News from around the world

STATEMENT by the 108 (out of 201) members of Syriza’s Central Committee

Mass rally this evening in front of Parliament.

Statement by the scientific coordinator of the Truth Committee on Public Debt (Greece), Sunday 5 July 2015 at 21.24.

Request for the opening of a debate in plenary session of the Greek Parliament in connection with the results of work of the Truth Committee on the Public Debt. This request was presented by 49 Syriza MPs in the 24 hours which followed the public session of the committee on 18 June 2015.

The outcome of the ongoing battle against austerity will define the future not only of the Greeks but also the future of the European people who struggle for more democracy and equality. During the previous governments, Greece used to be a guinea pig but now is a positive example which some forces want to smash.

It was one of most fascinating days of Baba Jan’s election campaign. We started from Gilgit to join the main rally that would start from Ali Abad, in Hunza valley. We were a handful of comrades when the rally started, however within half an hour, we were over 100 on motorbikes and few cars.

We have been campaigning several years for the release of the ten “climate change prisoners” in Gilgit-Baltestan (north of Pakistan), the most prominent of them being Baba Jan. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, together with Shakrullah Baig, Iftikhar Hussain, Mahar Ali, Alleem Ullah, Irfan Ali, Rashid Minhas, Musa Baig, Sher Khan and Sher Ali.

These elections show that something has already changed. The historic defeat of the People’s Party is a forceful challenge to the policies of attack on rights, on democracy, a real slap in the face to the policies that have led to the working social majority into a situation of continuing impoverishment while the elites are enriched. It is only natural because the electorate is composed mostly of people that work every day to generate wealth and have suffered from the crisis. There is a fundamental advance in these elections: the consolidation of political tools such as the candidacies of Popular Unity and Podemos, through which the people have been able to express themselves. The popular mandate is clear: throw the PP out of all institutions without allowing the PSOE to provide a superficial replacement.

Farmers and labor unions marched in the southern Peruvian district of Cocachacra on Saturday May 16 to continue the ongoing fight to shut down Tía María, a controversial mining project from the transnational U.S.-Mexican company Southern Copper.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a bill into law recognising civil unions between same-sex couples on April 13. Another piece of legislation on gay marriage is currently debated between representatives of the LGBT movement and various ministers.