An election poster for Québec Solidaire.

For more on Quebec, click HERE.

By Richard Fidler

May 13, 2014 – Life on the Left, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author’s permission -- The defeat of the Parti Québécois and the election of a federalist Liberal Party government in the Quebec general election of April 7, 2014, raises important questions about the future of the Quebec movement for sovereignty and political independence. And it poses some major challenges to the left party Québec Solidaire, as it seeks to position itself in the developing struggle for the direction and programmatic content of the Québécois national movement.

S. Arutchelvan (Arul), secretary general the Socialist Party of Malaysia.

By Peter Boyle

May 14, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The 2014 May Day rally in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was the biggest in the country since 1947 when the British colonial authorities violently repressed the labour movement, which had become one of the most strongly organised in Asia, having organised the majority of the workforce.

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal spoke to S. Arutchelvan (Arul), secretary general the Socialist Party of Malaysia. He was also spokesperson for the May 1 Committee. Arul will be one of the international guest speaker in the People's Power in the “Asian Century” seminar to be held in conjunction with the 10th national conference of the Socialist Alliance, in Sydney June 7-9, 2014.

For more details of the Socialist Alliance conference and to register see HERE.

For more on the Socialist Party of Malaysia, click HERE.

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The May Day protest in Kuala Lumpur looked very big? What is your estimate of the size and was this the biggest ever May day?

Voters cast ballots in eastern Ukraine's autonomy referendum on May 11, 2014.

For more on developments in Ukraine, click HERE. 

By Roger Annis

May 13, 2014 – Truthout, via A Socialist in Canada, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author’s permission -- A political crisis over the future of Ukraine has exploded in the past two months. It's being driven by the longstanding efforts of the big imperialist countries to assert economic and military domination over the republics of the former Soviet Union and to weaken and marginalise rival Russia.

To improve the resolution of the subtitles, please press play, then click on the small "cog" in the right-hand bottom corner and change quality to 240p or higher. You may need to restart the video from the beginning. It is also best watched in full-screen view (click on the square on the far right-hand bottom corner).

May 13, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Excerpts from Jean-Luc Mélenchon's speech to Front de Gauche (Left Front) supporters at a 500-strong meeting in the town of Alès (Gard department, Languedoc-Rousillon region) during the May 2014 European election campaign.

[English at http://links.org.au/node/3841.]

Por Boris Kagarlitsky

11/05/14 -- Sinpermiso.info -- En la Casa de los sindicatos en Odessa murieron el 2 de mayo más personas que durante varios días de combates en el Donbass, aunque en Kramatorsk ese mismo día las fuerzas del gobierno ucraniano se lucieron matando a 10 residentes locales desarmados que habían tratado de bloquear la ruta de acceso de varios vehículos blindados.

Es evidente para todos que la catástrofe en Odessa se ha convertido en un punto de inflexión en la historia de la guerra civil que comenzó cuando las fuerzas del gobierno ucraniano atacaron Slavyansk y otras ciudades que habían izado la bandera de la república de Donetsk.

Inevitablemente, la ferocidad en ambos lados se incrementará; la escalada de violencia y la división del país son inevitables. Pero no sólo en Ucrania los acontecimientos del 2 de mayo han representado un punto de inflexión para la opinión pública. También es aplicable a Rusia.

For more on South African politics, click HERE.

By Dale McKinley

May 11, 2014 -- South African Civil Society Information Service, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission -- No sooner had the final results of the just concluded 2014 national elections been announced than President Jacob Zuma gave a predictably self-congratulatory speech lauding the result as “the will of all the people”. The reality however is that the African National Congress’ victory came from a distinct minority of “the people”. The real "winner", as has been the case since the 2004 elections, was the stay-away "vote".

Since South Africa’s first-ever democratic election in 1994, the hard facts are that there has been a directly proportionate relationship between the overall decline in support for the ANC and the rise of the stay-away "vote". A quick look at the relevant percentages/numbers from each election confirms the reality.

1994: Of the 23,063,910 eligible voters, 85.53 per cent (19,726,610) voted while the remaining 14.47 per cent (3,337,300) stayed away. The ANC received support from 53,01 per cent (12,237,655) of the eligible voting population.

The most recent strike, one of the largest in China in many years, is taking place at a Taiwanese-owned factory complex, Yue Yuen, in the city of Dongguan.

For more on China, click HERE.

May 3, 2014 -- Green Left Weekly -- Peter Boyle spoke to Kevin Lin, who is doing research for his PhD at the University of Technology Sydney on the labour movement in China, about the background to a new wave of strikes in the country.

Lin will be speaking at the “People's Power in the 'Asian Century'” conference, a one-day public event organised by the Socialist Alliance in conjunction with its 10th national conference in Sydney, June 7-9. Find out more about the conference and register (“early bird” discounts if you register before May 18) HERE .

