lowering the voting age to 16: 'We're building this country, we want to vote.' • General Secretary we're going to give workers' power.. single factory is taken out of the people's hands, not a single company, not a single bank, not a single inch of land. We're going to make sure the bourgeoisie never return to power. • secretary of the Council of State, in reply to a question whether the mass organisations and other parties would ideological debate: 'Yes, of course. We in the Sandinista Front believe that our positions are correct, so we should confront the people with them and let them decide if they organisations should use this opportunity to increase its numbers of members and militants, but also to grow ideologically.' Nicaraguan election posters of the Sandinista Trade (CST): 'With these institutional form to the • We're going to make sure not a included the think they are correct. Our Nicaragua's 4 November elections struck a fresh blow last week. The biggest bourgeois party still running, the Independent Liberal nounced its decision to puil out.
The party's presidential candidate, Dr Virgilio that «TOCOV exoldlica their aim was to force the barunslas VUCI dialogue with 'all political sectors of the country' The decisions taken in this 'national dialogue' would then be ratified by the newly-elected National Assembly., leading. new constitution and fresh elecuons will two veals "The November elections'. he admitted. still legitimate, but now irrelevant'.
The rhetoric here wafer-thin. The PLI know they have no hope of winnthan small Ing HOIC percentage of votes. So they aim go over tne head of the democratically campaign Party (PLI), anelected 90 person National Assembly and wring conVUl of some spurious 'dialogue'.
They attempt to face the Sandinistas with stark choice: either you to making the elections look in the eyes of the world like a farcical one-horse race or you by-pass your comto democratic procedures and negotiate concessions to us directly close on the heels of lone this follow more right wing parties in Arturo Cruz's Democratic Coordinator (CDN), which refused to register in July this year unless the negotiate with the CIA. backed contras, something the nave always vowed not to do.
Behind this latest move lies the clear 'sleight of print Washington's hand, with its attempts to force a bogus parallel bet. ween the need for negotiations with the Nicaraguar 'freedom fighters' President Duarte's negotlallulls with the FMIN/ FDR in El Salvador.
One thing stands out above all else in this sordid story of manoeuvring: the bourgeoisie's blind terror of democracy when it not strictly controlled by them to defend their own interests.
The Thatcher govern. ment's behaviour over the metropolitan councils or the NACOD's strike vote, after all its wailing about ballots in the NUM, is just regime that the spurious reforms were fooling nobody. That left brute notie. Hence the combin- only alternative. ed military-police operation last week.
this wAs ostensibly a police operation, the Afrikaanslanguage newspaper Beela, which closely associated with the Botha 'verliste' wing of the ruling Nationalist estimates the number of troops in the 7000 strong task force at 5000.
But raids did not have the intimidating effect which the regime pected. Although there were over 350 arrests, the arrested.
Most of these seemed to be for petty offences such as possession of marijuana failure to produce a pass or being in an urban area without permission.
Nor has it halted the wave of active resistance to apartheid rule which sweeping South Africa.
On the contrary! Since the massive raids, there has been renewed outbreaks of violence in Sebokeng and it has spread to the inample.
The Labour Party has a special duty here, and so far the leadership's response has fallen woefully short of the mark. The Thatcher government was few that lent credibility to the really fraudulent elections in El Salvador this spring by sending official observers.
Party conference passed an excellent motion this year which in. cludea a call lor a lig level NEC delegation to once ve the Nicaraguan elections, made up if poss ible of the party leader anc the spokespersons on foreign affairs women.
The outcome has been Dudes. decision send Alf Whatever his merits, that is not quite the thing. own promised to visit to Nicaragua has been postdustrialised centres in the Eastern Cape around Port Elizabeth.
At Zwedi, police gass ed a crowd of 1000 and a Kwazekele, also in the Eastern Cape, some 2000 youths surrounded police when they went to in. vestigate a car crash.
In the past three monthan 80 people ths more have died in riots in black townships. There is growing revolt against life under apartheid against rent rises, and the indignities of the pass laws and influx control.
Up to now most of these struggles have been Simuleous character but there is no doubt that out of it a new leadership, spearheaded by the black working will arise which will lead the way to victory. ing invitation repeated from the conference platform by FSLN representative Carlos Nunez, nobody seems know wnen Il might eventually come off. have to defend at every opportunity the democratic character Nicaragua's TITSE sovered elec tions, and explain the immense importance of these first ever post-revolutionary elections for socialists everywhere.
start is to distribute as widely possible' the leaflet Solidarity Campaign explaining these elections. But above all, we need to organise in our local parties and trade unions to put pressure on our leaderships.
We want them to put all those fine words into deeds. And fast.