PARTIT KOMUNISTA MALTI: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Communist Party of Malta’s message for International Worker’s Day.

The Communist Party of Malta joins up with other Communists and Workers Parties with a particular message at a time when the working class is experiencing a reduction in their conditions of work brought about by the neoliberal capitalists crises in an effort to save the capitalist system from its eventual collapse.

The Party believes that working class unity can reverse the present situation by struggling against exploitation and threats to their working conditions and livelihood. The Party insists that the working class will not disappear in a capitalist system, on the contrary this class will get stronger as the bourgeosie will continue to expropriate the common goods up till its lasts.

The Party understands that the capitalists in their attempt to save the system will resort to more precarious jobs and deregulation of the labour market. This practice can be seen today being applied in Europe. The Party states that flexibility in the labour market is only an excuse to hide the failure of the system.

“Capitalism will resort to wars of aggression for more control of natural resources, monopolies of the markets and massive exploitation of human resources”, said the Party.

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the workers to be more militant and follow the example of their forefathers who bettered their working conditions through class struggles, during the 50s and 60s of last century. “The workers should also recognise who are their real enemies”, concluded the Party.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Positive results obtained by the Left in France.

The Communist Party of Malta welcomes the results obtained by the ‘Front de Gauche’ in last weekend presidential elections in France. The ‘Front de Gauche’ has double its vote to 11% from 2006 elections. This is another success following the winning of two seats in the Senate.
The ‘Font de Gauche’ is composed of communists, socialist and left forces.

“The results obtained show that the communist front is gaining support in Europe and has become a direct challenger to the so called mainstream parties that embrace a centrist policies with a tinge of neoliberalism”, continued the Party.

“The communists in Europe embrace a more realistic policy towards a socialist Europe, that strengthens public entities and services, re-nationalisation of banks, postal and other

essential services, such as the energy sector”, said the Party.

“With regards to jobs, the communist movement believes that the worker should not accept to remain slave of the capitalist system. The transformation of the working class in the labour market should change for one with a secure job and decent pay. The emphasis should also be towards the creation of more co-operatives”, concluded the Party.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Question of Turkey joining the EU.

Demonstrators hold portrait of jailed Kurdish leader

Regarding the entry of Turkey in the EU and the recent visit to Malta of the Turkish minister and chief negotiator for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis, the Communist Party of Malta stressed that Turkey is a country with imperialist history and a key ally of U.S.

“In fact the Turkish administration allowed its territory to be used in the war against Iraq . Also, the present administration, like the ones before supports the ongoing occupation of Kurdish sovereign territories, imprisonment and massacres of Kurdish people. Turkey also occupies the northern part of Cyprus ”, said the Party.

The Party continued that “It’s ironic how the European Union views Turkey , when on the other hand considers as terrorists the Kurdish legitimate representative PKK liberation movement, which is a struggling for a free Kurdish state.”

The Party believes that the United States is also behind this imperialist plot, and is putting pressure on various European countries to allow Turkey to join the European Union.

“The argument put forward that Turkey would change its foreign policy if it joins the European Union is a bit far fetched, when the same European Union does not hold a clear and just position on various matters. The issue of free Palestine is also a clear example of this," said the Communist Party.

The Communist Party of Malta said the issue here is not whether or not Turkey should join EU, but the contradictions that exist in EU foreign policy. “It’s easy for the EU to target certain states and their policies and then hold back or remain silent on others”.

The Communist Party of Malta supports the stand taken by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) against US Imperialism and for sovereignty of Kurdish territory, and of their culture and their political aspirations.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Price of gas should be subsidised.

With regards the ongoing increase in the price of gas, the Communist Party of Malta believes that the liberalisation of this commodity was a grave mistake by the Government. The Party insists that the production of gas should be re- nationalised.

“The price for this essential commodity is exorbitant when one considers that families with middle and low income make use of gas to cook their daily food. In fact, as stated by NSO, 87% of Maltese households make use of gas”, said the Communist Party.

