“Same sex couples have a right to raise children”

 

 

The Malta Communist Party appeals to the government to maintain adoption rights as an integral part of the law on civil union. Members of Parliament who are pushing their moralist agenda are doing so unjustly. They are using discriminatory language against same sex couples who are already raising children of their own.

 

The Commissioner for Children is obliged to stop all discriminatory language used in Parliament with reference to statements implying that children raised by same sex couples are being raised in an unhealthy or unfit environment.

 

Solidarity with Ukranian Communists

The Central Committee has sent this message of solidarity to the Communist Party of Ukraine.

 "The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Malta stands behind the Communist Party of Ukraine and all other left and progressive forces, who are under the direct threat from the fascist that are causing unrest in Ukraine. The Party in Malta have appealed to the Government of Malta to keep away from backing the European Union position, which is conveniently ignoring its own rules about democratically elected governments and only seeking its own interest disregarding the vast majority of the Ukrainian people who support the Ukrainian Government.

Towards this aim we had issued a press statement on the 5th of December and this could be seen on the party's blog www.communistpartymalta.blogspot.com and also on http://www.di-ve.com/news/government-should-keep-away-ukraine%E2%80%99s-internal-policies-%E2%80%93-communist-party-malta a local internet news network.

The Party expresses its solidarity with the Communist Party of Ukraine in this moment when US and EU imperialism are posing threats and are using a small fascist minority to bring down a democratically another elected government, which is not to their liking."

 

A GREAT LOSS

We Pay Tribute  to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013.) We mourn the passing away of this great leader, a revolutionary, and a great fighter for people rights who was imprisoned for 27 years for his beliefs in by the then Apartheid regime in South Africa. His loss is felt all around the world not just by the people of South Africa. Farewell Madiba we will not forget you

Message to KKE on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary from its foundation.

"The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Malta has sent this following message to the Communist Party of Greece on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary from its foundation:

The Communist Party of Malta salutes the Communist party of Greece on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary from its foundation.

The Communist Party of Greece which was founded just after the Great October Revolution, has always adhered to the principles of Marxism Leninism and has since then, ceaselessly struggled, for the full emancipation of the working class in Greece, and had always been staunch internationalist, on the forefront, and gave its’ support  in all international struggles, since its inception.

KKE had been the leader in the struggle against fascism in the 1930’s struggling against the Metaxas dictatorship, and during the Second World War were it was at the forefront of the armed struggle against the fascist occupation of Greece through the armed resistance that the EAM-ELAS guerrillas offered to the fascist NAZI invader.

Again in the 1946-1949, KKE struggled against the US and British imperialism who were intervening in Greece to help the bourgeoisie who started a civil war in Greece to wrest from the working class the gains and victories that resulted from the struggle and sacrifices made by the Greek people during the war.

The Communist Party of Greece was the catalyst for the unity within the international communist movement after the Gorbachev debacle, which led to the counter revolution that brought down the USSR and the Socialist Community in Eastern Europe.

Through these ceaseless struggles of the KKE today the International Communist Movement is marching forward under the banner of Solidnet, struggling for the downfall of the capitalist system.

A system that is in deep crises, trying unsuccessfully to save itself, by bringing about, misery, to the working populations throughout Europe, by the imposition of austerity measures.

Here again through PAME the KKE is leading the fight back in the defence of the Greek Workers, other Communist and Workers Parties are following its shining example.

On its 95th Anniversary the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Malta sends its warm fraternal greetings to the Leadership, the Central Committee and all the cadres of the Communist Party of Greece.

We are sure that KKE will be steadfast in the oncoming struggles and will continue to lead the working class in Greece to its final victory for the attainment of a Socialist society where exploitation of men by men will finally come to an end.

Long live Marxism-Leninism

Long Live the Communist Party of Greece".

“Government should keep away from Ukraine’s internal policies” – Communist Party of Malta

The Communist Party of Malta is concerned by the events taking place in Ukraine. The party supports the stand being taken by the Communist Party of Ukraine in condemning the violence committed by the authorities, and the so-called opposition.

“The Opposition against the government is made up of conservatives and extremists. The extreme forces openly represent far right and anti-Semitic positions. They regard Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera as a national hero and are members of the European Alliance of National Movements, which is led by the French National Front politician Bruno Gollnisch and includes Hungary’s Jobbik Party and the British National Party.

“The European Union and the US should stop supporting the Opposition and should not promote another orange revolution. The Ukrainian government was elected democratically therefore Western powers should stop interfering.”   

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the Government to show respect towards the democratically elected president Viktor Yakunovich on his state visit to Malta next week. The Maltese Government should not interfere with Ukraine’s internal policies.       