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There seems to be a new labour upsurge in China. What can you tell us about the recent strikes and their causes?

Tracking strikes in China is difficult because of censorship, but there does appear to be an upsurge in strikes in recent months based on reports collected by labour groups.

For more on Thailand, click HERE.

By Giles Ji Ungpakorn

May 8, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The unelected, anti-democratic and illegitimate Constitutional Court has staged a coup d'état, overthrowing Prime Minister Yingluk Shinawatra on a mere technicality. It claims that the elected prime minister did not have the right to move a government official.

It is a mere technicality because she is accused of “abusing her power” to appoint an in-law to the vacant position. While Yingluk has been accused of this ridiculous “wrong doing”, the military coup makers and the Democrat Party politicians who killed scores of pro-democracy demonstrators enjoy impunity.

The actions of this court would be laughable if they were not so serious. The court has previously ruled against the right of an elected parliament to amend the military constitution so that all senators would be elected. It also ruled that the government cannot build a much-needed high-speed rail link. In that case the old fogies stated that “it would be better to build roads”. Apparently they have illusions that they are experts in all matters and have the right to run the country instead of the government.

House of Trade Unions under attack in Odessa on May 2, 2014.

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- This appeal and article are from Borotba ("Struggle"), an important organisation of the Ukrainian left. For a range of views from the left on developments in Ukraine, click HERE.

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May 5, 2014 -- May 8 is celebrated all over the world as a day of victory over Nazism that caused millions of losses and much suffering to many people of the world. However, now we see that neo-Nazism raises its head again. Far-right groups and parties are striving to take power in many countries. Their members unleash real terror against the dissenters, migrants, the "others", leftwing and anti-fascist activists.

We have to stop the rise fascism again – that’s our duty to stop it before it is not too late.

Volodymyr Ishchenko.

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal has published several views from the left on developments in Ukraine HERE.

April 30, 2014 -- LeftEast -- Note from the editors: We publish the transcript of Volodymyr Ishchenko’s interview on This is Hell! radio station with Chuck Mertz from April 19 and 20, 2014, organised in cooperation between the Chicago-based radio station, AntidoteZine.Com, and LeftEast. It includes two questions that Volodymyr answered in writing after the show.

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Chuck Mertz: On the line with us right now is Volodymyr Ishchenko. He is a sociologist studying social protests in Ukraine. Volodymyr’s most recent writing includes the April 15 Guardian post "Maidan or Anti-Maidan: the Ukraine situation requires more nuance". Good evening, Volodymyr.

For more on Swaziland, click HERE.

Update, May 6, 2014: The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) is pleased to hear that the seven PUDEMO members who were arrested for wearing PUDEMO t-shirts have been released on E15,000 bail each. It is unfortunate, however that the president of the organisation, Mario Masuku and student activist and secretary general of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), Maxwell Dlamini, were denied bail.

Maxwell and Masuku have both been charged with four counts of terrorism. On the first count, they are charged with contravening Section 11 (1)(a) of the Suppression of Terrorism Act No.3 of 2008. On the second charge they contravened Section 11 (1)(b) of the same Act. It is alleged that they unlawfully solicited support for and or gave support to a terrorist entity, PUDEMO. The state, as usual, is opposing their bail application on the grounds that they are a flight risks, this despite the fact that they have been admitted to bail in two other trials and never fled the country.

This indicates that the state simply wishes to see them behind bars for as long as possible, knowing that this will be punishment enough as it would take the case years before it comes before a judge who will most likely dismiss it. We wish to condemn this behavior by the Swazi authorities and demand the immediate release of the two political figures all political prisoner.

Steve Ellner.

[English at http://links.org.au/node/3817.]

Steve Ellner entrevistado por Evaristo Marcano Marín

11 de abril de 2014 -- Aporrea -- Steve Ellner es un destacado investigador venezolano, Profesor Jubilado de la Universidad de Oriente (UDO), tiene varios libros publicados y una gran cantidad de artículos escritos en revistas venezolanas (CENDES) y de otros países. Recientemente regresó de Australia, donde desarrolló un seminario sobre el acontecer político de América Latina.

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En varios momentos de esta entrevista, pensé y me ubiqué del lado de las explicaciones que nos ofreció Steve en cada una de sus respuestas. Me sentí comprometido con esa idea sobre el Estado que rescata de Nicos Poulantzas, en la cual, deja atrás esa especie de objeto secuestrado por una determinada clase y se concibe como una especie de espejo que recoge y refleja toda la dinámica social. 

Es la idea clara de concebir al Estado como una relación de fuerza que se nutre y cambia en función de la capacidad de movilización de cada fuerza. Esta tesis tiene una gran sentido práctico para el proceso actual venezolano.