elections

Make no mistake, Barrack Obama's victory in the United States does not mean liberation for black people any more than Margaret Thatcher's government was a victory for the women's movement. Neither does it herald a new dawn for the world, as mainstream commentary would have us believe.

If one were to believe the media it, would appear that after eight long years of Bush America has undergone a real transformation, the first Black President, and a commitment to real radical change.

It sounds like it is too good to be true. Obviously it is.

It is hard not to get carried away by the hysteria of Obamania.

But as the result became clear Maoist leader Prachanda told journalists “I will be declared the acting President of this country very soon…which will be followed by occupying the post of the all powerful President of New Nepal…this is the peoples’ mandate…no force on earth can disobey this mandate”.

The result so far is for the 240-seats first-past-the-post vote for the Constituent Assembly. Results for the decisive 335-seat proportional representation part of the Assembly will take longer, but the Maoists are expected to do well in this too.

Venezuela has landed on the dark side of the moon. The recently opened 21st century seems to be escaping us for good. We will not have a chance to face it with any prospect of success.

Once again we must consider the dilemma of whether to participate or not in the electoral contest (referendum), this time with the difference that it is not a case of choosing a candidate but rather constitutional norms for the government of collective life. This situation requires careful reflection.

The No Land, No House, No Vote Campaign Still on for 2009

by M'du Hlongwa

[i]This article by S'bu Zikode appeared in Durban's elite bourgeois newspaper, the Mercury, in July 2006. After Abahlali baseMjondolo put twenty thousand people on the streets in support of a boycott of the February 2006 local government elections in the face of major militarised state intimidation the middle classes began to concede some space to the voices of the militant poor.

He managed to convince 53% of the population that he represents change and this message has dutifully been repeated in the media over here. Yet he is basically the chosen successor to the incumbent party so, surely, it makes far more sense to say the French were looking for “more of the same” rather than the Royal victory would have been the mandate for “change.”

The Dawning of a New Era

This article was translated and abridged from Le Monde Libertaire for Black Flag #211 in 1997. Vitrolles is a town in France whose council was won in elections a few months prior by the fascist Front National. It was the fourth city run by the FN at the time - the others were Toulon, Orange and Marignane.

VITROLLES: THE LOGIC OF THE URNS

In practical terms this means that instead of appealing to our leaders for change, or forming political parties to take state power, we make the changes we want – ourselves – and from the bottom up.

In the early seventies, the system seemed out of control—it could not hold the loyalty of the public. As early as 1970, according to the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center, "trust in government" was low in every section of the population. And there was a significant difference by

It was called by the opposition to protest against government manipulation of the voters list, comes alongside threats of a general election boycott early next year. Sunday is a normal working day in Bangladesh.

WE BOAST of the age of advancement, of science, and progress. Is it not strange, then, that we still believe in fetich worship? True, our fetiches have different form and substance, yet in their power over the human mind they are still as disastrous as were those of old.

A comic made in the run-up to the 2004 US election, where the two candidates - Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore - stood for pretty much exactly the same policies. Instead of voting, the comic calls on workers to organise together and fight for our own interests.

In launching our communist programme, which contained the outlines of a response to many vital problems concerning the revolutionary movement of the proletariat, we expected to ace a broad discussion develop on all its aspects. Instead there has been and still is only furious discussion over the incompatibility of electoral participation, which is soberly affirmed in the programme.

Amadeo Bordiga May 1919

First Published: Il Soviet, 13 September 1919, Vol. II, No.38;

Source: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3909/bordiga0.html;
HTML Mark-up: Andy Blunden 2003.

---

I

Abstentionist Communist Fraction of the Italian Socialist Party
Central Committee
Borgo San Antonio Abate 221
Naples