“Pensioners are also a category which had been badly hit by this price hike. Last winter the number of old people who had to recover in hospital was more when compared with the previous years”, said the Party.

“At present the Government should establish a minimum basic price for domestic use, and subsidise this, whenever the price goes up more than the minimum established. We also suggest that gas cylinders should be given a colour code. One colour should be for domestic use and another colour for industrial use”, said the Communist Party. “This will make it easier to introduce such a scheme”.

The Party notes that globally, prices of essential materials, such as grain, wheat, cereals, water, and energy are going up. The Party believes that the Government should be prepared to introduce measures to minimise these affects on the families. Other wise poverty, and crime will be on the rise”, concluded the Party.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Pope's Visit to Cuba

On the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI visits to Cuba , the Communist Party of Malta would like to suggest to the Maltese public to take note of what the progressive and leading figure of the Theology of liberation, Frei Betto has expressed about the said visit.

Frei Betto expressed his satisfaction about the Pope’s visit to Cuba , and stated, that this visit was a gift from god. He continued to say, that this visit, would make “the enemies” of the Cuban Government feel very uncomfortable.

Frei Betto also commented on the social aspects in Cuba “No matter what its enemies may say, in Cuba there are no children on the streets abandoned to their fate, and no families living under bridges.”

“The words expressed by Frei Betto are a clear example of the way social justice and equality is solidified in Cuba ”.

The Communist Party expresses its solidarity with all the people in the Latin American region who are still struggling against neo liberalism, multinational greed and destruction of the environment, and hope that the progressive wave emerging in this continent continues to grow.

Some History

An organized Communist Party did not exist prior to 1969. Secret Communist cells existed in various periods from the 1920's onwards, but they were always small in number. Maltese communists militated either in the Communist Party of Great Britain, or in the Partito Comunista Italiano, or worked under cover within the Malta Labour Party, which was also infiltrated by the catholic clergy at that time, in an effort to prevent the Labour Party from taking a Marxist line, notably amongst these infiltrators was Mgr. Michael Gonzi, the future Archbishop of Malta and a faithful servant of the British Crown and a much bitter enemy of Malta’s Liberation Movement in Malta’s struggle for Independence in the late 1950's.
The Civil and ecclesiastical authorities were ever vigilant in their witch hunt, and this culminated in the 1933 sedition trails where a number of dockyard workers and intellectuals were imprisoned for the crime of possessing classical Marxist literature. This however proved to be a great setback for the progressive movement as it took years and years to get back on its feet again
. The major exponent of the bourgeoisie was the Nationalist Party, an irredentist party firmly believing that Malta was a part of Italy that had yet to be redeemed, from English occupation. Its leaders favored the Italian Language to Maltese, and openly shown sympathies towards Mussolini’s fascist Italian state. With the Second World War looming on the horizon the English colonial authorities sacked a Nationalist administration after winning an election with the aid of the Catholic Church who had imposed mortal sin on who ever voted for the Constitutional Party, a pro British Bourgeoisie party. This pro Italy position eventually led, to the internment of the Nationalist Party leadership on breakout of the war. After the Second World War it was the right wing turn now to suffer a setback. The Second World War changed completely the political scene in Malta; however the times were still difficult for the setting up of a Communist party.
At the Mayday celebrations of 1948, where in a dinner held by the Labour Party for the occasion. The English socialist anthem Scarlet Banner was sung by some leftists present of the at this event. This caused an incident which led to affidavits and statements by the leading members of the labour party in parliament and a witch hunt by the Catholic Church paper Lehen Is-Sewwa (The Voice of the Righteousness) and the British Colonial authorities.