"Government should not allow military ships from visiting Malta” – Communist Party of Malta

 

“Government’s position to allow HMS Bulwark to visit Malta is condemnable. It appears that the government is continuing with the same policies of the previous administration, which had rendered Malta a lackey to western military powers”, stated the Communist Party of Malta.

 

The Party reiterates that “the government foreign policies should be neutral and one that safeguards peace. Harbouring of warships in Malta go directly against this principle which is enshrined in the Maltese Constitution”.

 

“The government has the responsibility to implement different policies from the previous government, and should strengthen the political legacy inherited from Dom Mintoff”.

 

Maltese Activists appealed to Italian Justice Minister to Free left activist Bahar Kimyongur

 

Activists from the Communist Party of Malta and the NGO Garden of Knowledge have send this following appeal to the Italian Minister of Justice, Anna Maria Cancielleri.   

            

   The Communist Party of Malta and the organisation Garden of Knowledge are appalled at the arrest of left activist Bahar  Kimyongür,  a Belgian National of Turkish origin in Bergamo by the Italian Security Police(DIGOS) while on his way to attend a conference  about the situation in the “Middle East”.

                 Bahar Kimyongür, who has already been tried in Holland and Belgium, and won his appeal against the extradition order by the Turkish government, should not face another ordeal of an extradition threat. We appeal on the good sense of the Italian state to set Bahar Kimyongür free, as in a democracy it is an accepted  fact that  criticizing the policy of a country is not a crime.

                  Although the Turkish Government is democratically elected it is a known fact that the practices of the Turkish Government are not always democratic, and this has been a stumbling block in Turkey’s attempt to join the European Union. So again we call upon the Italian Government to release Bahar Kimyongür and let him go unhindered.

 

"Government should protect gas price for basic consumption”

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the government to implement a national strategy to protect gas price for basic consumption, so every family will be able to afford to heat their homes during the winter months.

The Party continues to state that “a substantial number of persons, especially old age people ended up in hospital during last winter, suffering from colds, due to the fact that they could not afford to pay for this commodity. Others, on a minimum wage income are also finding it difficult to make regularly use of this energy”.

“The government is obliged to help those families in need, and is also responsible to protect gas price for basic consumption. Local statistics show that 86% of Maltese families rely on this commodity”.

Positive results for the Left in Chile.

 

The Communist Party of Malta welcomes the positive results obtained by the left in Chile’s Presidential Election. A new left Coalition has won the majority of the votes. This Coalition is made up of socialists, communists, radicals, christian democrats, and other left organisations and movements. In all, the left got 46% of the total votes against the 25% obtained by the right wing coalition.

 

“Bachelet’s left wing coalition is also expected to win the next run-off against Evelyn Mettei’s right wing coalition, on December 15th”.

 

The Party also applauds the election in the lower house of four of the former student leaders who were behind the student revolution that started in 2011, with one of them Camilla Vallejo representing the communists’ student faction in Chile.

 

“Positive but fails to address income tax rate problem”

The Communist Party of Malta views the 2014 Budget that although it has a large number of positive measures such as the reduction in energy prices, free child-care centers and incentives in the labour and employment sector, the party feels that the government should have introduced more direct measures to benefit those families with low and middle-low income, who are bearing the burden.

“The government could have been more socially just if his income tax policy was one that benefits all levels of society. Government should have adjusted the tax ceilings instead of just reducing income tax top rate for high earners. The tax reduction from 32% to 29% is anti-social measure”.

 

“Other positive measures announced are the measures to streamline the health system, education, measures benefiting the disabled, part-timers and students”.       

"IVF Treatment should be free” – Communist Party of Malta

“The measure to introduce fees to IVF treatment will result in discrimination between the have and who have not. Through this measure the government is pushing forward the neoliberal agenda by introducing fees in the health sector, thus undermining social justice. Public Health service should remain free”, stated the Communist Party of Malta.

 

“Parliament should also introduce amendments to the approved bill to take in consideration the actual needs of the people, plus the fact that this bill is too conservative”.

 

The Communist Party of Malta insists that IVF treatment should be available to all women irrespective of their social status. This will lead to more gender equality as males could also be single parents through an altruistic surrogate mother. Gay couples should also be eligible to IVF.

 

Positive result for the Communists in Czech Republic

 

“The latest Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic resulted in yet another positive outcome for the European Communist and Workers Parties. The Czech Communists won 15% of all the votes, 33 parliamentary seats, making it the Third largest political force in the country”.

 

“Another positive result was obtained by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) who in coalition with the Greens managed to get 9.8% of the votes in the recent local elections. 34 mayors and 213 councilors were elected, making the red, green coalition the third largest political force in Portugal”.

The government should not introduce indirect taxes on families.

