country of Asad and all his supporters.

You may think, why is the West not intervening with Syria?Why can NATO murder a dictator but not even take a glance at Syria? It is such a shame that the world we live in revolves around money and oil – David Cameron continues to “mourn” for Syria, but would rather lay back and watch the Arab Spring boil right under his feet.

Syria shows that ‘humanitarian intervention’ by the imperialists is never about humanity. Indeed, in Libya British warplanes didnot drop humanitarian aid, but instead delivered death from a mile high at thespeed of sound, dropping thousands of tons of high explosive on Libyan homes.

The Western imperialists would certainly like to have areliable puppet government in Syria, like they do in many other countries – butthey don’t want a military confrontation with China and Russia.

The most important thing is that Syrian revolutionaries and their supporters win the revolution. This can be done by demanding weapons without strings attached from those who claim to support them, and building real links with the Kurds and other oppressed minorities, for example bysupporting and fighting to make the Kurdish demand for an independent homeland a reality.

This will only happen if the workers and youth overthrow Assad themselves – the interference of NATO and Russian imperialists has only brought decades of bloodshed and tragedy to the peoples of the Middle East.

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Revolution and resistance in the air at Northern Gathering

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This weekend young people from across Yorkshire and Greater Manchester (with the odd southerner making an appearance) got together for the REVOLUTION Northern Gathering to share experiences and ideas, and to discuss how we can organise young people in the fight against cuts in Britain and across the world.

On Saturday, REVO members took part in the 500 strong demonstration against the Tories’ local government conference. This was followed by a series of flash occupations of stores such as Greggs and Primark which have been using young people as free labour in the workfare scheme. In the evening we organised a gig with local artist Miranda Versus The Crok playing an acoustic set. A big thanks to the artists, the people who helped to organise the event, and every one who came to make it such a success.

On Sunday the Gathering began proper, with the first session seeing Rebecca from Leeds talk about the many struggles of the last year. We talked about what happened to the student movement, the inspiration of seeing thousands of women march against sexual violence and victim-blaming on the Slutwalks, the power of the Arab Spring and its global importance, and how #occupy managed to break the silence about the misery of capitalism. We also discussed the recent pension strikes and the threats of the trade-union leaders to sell out the workers they’re meant to represent, which would mean less jobs for young people and worse conditions in the few jobs there are.

The next meeting looked at how young people are oppressed. There was a lively discussion about the family unit, economic independence, and how the cuts are aimed at attacking young people in particular. We also talked about how the alienation of young people was expressed during the  August riots, and the importance of organising marginalised youth into progressive actions. We also talked about the risk of the far-right and particularly the EDL capitalising on this anger and turning young people towards fascist politics – as the EDL and BNP tried to do stirring up racial tension in Hyde, Manchester.

Afterwards we looked at how we can use social media, videos and graphics to form campaigns. Coupled with a few videos, some hands-on tips, and a political context, this made for an interesting planning session which we hope to demonstrate the results of soon (watch this space…).

In the final session we discussed how revolutionaries can engage with wider layers of young people. We talked about the growing anti-workfare campaign, the Tories’ attacks on the NHS, revolutionary counter-culture, how we link up with other radical youth groups internationally, and the prospect of forming a united anti-capitalist organisation with wider layers of activists.

Matt from Manchester said “I particularly enjoyed the practical sessions which I think show how young people can get involved in political struggles without having lots of knowledge about theory… Our priority is to get young people involved in the fight-back at whatever level they start at.”

All in all it was an exciting and interesting weekend. Thanks once again to everyone who came, everyone who spoke, and everyone who helped organise the event. If you couldn’t make it this time, don’t worry, we’ll be organising lots more events in the near future, and it’s really easy to get involved.

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Return to Tahrir Square

December 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tahrir Square

It’s been nearly a year since the hated Mubarak was removed from power after massive popular protests and a general strike launched by the newly-formed Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions.

On his abdication, Mubarak announced that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) under Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi  would be running operations until the elections. They set up a puppet civilian cabinet headed by prime minister Essam Sharraf.

