Background: The origins of the Philippines Workers Party

The two articles below are 2 of many I wrote during the 1990s on Filipino politics. These two give some insight to the origins of the Workers Party (PM), in the Philippines, whose ideas are inspired by the assassinated leader, Popoy Lagman. Representatives of the PM will be speaking at next year’s Marxism 2013. See […]

Poem: THIEF IN BALI

That brustling whoosh of the running river’s flow, the yellow and the white butterfly escape the lizard on the tree bough, statue stillness of the great green leaves, And here sit I, one of Bali’s new beauty thieves.

Report: National strike called in Indonesia for October 3 BY Max Lane

On 24 September, trade unions belonging to the recently formed Majelis Pekerja Buruh Indonesia (Indonesian Worker Employees Assembly – MPBI) have called for a national strike for October 3. They are expecting 2 million workers to join the strike in at least 21 towns with large manufacturing sectors. These towns are spread over all Indonesia’s […]

MARXISM 2013 CONFERENCE

I am pleased to be able to speak at next year’s Marxism 2013 Conference.  There will also be speakers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well the US and elsewhere. The website for the Marxism 2013 Conference, organised by Socialist Alternative as a national/international conference in Melbourne, is nowup with information on […]

SAJAK: Merdeka berdialog

Menggali Yang terkubur Sejarah Ternyata subur Fakta Penderitaan terbuka Pakta Penindas bebas dari luka Maaf Kekuasaan yang berdosa Tidak! Kebebasan berpikir yang diperkosa Dialog Berarti duduk bersama sama rata Merdeka Berarti tak ada terlarang tabu kata

The Timorese elections and their aftermath by Max Lane

By Max Lane Timor Leste’s third parliamentary election since the restoration of independence in 2002 was held on July 7. The largest of the incumbent parties, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), almost secured an absolute majority of parliamentary seats. It has formed a coalition government with two smaller parties, the […]

Indonesian commission urges trials of military rights abusers

By James Balowski, in Jakarta After a three-year investigation and testimonies from 349 witnesses, Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has declared that the systematic prosecution of alleged members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) when former president Suharto and the military seized power in 1965 constituted gross human rights violations. It urged that […]