"In Budget 2014, the government should not introduce indirect taxes that could hit low and middle income families. Indirect taxes should be on luxury goods or financial transactions of over a certain limit", stressed the Communist Party of Malta .

The Party insists that “the government should re-introduce the 35 % income tax rate between the bracket of € 20,000 and € 60,000. This is a progressive tax as it varies according to how much you earn. Workers on minimum wage should continue to be exempt from income tax. Government should start considering the introduction of a tax on empty buildings."

"Government should also explore other possibilities of more direct revenue from areas that are making windfall profits, such as the banking, financial and on-line gaming sector. Loss in the public finances is a result of a unjust system, where those who earn more, are contributing the least."

The government should not introduce indirect taxes on families

"In Budget 2014, the government should not introduce indirect taxes that could hit low and middle income families. Indirect taxes should be on luxury goods or financial transactions of over a certain limit", stressed the Communist Party of Malta .

The Party insists that “the government should re-introduce the 35 % income tax rate between the bracket of € 20,000 and € 60,000. This is a progressive tax as it varies according to how much you earn. Workers on minimum wage should continue to be exempt from income tax. Government should start considering the introduction of a tax on empty buildings."
"Government should also explore other possibilities of more direct revenue from areas that are making windfall profits, such as the banking, financial and on-line gaming sector. Loss in the public finances is a result of a unjust system, where those who earn more, are contributing the least."

Communists appeal for full LGBT Rights.

 

The Communist Party of Malta who in the past campaigned for full LGBT rights states that “the proposed bill that is being presented in Parliament on civil union is still discriminatory as it does not legally classify same-sex marriages on the same par with heterosexual marriages”.

 

“Although the party recognise that it is a step forward, this bill still classifies LGBT people as second class citizens”.

 

The Party insists that “ Malta should follow other EU member states like the Netherlands , Portugal , Spain and Sweden who have all introduced same-sex marriage. Also, Catholic countries in Latin America, such as Argentina and Uruguay have recently approved laws that recognise gay marriage”. 

 

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the members of Parliament to promote equality and introduce amendments to this proposed bill, to make it conform with other progressive countries who have legislated for full LGBT rights.

 

“Privatisation Unit should be dismantled”

A Privitisation victim

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the government to do away with the Privatisation Unit created under the previous right-wing administrations. The Privatisation Unit is a Neo-liberal tool, with the aim to privatise all public entities and services.

“The Government should introduce a policy towards the re-acquiring of public entities and services that are of social and national importance. Privatisation resulted in higher prices for the consumer, social inequality, and loss of revenue to the government”.

“The increase of poverty in Malta is also a result of such privatisation. International studies show that whenever public entities were privatised the consumer had to pay more for the same service, while making good for the revenue lost. Jobs were lost and worker’s conditions deteriorated”, concluded the Party. 

Communists against military intervention in Syria .

 

The Communist Party of Malta joins with other communists and progressive parties in the condemnation of the United States ’ clear intention to launch a military strike against Syria. 

 

“The US has a history of directly and indirectly using chemical and germ warfare against other countries, such as: Vietnam , Iran , Kurdistan , North Korea , and Laos . This chemical warfare resulted in thousands of casualties where civilian populations were killed and others remained maimed. A recent CIA report clearly implicates the US in supplying chemical weapons (nerve gas) to Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war”. 

 

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the Maltese Government not to support the United States and United Kingdom initiative for a military strike against Syria . Government should stick to the Neutrality clauses within the Maltese Constitution. There is no clear indication of who is behind the use of Sarin gas in the Syrian civil war. We all remember the lies about the weapons of mass destruction that were used as an excuse to invade Iraq .

 

The Communist Party appeals to the Government to support progressive forces in Egypt

 

With regards the present situation in Egypt , the Communist Party of Malta condemns the violence and the terrorist’s acts committed by certain extremists groups within the Muslim Brotherhood movement against the progressive forces and the Christian community.

 

The Party supports the initiative taken by the progressive grassroots movement (Tamarrod) to urge via a petition, the military to reject foreign aid, and scrap the peace treaty with Israel . The Party agrees in principle with this initiative, which will regain Egypt 's complete sovereignty and control over its internal affairs and to put an end to years of humiliation and political-dependency. This is clear declaration against the US , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates , who were also behind the military coup against the democratic elected government of Morsi.

 

The Party stresses that “the role of any military is to safeguard the people’s interest and not to act as a reactionary force against the people. We are concerned that the military has its own agenda. Our fear is that the military will play into imperialist hands as it had done previously, at the start of the revolution against Mubarak in order to stop any progress towards a working class revolution”.

 

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the Maltese Government to support the Egyptian people in European Fora, in their struggle against neo liberalism and imperialist interference.

The Communist Party appeals for a social solution to gas.