Though they claim to be acting in the interests of the democratic revolution the SCAF is determined to hold onto power. Since Mubarak was ousted they have maintained his tradition of suppressing the rights to protest, to strike and to political expression.

More than 12,000 civilians have been dragged before military tribunals since the dictators’ fall, which is more than during his entire time in power. Many of these have been arrested and tortured for blogging, reporting, and protesting.

Thousands have been campaigning since the beginning of military rule against the ‘emergency law’ which allows the army the right to crack down on political expression, and calling for the downfall of the military rule in Egypt.

The actions of Field Marshall Tantawi and the rest of the military junta demonstrates their contempt for popular protest. On May Day they sent first undercovers and then Riot Police to break up celebrations in Tahrir Square.

In October, when Coptic Christians protested against a church being burned down by Salafist islamists, the army used live ammunition and tanks to break up the protests, before using state TV to claim that the army was attacked by the Copts. They encouraged supremacist mobs to attack the protestors, and by the time they had been dispersed, more than 20 had died at the hands of the state and the reactionaries.

With the long and complicated Egyptian election process having begun on Wednesday, and lasting over three months, many ordinary Egyptian people are rightly worried about the influence that the military regime will have over the outcome of the elections.

A second revolution?

Protestors confront the army

Indeed, the recent round of protests which have been widely hailed as the beginning of a second revolution, were primarily directed against the holding of sham elections by the same military rule.

Protestors have come to realise that the military regime that they revolted against in February is still in power, just with a new ruling clique. This was demonstrated on November 19th when families of the revolution’s martyrs protested against the continued injustice and were met with outright brutality by the police, with their rubber bullets and clubs.

This heavy-handed action brought millions out in protests, strikes and occupations across the country, which has been met with heavy-duty tear gas, rubber bullets, and in some cases live ammunition. Over 40 have died in the course of a week and thousands more were injured.

The massive popular demonstrations should be seen as a continuation of the February revolution, which forced Egypt’s ruling class to ditch Mubarak, but only to buy time to consolidate their power by ensuring that pro-establishment forces like the Muslim Brotherhood could take advantage of the chaotic election process.

Many political factions have been represented in this recent movement- socialists and anarchists joined in the demonstrations, as well as young islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood’s opposition to the protests have discredited the organisation to many and caused splits in the organisation. Attempts by their leader Mohamed El Beltagi to convince protestors to leave Tahrir Square led to him getting kicked out.

For the moment the movement has died down as the people of Egypt vote and protesters prepare for their next wave of action.

As the western media and politicians hail the high turnout at the ballot box, favourably counterposing this to the protests and strikes which shook the regime, it is clear that they, Egypt’s military junta, and Mubarak-era reactionaries clinging to power are hoping that the elections will funnel people’s anger into the manageable expression of bourgeois parliamentary democracy – where state power remains in the hand of the police, the army and the courts, who have yet to be purged of the corrupt and murderous officials responsible for thousands of deaths.

So while it is true that by voting many Egyptians are exercising a right they have fought for which their parents and grandparents never had, participation has been boosted by the threat of a fine which would be equivalent to two months’ wages for the average Egyptian worker.

State power meets popular protest

Where the junta stands

During the recent protests, Obama spoke in favour of the military junta, saying that they needed to crack down on dissent and potential disruptions to the elections.

The US has also shipped millions of dollars in military aid to the regime, arming it against any potential uprising against it of those who want to see true democracy and an end to poverty – just as they armed Mubarak for decades before.

The leadership of the armed forces are the imperialists’ best ally in Egypt, and across many states in North Africa and the Middle East. The army leaders are more than happy to allow Western multinationals to drive down wages and exploit both the people and raw-materials of Egypt so long as they’re allowed to be the middle-men with exclusive control over what power and wealth is not shipped out of the country.

Many of its leading figures were part of the Mubarak regime, they have proved their willingness to allow imperialism to continue its’ parasitic relationship with Egypt, and they have proved that they are not willing to allow genuine democracy or social change in the country. They have even publicly stated that they will not allow any new government formed from the elections to change the constitutional power of the Egyptian Army to dictate the political rights and structures of the country.

