Czech Republic:  Communists demand action on promised referendum law

In the Czech Republic, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is demanding that the government of Prime Minister  Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party) keep its promise to implement a constitutional mandate to create a referendum mechanism for direct citizen participation in policy making.   The Czech Constitution has provided for such referenda since 1993, and the present government campaigned in the 2013 elections on slogans including the passage of necessary legislation to make the referendum promise a reality.  The current government, a coalition of the Social Democrats, the People’s Party and ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), have not moved to comply with this promise.   The Communists point out that seven times in the past, they had tried to get this legislation passed under previous governments, but in vain.  “The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia demands it as a basic change of approach toward citizens”.  If such legislation is not undertaken in the present legislative session, “the voters can decide about this government in the next election”.   In the 2013 elections, the Communists did well and at one point were thought to be on track as a possible member of the governing coalition.

Germany:  German Communists support October 8 peace demonstration against NATO

The German Communist Party (Deutsche Kommunistische Partei) is calling for support for a peace demonstration in Berlin on October 8.  In their publication “Unsere Zeit” (“Our Times”) this week, the German communists promoted the demonstration which is taking place under the slogans “Put the weapons down—cooperation instead of NATO confrontation”, and “disarmament instead of dismantling the social safety net”.  The Unsere Zeit article criticizes the U.S. led push to expand NATO Eastwards and points out that “we have to pay dearly for this imperialist power striving.”  “While the NATO countries have been paying over a trillion dollars a year on their military, Russia has been spending only a tenth of that amount…..The German Communist Party says “NO” to this war program, and “YES” to a policy of peace in Europe and the world”.

 

Canada:  Communists demand radical pension reform

The Communist Party of Canada considers that pension reforms announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Liberal Party) are a step forward but fall far short of the full reform that is needed.  Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, had raised the age at which Canadians could retire from 65 to 67, and Trudeau’s government has now brought it back down to 65.  But the Communist Party points out that many Canadian workers are not covered by defined pension plans at all. Instead, the Communist Party is calling for radical changes across the board, including increased amounts of pensions, reduction in the retirement and pension eligibility age to 60, for pensions to be funded 100 percent by employers with no employee contributions, no pension “holidays” for corporations, and for legal protections for workers’ pensions in case of bankruptcy or sale of a company.

Sudan:  Communist Party General Secretary re-elected

At the Sixth Party Convention of the Sudanese Communist Party in Khartoum last weekend, Mohammed Mukhtar al Khatib was re-elected as party general secretary.  A new 41 member Central Committee was also elected.   The Sudanese Communist Party was established in 1946 at a time when the country was jointly administered as a colony by the United Kingdom and Egypt, and was thus known as “The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan”.  The Communist Party has fought against colonial rule and two different dictators. Currently it supports efforts to remove dictator Omar Hassan al Bashir.

 

 

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