The second wave of the Tunisian revolution
Hundreds of thousands marched today in
the streets of the main cities and towns of Tunisia against the
Gannouchi government and demanding a Constituent Assembly
News and analysis
The latest news, analysis, and Marxist theory from The Communist, alongside reports of RCP activity.
Egypt – End of the beginning
The mighty power of revolution has
been demonstrated with the resignation of Mubarak. It has shown that the
staunchest, most vicious and stubborn of despots can be overthrown when
the masses enter the arena of struggle and their resolve becomes
absolute. But the most unique feature of this movement is that even
after the tyrant has gone it refuses to relent.
Uprising in Libya: Tremble, tyrants!
Power is rapidly slipping out of the
hands of Muammar Gaddafi, as anti-government protests continue to sweep
the African nation despite a brutal and bloody crackdown. As city after
city falls to the anti-Gaddafi forces his only base is now Tripoli. The
East is in the control of the insurgents and most of the West has fallen
into the hands of the rebels, including cities very close to the
capital.
Revolutionary Aftershocks… Libya, Bahrain, Algeria …
In nature an earthquake is followed
by aftershocks. These can be as catastrophic in their effects as the
original explosion. What we are now witnessing is the same phenomenon
in terms of society and politics. The revolutionary earthquake in Egypt
and Tunisia has sent seismic shocks to the most distant parts of the
Arab speaking world. Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Sudan, Bahrain, Jordan,
Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, Djibouti — the list is growing longer, not by the
day but by the hour.
Egyptian army manoeuvres in attempt to cut across worker protests
The Egyptian military top brass have
taken over the running of the country and, while they are promising a
transition to “democracy” at some stage, they are more concerned in the
short term about what they see as “chaos and disorder”. That is, not
just the rallies that have gripped all of Egypt’s major cities, but
something far more dangerous in their view, the growing strike wave.
London celebrates the Egyptian revolution
Thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday (12th
February) to celebrate the departure of the hated, now former
president, Hosni Mubarak. The gathering was actually called as a
demonstration against the regime and to demand the resignation of
Mubarak. However, events have moved at such a rate that the despot had
tendered his resignation the day the before. Therefore, the event was
now a party in the centre of London to concur with the one in Tahrir
Square.
Some Egyptian lessons for Iranian revolutionaries
Contrary to what the bourgeois media claim, revolutions
are not made by individual agitators or small groups. They are made by the mass
of people and they are prepared for years by the decay of the old system which is
no longer able to take society forward. On the other hand, when a society is ripe
for revolution, that is, when all the contradictions have accumulated to a critical
degree, a small force can play a large role in the events that are about to
unfold.
Tunisia: one month on from the overthrow of Ben Ali
Today (February 14th) marks one month since the
revolutionary overthrow of the hated dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia on
January 14. The last month has been a constant struggle between the
ruling class which wants to return to bourgeois normality and workers
and youth who carried out the revolution and who are struggling to stop
the old regime from trying to make a comeback.
IRELAND: Fine Gael and Labour conflict
IRELAND: While the political arithmetic of the next Dáil won’t be clear until after February the 25th,
the battle lines in the state have been drawn for some time. The Irish
bourgeois are well aware that Fianna Fáil are a dead duck. Now Enda
Kenny has decided to concentrate his fire on the Labour Party. There is
one reason alone for this. The bourgeois want full control of the levers
of power and to all intents and purposes they want a continuation of
Cowen and Lenihan’s austerity programme, regardless of whoever leads the
government.
Worcester on the march
From students to pensioners, private to
public sectors workers, unemployed and disabled, the march represented all of
Worcester residents threatened by the cuts. As one of the placards said,
“Cameron, Unions are the Original Big Society.”
Chaos, Science and Marxism
A new documentary produced by the BBC, called ‘The Secret Life of Chaos’ (it has now been taken down from iPlayer, but can still be seen here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/secret-life-chaos/ ) has attempted, with a degree of success, to reveal how the latest developments in science through ‘chaos theory’ are finally beginning to make redundant any religious explanation of the workings of the universe and the emergence of intelligent life.
March 26th Demo
We are now just six weeks away from the March 26th demo called by the TUC to oppose the cuts. It now seems certain that this will be the biggest protest in London since the marches against the Iraq war. Over 300,000 are expect. Read on for full details, transport etc…