The SCAF are not the allies of the revolution, they are the most committed defenders of the existing social order. The overthrow of dictatorship and institution of (limited) democratic rights does not change the social basis of the Egpytian state. The Egyptian state remains a capitalist state, with the private ownership of the means of production by national and international capitalists unchallenged. It is the threat to this social order posed by the revolutionary general strikes which has led SCAF to launch such vicious repression against the workers’ movement.

Building an alternative 

Workers from Egypt's new trade unions

If  the masses of unemployed youth, workers and oppressed women want to end military rule, then they need to return to and develop the tactics that brought down Mubarak.

The 1.4 million workers of the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions need to launch a general strike to paralyse the economy. They should also go to workplaces where workers aren’t unionised or are still part of the ‘official’ trade unions which are tied to the state, and argue for mass meetings to vote through strike action and set up councils in each workplace to control the strike.

These strike committees played a pivotal role the February revolution and can form the basis for a new type of democracy- a workers’ democracy. They can determine what needs to be produced and distributed for the strike to continue, organise the self-defence of picket lines and protests, and provide an alternative source of power to the corrupt regime. From committees of the workplace, workers can resurrect the popular defence and organisation committees which maintained food distribution and security in working class areas during the February revolution.

But workers cannot just ignore the army or hope that big enough strikes and protests will force them to grant limited concessions.  Instead they need to break it and prevent the regular soldiers from being used to crush their demands for democracy.

They need to encourage the soldiers to break from their officers by fighting for democracy within the army as well as wider society. Soldiers’ committees should elect their own officers and approve any orders given through the military command.

These democratic bodies, composed of workers’ and soldiers’ delegates, represent the real power in society and could form the basis for a constituent assembly which can determine what kind of society the new Egypt will be, and how it will be organised economically and politically.

May Day in Cairo

A  revolutionary party

But there is one key ingredient missing if the democratic revolution is to be made ‘permanent’ – continuing to a working-class socialist revolution. The missing ingredient is a revolutionary party which can provide leadership to the millions of Egyptians looking for an alternative to the poverty and tyranny which has accompanied both Mubarak and the SCAF.

There are a number of socialist groups in Egypt but many of them have been quick to regard the military generals as reformable and sought to engage the liberal wing of the new regime in dialogue, rather than fighting for a working-class power.

The forces are there to form a new party, in the independent trade unions, in the militant protesters, and in the youth movements  fighting to complete the revolution.

They need to commit to fighting for a permanent revolution to empower the workers and poor if they want to put an end to the counter-revolution, led by the generals, the islamists and armed and backed by western imperialism.

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NCAFC “reinvigoration meeting”: why we didn’t stand for the committee

June 8, 2011 By 6 Comments

Many student activists will be wondering why we did not stand for, or vote, in the elections for a steering committee at the recent “reinvigoration” meeting of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts on 5 June.

[Read more...]

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REVOLUTION Today – 30 April rally

April 4, 2011 By

In this extraordinary year, we have already seen a wave of revolutions sweep the Middle East, an environmental catastrophe in Asia, and mounting resistance to the capitalist offensive in the UK, Europe and America.

On this May Day holiday, the socialist youth group REVOLUTION and the Marxist organisation Workers Power invite you to an afternoon of discussion, debate, celebration and clarification. Years like this reveal that we have a world to win – our aim is to talk about how.

FACEBOOK EVENT

1pm
2011 –A YEAR OF RESISTANCE AND REVOLUTION

2.45pm
THE PLACE OF THE 2011 REVOLUTIONS IN HISTORY

4.15pm
BEATING THE TORIES IN BRITAIN TODAY

Hosted by
REVOLUTION
socialistrevolution.org

WORKERS POWER
workerspower.com

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Yemen in revolt

March 28, 2011 By

Rebellion has reached one of the poorest countries of the Middle East. Joana Ramiro reports on the revolutionary movement in Yemen. [Read more...]

