People's Democracy

Another Victory for Morales

THE opposition in Bolivia is unable to digest the fact that they have lost their hold on state power. They have stalled the functioning of the Congress and refused to ratify the constitution that was accepted by the people in a referendum held on January 25, 2009. Evo Morales sat on an indefinite hunger strike from April 9, 2009 to put pressure on the opposition parties and make them ratify the new constitution. Thousands of people were mobilised in support of the hunger strike across the country. Ultimately on April 14, Morales ended the hunger strike after the Congress passed a law guaranteeing 14 congressional seats to the indigenous communities, general elections on December 6, 2009 and elections to regional assemblies in April 2010 and allowing Bolivian citizens living abroad the right to vote.

The opposition in Bolivia represents the powerful minority of oligarchs in the country. The main reason for their ire on Morales is his strident policies against the US imperialism and policies for nationalisation of natural resources. They are worried of these pro-people measures. They have the covert support of the US and are intent on destabilising the country. No wonder Morales has termed them as "racist, fascist and selfish". Stating that the people of Bolivia continue to write history, he cautioned "the people should not forget that you need to fight for change" and that the success of the revolutionary process is possible only through people's power.

Rafael Correa triumphs in Ecuador

RAFAEL Correa has created history of sorts when he became the first president in more than thirty years to be elected in the first round of elections. Unofficial results show that Correa would secure between 54 and 57 per cent votes, with a lead of 20 points over his nearest rival, former president Lucio Gutierrez. The re-election of Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa once again shows that Ecuadorian citizens are ready for the revolution underway.

Correa has heralded radical changes in Ecuador, one of South America's poorest countries by doubling state spending on health care, education, pensions and infrastructure. He is trusted by Ecuador's poor for squeezing hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign companies and spending it on social sector. He took strong anti-imperialist positions criticising the neo-liberal policies advocated by the US, IMF and other foreign lenders. He refused to renew the lease of the US military base located on Ecuadorian soil and expelled two US diplomats for encouraging subversive activities in the country. Thanking the people of his country for reposing faith in him once again, he stated, "This revolution is on the march, and nobody and nothing can stop us".

Left-Democrats Win in Iceland

ICELAND is the first country to witness the collapse of an elected government due to the affects of global recession. It had elected Left of centre parties to rule them in the general elections. Results show that the Leftwing coalition made up of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left Green Movement won 34 out of 63 parliamentary seats. The Social Democrats won 30.5 per cent of the vote, or 20 parliamentary seats, while the Left-Green Movement won 21.5 per cent, or 14 seats. The results were an overwhelming rejection of the pro-business Independence party responsible for the collapse of the country's banking system.

The Leftwing coalition is led by interim prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir who led the country for 84 days after street protests had forced the then government led by the Independence party to remit office. Years of adherence of neo-liberal polices, unregulated opening up of financial sector resulted in piling up of massive debts and the collapse of Iceland's three main banks within the space of a week in October. Unemployment and inflation have spiralled and the IMF has predicted that the economy will shrink by about 10 per cent in 2009.

The resultant discontent led the people to vote for the Left, giving them a majority for the first time in the nation's history. This had made Sigurdardottir remark, "The nation is settling the score with the neoliberalism". The newly formed coalition government had got many contentious issues before it to deal like the question of joining the EU, apart from tackling the economy.