“The problem of high prices for gas needs an immediate solution. A policy based on privatisation is not going to solve the problem of high gas prices”, said the Communist Party in a statement.

 

“The solution must be political not technical, and government must loose no time to implement a strategy which will lead to the return of the service into public hands. Gas is a limited, essential and a resource of national importance”.

 

“The number of families making use of this resource is 87%. Of these a large percentage are low-income families, pensioners and refugees. Government should end its support of the neo-liberal economic policy, which favours the few and instead implement a social policy to the benefit of the majority. Social justice will result from social politics”, concluded the Party.

 

Communist Support Progressive forces in Turkey

The Communist Party of Malta joined forces with other progressive and left wingers in solidarity with the communist movement in Turkey. The Turkish government wants to change the country’s republican regime towards an American led Islamic Republic.

   

“Various political activists have been brought to trial in the so called Ergenekon trial as part of the political repression against all those progressive forces that where active in last June demonstrations. Coming Monday, 5th August, huge demostrations will be organised in Turkey, the day when the court will give its final decision on this, were more progressive activists could find themselves in prison”.

 

The Communist Party of Malta condemns the repressive actions that are being taken by the AKP government, same party that has aspirations that Turkey will become an EU member. The Party support a republican, united and independent progressive Turkey that is in peace with its neighbours, and where justice prevail and also demand the immediate liberation of all patriotic activists.  

 

Parliament should legislate for full LGBT rights.

 

The Communist Party of Malta is against a referendum on the question of civil union as proposed by the leader of the Muslim Community in Malta.

 

“The Party says that civil unions are a basic civil right and parliament has the obligation to introduce it. A referendum on this question could see the intervention of religious organizations trying to influence the voters as happened in the question of divorce, although this attempt through religious pressure failed miserably”.

 

The Communist Party of Malta appeals to the Consultative council on LGBT to follow other progressive countries and revise its policy on civil union and instead propose same-sex marriage.

 

The Communist Party of Malta criticises UE position on Hezbollah

 

“The European policy to qualify the military wing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah as a terrorist group is another sign of hypocrisy. Imperialism, which is the mastermind behind this policy, is the one that is committing illegal murders of innocent people with the use of drones”, stated the Party. 

 

“It is significant that the European Union did not add several of the extreme Jihadist groups fighting in Syria against the Assad regime to the terrorist list. These groups declared aim is to create Islamic fundamentalist states with every possible means, including terrorism”.

 

The Party said “that the European Union is also considering sending military aid to these groups. The present situation seems to mirror the creation of the terrorist group Al Qaeda in Afghanistan during the imperialist anti-communist crusade”.

 

The Party appeals to the Maltese government not to bind itself to such foreign policy, which in the near future can have negative consequences on the Mediterranean region. The Communist Party points out that Hezbollah is a legitimate party with a big popular support in its’ country.

 

Energy production should not be privatised.

 

The Communist Party of Malta said “that government’s policy to part-privatise energy production goes against public interest. The government should halt this march towards neo liberalism. The party believes that the production of energy should remain public, due to its strategic, social, and economic importance”.  

 

“Strategically, to shift energy production from heavy fuel oil to gas is a welcome decision, but this should not be done under a privatisation system”, added the Party.

 

“The privatisation of gas for domestic use by the previous administration resulted in higher prices, with a heavy impact on the families. Energy is an essential commodity and thus it should not be left in the hands of the open market forces”. 

 

“Research show that privatisation of energy production resulted in higher prices, more social inequalities and an increase in energy poverty. Renewable energy is still expensive to produce, unless government massively subsidise prices to keep it affordable”.   

 

“Any solution to the energy problem should steer away from privatisation, protects energy sovereignty, and affordability of basic consumption. Also solutions should not involve redundancy of Enemalta employees. Investment in renewable energy should be more on a national basis”, concluded the Party.

 

The Communist Party of Malta deplores any policy that denies the right of asylum.

 

 

The party continues by stating that "it would make more sense if the government applies his right of veto with the aim to bring the European Union closer to a Union of solidarity and social justice towards emigration. Up to now the only policy adopted by the EU was that of creating a ‘Fortress Europe".

 

“In the recent civil war in Libya, the only persons who were not evacuated were African immigrants, which were being massacred by the Libyan rebels. European governments made sure that their nationals were safely evacuated while ignoring the plight of African immigrants who happened to be in Libya. No International, European or Maltese institution appealed or worked for the evacuation of these immigrants".

 

"The Party points out that the treaty between the European Union and the Libyan Transitional Government on the closure of Libyan borders is another system of push back. This treaty resulted in more violations of international laws with regards to asylum seekers. This same system is also used by the U.S. against Mexican immigrants ".