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Tunisian Revolution Detonates Arab Struggles

March 8, 2011 By

The Tunisian revolution was the product of decades of poverty, unemployment and political repression, worsened by IMF-inspired privatization processes, austerity measures and the reduction of subsidies on fuel and staple foods.

The country, which was ruled by President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, was pointed to as an example of the good work the IMF did, despite its brutal oppression of political opponents, rampant corruption and staggering youth unemployment, which has remained around 40% since Ben Ali came to power in 1987.

Since the beginning of the economic crisis Tunisia has seen a huge fightback against Ben Ali, the ruling RCD (Rassamblement Constitutionelle Democratique) and the crushing poverty that millions have endured for so long. Massive demonstrations which clashed with the police took place in 2008 in Gafsa, Shkira and Ben Gourdans, with dozens killed by savage police brutality. In the build-up to the recent uprising Tunisia was in dire straits; 52% of 18-19 year olds were unemployed, 200,000 unemployed graduates and a shift in government subsidies fanned the flames of anger felt by the population.

The movement was kick started on December 17th by the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26 year old graduate from Sidi Bouzid who was trading illegally to support his family of 8, for which he was the only provider. Bouazizi had his goods confiscated by a policewoman who slapped him and spat at him when he attempted to pay his fine of 10 dinar (roughly $7USD or a day’s wages). In response he went to the municipal office to make a complaint and was ignored by the staff there. He returned an hour later and set himself alight.

This act of desperation inspired protests across Sidi Bouzid, as well as similarly tragic suicides, including Lahsi Najeen, who electrocuted himself on an electricity pylon. By the December 27th protests had spread throughout the country and two days later Ben Ali reshuffled his cabinet in an attempt to pacify the demonstrators. It didn’t work. On January 3rd protesters in Thala were assaulted by the police and responded by attacking the RCD office in the city. By January 11th lawyers and teachers were on strike and the military had been deployed in Tunis.

After weeks of revolt and the threat of a general strike Ben Ali was forced to flee the country,  taking $60million USD worth of gold with him to Saudi Arabia. The same day Mohammed Ghannouchi, the prime minister under Ben Ali, declared himself to be leader of the government and appointed Fouad Mebazaa, a member of the RCD central committee and President of the Chamber of Deputies, as interim President. He has 45-60 days to hold elections.

Ghannouchi quickly put together a coalition cabinet with RCD ministers and opposition figures, including 3 members of the UGTT (Union Generale Tunisienne de Travail). These were quickly forced to withdraw due to immense pressure from rank-and-file activists. Anti-RCD rallies continued across Tunisia, which led to the dismissal of all RCD members from the cabinet on January 27th, excluding Ghannouchi who resigned from the RCD. This was followed by anti-Ghannouchi protests outside his office the next day.

On February 7th the Defence Ministry called up recently retired soldiers for service, the same day that the RCD was banned. This does not mean that the RCD is finished.  It will reform to contest elections and has former members in the highest positions of power; the President, Prime Minister and within the Army. The RCD is still exerting power through the police and military presence, alongside the curfews which they put in place. These give the Army a dominant position across the country and are being used in an attempt to demobilize protesters.

All of this raises one simple question – who will take control? The most widely recognized opposition parties are the Parti Democrate Progressiste (PDP – Progressive Democratic party) and the Congres Pour la Republique (CPR – Congress for the Republic). Both are happy to work within the hand-picked Ghannouchi cabinet, have done little to mobilize demonstrators during the uprising and are certainly not interested in taking power away from the IMF or the French and American multi-nationals that control the economy.

There is also a workers’ party, the Parti Communiste Ouvrier Tunisien (PCOT – Worker Communist Party of Tunisia), but unfortunately it has similar flaws; it adheres to a stagist, Stalinist approach to the revolution, arguing that a period of parliamentary democracy must come about before socialism is possible. However, this leaves power in the hands of the bosses during this period, meaning that workers will continue to be exploited in the workplace beaten by the police and suppressed by the bourgeois state whilst the government of Tunisia bends a knee to the IMF and the imperialist interests it represents.

