Pakistan: National
Workers Party Three left-wing parties merged at the begining of May. The four hundred delegates representing the Awami Jamhoori Party, the Pakistan National Party and the Pakistan Socialist Party came from all parts of the country. The conference was also attended by several groups of progressive intellectuals and labour leaders including Mr Javed Akhter.
representative of the Chief Execu-
Another protest group April 5th Action Group then continued the demonstration as they carried a coffin with the words "Butcher Regime Stinks Forever" to the Chinese Foreign Ministry Office. They were stalled by the police outside the Foreign Ministry office Leung Kwok-hung who led the protest was warned by the police application" for the demonstration.
After arguments with the police, the group forced their way and put the coffin on the barricade outside the office. The police removed the coffin after the protesters
In a picture exhibition on the June 4th Incident, Chinese labour activist Han Dong-fang criticized the SAR government for barring exiled dissidents such as Wang Dan from entering Hong Kong. Wang Dan and other exiled dissidents have been invited by the Hong Kong Alliance to join an academic forum as guest speakers, but the SAR government refused to grant them entry visas. The government has given no detailed explanation for the decision.
Szeto Wah and other committee members of the Hong Kong Alliance are forbidden to visit the mainland by the Beijing government. [FL] * Source: Hong Kong Voice Of Democracy. Contact editor Francis T.L. Lau at <tllau@hknet.com>, Mobile: (852) 9424 1068, Fax: (852) 2493 3953. For more information go to www.democracy.org.hk/
If the merger is consolidated in practice, the new organisation could become a party of the socialist left, based on and led by trade union leaders and activists and with supporters in progressive community-based organisations. However, similar initiatives in the past have been top-down, rather than grass-roots operations.
Mr Abid Hasan Minto was elected president of the new party. The executive committee includes Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali, mother of British radical Tariq Ali. * © Dawn with additional information by BS
International Viewpoint #313 July 1999 19