DEMOCRACY DID NOT REALLY EXIST IN MALTA PRIOR TO 1971, not under the direct British Colonial rule, neither under the first Nationalist Administration after the 1964 independence. It was not possible to form a Communist Party. It was enough just to receive the "Soviet Weekly" from the United Kingdom, to find yourself watched and tailed by plainclothes policemen, and even taken to be interrogated by the Police. The Maltese Prime Minister in the early 1950’s took a film distributing company to court in order to stop the screening four Soviet films which the then, very harsh censors, had deemed them fit for viewing by the Maltese general public. Even Hollywood ran into trouble, if the story line included communists. One positive aspect was the cold war cinema films of the McCarthy era were banned in Malta. The Civil authorities went into hysteria at the word communist. The then regular Christmas tournament, organized by the Malta Football Association was stopped, because most the teams invited came from Eastern Europe. The catholic oligarchy led by the now Sir Michael Gonzi Archbishop of Malta with its’ network of Parish priests spying on each and every individual in each respective parish operating in a Gestapo fashion. The Main employment on the island depended on the Naval Dockyard, and on the other British Military Bases. The contradiction here was that, to declare oneself Communist would have been sheer madness, as these "devout" Catholics, would have starved you to death, while on the other hand Marxist Ideas spread amongst progressive workers, by the odd English Airmen or Sailors posted on the island.

In the last days of the Catholic hierarchy imposed Dr George Borg Olivier Nationalist administration, as in 1962 and 1966 general elections the church again made use of moral sanctions, now to safeguard its privileges it enjoyed during the colonial period, The Communist party was eventually set up, through the activism of Paul Agius who had returned to Malta, from Australia, who along with other Maltese comrades founded the Communist Party of Malta This event took place around 1969. The party for a short period operated underground but after 1971 when the Borg Olivier administration was finally defeated The Party came out into the open. The Party Membership started to grow Lillian Schiberras Anthony Vassallo, Anthony Baldachinno and others. Evarist Bartolo, Mario Vella, and Alfred Consiglio were amongst the early members
It is not possible to mention all here but many passed through party membership. During the 1970,s the party gave critical support from the left to the Dom Mintoff’s Labour Party administration progressive, anti imperialist policy. The Party supported the policy of neutrality and the demilitarization of Malta, At the time Malta was an important NATO Base. The Communist Party was not prepared to contest the General Elections in 1976 and in 1979 was in support of the closing down of all the military bases in Malta. In 1981.for various reasons, again the party could not contest in the general elections. During the 1980's the party embarked on the road towards electoral campaigns. The party started to publish a monthly newspaper "Zminijietna" and started to prepare for the evantuality of contesting. The Party was now going through its golden age as membership started to grow and things were looking up. On the eve of the 1987 elections Dom Mintoff now a backbencher in the Labour administration proposed amendments to the Maltese constitution, which were accepted unanimously. The electoral rules were changed to suit the two party system and it resulted that small parties now had no chance of surmounting the unofficial 17% threshold. The Central Committee failed to read the writing on the wall. Failed to withdraw from the fray, and contested the 1987 elections with disastrous results. After this debacle, the party went into a period of decline. The events in Eastern Europe of 1989 continued to give the party further blows, where now it was a struggle to survive and keep its archives.
In the mid 1990’s the party slowly started again on the road of being active once again.
NEWS FROM FRATERNAL PARTIES
Communist Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark
A Festival jointly organised by the Communist Party in Denmark (KPiD) and the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) takes place on Saturday 15. August (12-23) and Sunday 16. August (12-18) in Norrebroparken in Copenhagen (near Nordbanegade). Bus 5A from Central Train Station. Lots of music, speakers from the 2 organising parties and from other organisations, political debates, displays, food, drinks and happiness - everything in favour of the 2 communist papers, Kommunist and Skub.
Everybody visiting Copenhagen are invited!

LINKS
http://www.icsbrussels.org/ICS/2009/Sci09_Available_Papers.htm
http://cubaveritas.blogspot.com/

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=14368

http://wwwlavienglish.blogspot.com/2010/10/soviet-union-was-born-in-october-1917.html

http://aucpbenglishwebsite.blogspot.com/

http://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Statement-of-77-Communist-and-Workers-Parties-against-the-Imperialist-Military-Attack-against-Syria/

http://communismgr.blogspot.com.mt

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