REVOLUTION advocates a policy of Permanent Revolution in Tunisia. We recognise that the democratic gains of the Tunisian revolution can only be defended and extended if the working-class takes power. The Tunisian workers must not accept a return to a weak parliamentary democracy which is controlled by capitalist parties and leaves the state bureaucracy unchanged.

Only the establishment of a workers’ state, based on the popular committees of workers, unemployed and poor farmers which have built the revolution, will ensure its gains are maintained and not rolled back by the Tunisian ruling-class and their imperialist backers. The popular committees must convene a constituent assembly, with delegates elected directly from the popular committees to draft a new constitution and form a new government. This government must immediately task itself with addressing the burning needs of the masses – providing work, housing and services to the working-class, unemployed and youth.

This can only be accomplished by seizing the wealth and land of the capitalists, and beginning the construction of socialism. Solidarity should be given to all the other peoples of North Africa and the Middle East who have risen up against tyranny.

The Tunisian revolution is spreading. We have seen it inspire the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and huge demonstrations and strikes in Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Syria and Bahrain. Libya is only the latest country to rise up against oppression, with large areas of the country liberated from the control of dictator Muammar Gadaffi.

These truly historic protests show the strength of workers and young people; we need to follow suit and make a revolution in Britain!

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Leeds demonstrates in support of Libyan uprising

February 25, 2011 By

Today around 80 people of all ages held lively demonstrations outside Leeds Met and Leeds Uni in support of the Libyan uprising.

Called at short notice by the Libyan community in Leeds, protestors chanted “Hey, Ho, Gaddafi has got to go!” and “Free Free Tripoli” outside Leeds City Council and the Parkinson steps.

Inspired by the wave of revolutions across the Middle East which have toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, a mass movement has emerged in Libya aiming to overthrow the brutal regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Demonstrations across the country have been brutally repressed, with the regime calling in airstrikes on working-class districts where the the resistance is concentrated.

After storming the barracks, protestors have seized control of Benghazi, a major town in Libya, with several other towns under the control of anti-government forces.

The Libyan people have displayed enormous courage and determination in the face of a government crackdown which has seen hundreds killed. Armed and financed by the US and UK, Gaddafi’s regime has tortured and oppressed the Libyan people for decades.

The people of Libya need our support in their struggle to free themselves from a corrupt and oppressive dictatorship.

Today a handful of students made it to the protests, tomorrow we need every student to come and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Libyan people and say that we won’t let David Cameron and his merchants of death continue to finance and arm the Middle East’s dictatorships.

DEMONSTRATION IN SOLIDARITY WITH LIBYAN UPRISING

26TH FEB 1PM LEEDS CITY SQUARE

ONE WORLD – ONE STRUGGLE

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We need a revolutionary PARTY to make the revolution

December 6, 2010 By

The South African working class brought down Apartheid... but not capitalism itself.

On the 30th November demonstration thousands of young people were chanting “One Solution – Revolution!” but how do we actually make it happen?

REVOLUTION argues that we need a political party to really have a revolution in Britain. We don’t mean a party like the Tories, Lib Dems or Labour. We mean a revolutionary party that bases itself on the most militant sections of workers, young people, students and oppressed peoples and organises them in such a way that can actually spark the overthrow of the capitalist system.

The necessity for a party is based on the reality of working-class life under capitalism. An organised body is needed to take revolutionary ideas into every section of the working-class. We need to organise the best activists around a programme – a physical, democratically agreed document – for turning resistance into revolution against the state and the capitalist system.

This is because whilst society can go into a crisis which leads to a revolutionary situation (mass strikes and protests, government collapses, etc) an actual revolution, which replaces the capitalist state with a socialist state, has never and will never happen spontaneously. What is needed is a revolutionary party that can lead a struggle against the state at just the right moment, as the Bolsheviks did in Russia in 1917.

