1. The big loser in the snap regional elections held in Catalonia on December 21, 2017 is the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. He dismissed the democratically elected Catalan government and dissolved the parliament through Article 155, then convened an election to destroy the pro-independence majority and strengthen his position. He didn’t succeed in either goal.
Podemos Under Pressure
21 December 2017, by , ,With the Catalan standoff emboldening the Spanish right, can Podemos revive its populist alternative to the status quo?
21D: pre (and post) electoral anxiety
20 December 2017, by1. The political importance of the Catalan elections of December 21 (21D) and the polarization which underlies it coexists with an electoral campaign that seems an epilogue halfway through the acceleration experienced in the days of September and October. An epilogue that, in reality, is also a decisive preamble to a stage to come. Three great riddles will be resolved at the polls: the absolute and relative strength of each of the two major blocs in conflict (the pro-independence bloc and the defenders of Article 155); the internal leadership on both sides; and the degree of strength or weakness, in terms of absolute support and arithmetical relevance in the Parlament, of the self-postulated third space, represented by Catalunya en Comú-Podem. It is impossible, in any case, to make any prognosis, beyond the data offered by the surveys that, in these times, are not only an instrument to gauge popular opinion but also to shape it. The future of Catalan politics, of the independence movement and of the left, whether pro-independence or not, will depend on what happens on 21D. Until then, the specific challenges for all cannot be specified in detail. However, the balance sheet of what happened in September and October already allows us to point out some inescapable substantive issues.
Presidential elections, a first round full of surprises
19 December 2017, byThe polls and the mainstream media said it loud and clear: the Chilean presidential elections would confirm the turn to the right in Latin America. The return to the presidency of the local Berlusconi, former president Sebastián Piñera, was assured, after a very disappointing second presidency of Michelle Bachelet.
Empire and the Middle East in the age of Trump
18 December 2017, by ,Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. embassy there has caused an eruption of protest across the Middle East and beyond. But Washington’s influence and power in the region has been declining for some time due to a series of setbacks.
Evicting the Underclass
17 December 2017, byChina’s campaign to expel migrant workers from Beijing is designed to wring more profit from urban land and reserve the city for elites.
Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists – Founding Statement of Principles
15 December 2017We are an alliance of Middle Eastern socialists opposed to all the international and Middle Eastern regional imperialist powers and their wars, whether the U.S., Russia and China or Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. We also oppose other authoritarian regimes such as Assad’s in Syria and El Sisi’s in Egypt as well as religious fundamentalism whether of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah consider themselves gradualists and oppose the Jihadism of Al Qaeda and ISIS, all of these organizations share the goal of establishing a state based on Shari’a Law and preserving the current capitalist order.
How we won marriage equality
14 December 2017, byOn 27 May 2004, then prime minister John Howard announced his intention to amend the Marriage Act to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. The act was amended the following August.
Mobilise On the Streets first, to Resist Normalization of Communal Murders
13 December 2017, byMohammad Afrazul, from Malda’s Sayadpur village, worked as a labour contractor and lived with twenty-four other labourers in a four roomed, single storey house in Rajsamand’s Dhoinda, some 300 kilometres from Jaipur. He was first attacked with an axe, then burnt to death, and the entire process recorded on video and uploaded with pride with the assertion that as a Hindu, the perpetrator was preventing a love jihad. This episode in Rajasthan on 7th December shows exactly the distance travelled in a quarter century in India, by the forces of Hindutva.