A party is needed to unite the best militants from all these different areas into one organisation, to consciously attempt to overcome differences between them that are created by the inequality of capitalism, and that are stirred up by the bosses as a means to divide us.

Revolutionary militants are needed in every workplace and community to argue for struggles to be directed against capitalism, to argue for the necessity of linking up with other sections of the working-class that are fighting back, and struggling to widen any narrow struggle into one which fights for the whole working-class, and involves the whole working-class. The side that beats itself up the least is the side that will win, and we will only win by uniting around a mass revolutionary party.

Only the working class can change the world
Socialists talk about the working class a lot because it is only the working class that can really take society forward. The capitalists are only interested in profit and market share, even though their system condemns millions to poverty around the world.

The working class is everyone who either has to get up in the morning to go earn their bread, or suffer the indignity of unemployment. We make all the things we buy, we work in the call centres, the shops, the factories, the schools and we clean our own streets. If we aren’t working yet or on the dole, then we depend on people who are. This class already runs society in the sense that it does all the work, the problem is that the bosses own society. So if we take the bosses out of power and begin to democratically run things ourselves we can eliminate profit, greed and exploitation and develop a new society. This is what socialism is.

Ultimately if we want to change the world we need to fight for a working class revolution to put power in the hands of the working masses and not the capitalist class.

Linking up with workers
In the struggle against education cuts and fees REVOLUTION has been arguing for the necessity of linking the struggle of the students with that of the education workers, and crucially, with all workers getting hammered by the cuts. This way we can broaden out the struggle to involve more sections of the working-class and unite as a movement powerful enough to stop ALL the cuts.

This strengthens our resistance and can link the power of the workers with the energy and militancy of young people. In practice it means students making real connections with workers in education, teachers, lecturers and cleaning staff. It means speaking to workers in other trade unions and reminding them to join these protests in defence of their own families. It means co-ordinating school walkouts with workers’ strikes, letting the government know that we will not be divided.

This is why we want to build General Assemblies to bring students, the unemployed and workers together to organise their actions. Against the united assault of the ruling class cuts coalition, we need the whole working class to launch a united counter-attack.

These General Assemblies can, at the high point of the struggle, act as an alternative power in Britain, able to organise huge strikes, as well as the distribution of food and goods. This gives us an idea of the kind of power we have, as well as the future society we can build where we run things ourselves.

Overthrowing capitalism
When socialists talk about a revolution they mean the smashing of the capitalist state (which includes the police, the prisons and the judges) and their replacement by mass democratic bodies of workers and young people. Parliament would be replaced by a mass assembly of delegates from around the country, people elected and recallable by mass meetings in the local areas and workplaces.

A revolution means the use of force to end capitalism because no ruling class in history has ever given up power peacefully. In Petrograd, Russia in October 1917, the revolutionaries had so much support that when they overthrew the government and replaced it with working class power, only 7 people died. It was when 14 capitalist powers invaded the young anti-capitalist republic that things really kicked off. But revolutions are spared the worst of the capitalist revenge the better they are organised to beat it back. And that’s why the fight for a revolutionary party is a practical necessity.

If you agree that there is one solution, revolution, if you agree that we need to bring down the system then join Revolution!

“We just need a movement not a party”
When a movement is growing a lot of activists don’t see the need for a revolutionary party. Some are openly hostile to parties, complaining that they try and ‘take things over’. Whilst some revolutionary groups can act in an underhand and bureaucratic manner sometimes, we mustn’t throw the baby out with the bath water. The point is that this or that movement might succeed and win important reforms, but we cannot get rid of the root cause of the problem unless we overthrow capitalism and democratically plan society.

A movement also brings together many people with different views, which is what makes it a movement. It is necessary to unite the most revolutionary and active people behind a programme of action which links the struggles today to the fight for power, and to fight for this within the movement.

There is no revolutionary party in Britain, despite some left groups claiming to be the party in reality they are all too small and unrepresentative. Revolution is not a party itself, we are a revolutionary youth organisation, but we are committed to building a revolutionary party in Britain, which is why we work together with Workers Power to try and found one.

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