AROUND THE WORLD
International Viewpoint 9 December 1985
Brazil Municipal elections THE MUNICIPAL elections, on November 15, the first since the country returned to civilian rule in March, were a mixed bag for the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. (PMDB)
The PMDB won 110 of the 201 municipalities elections. lost, however, in capital cities where over 10 million of the country's 18.5 million registered voters that is in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,
Alegre, Fortaleza, Recife and Porto Sao Luis.
The biggest surprise in the elections, and an important factor for the left was the victory of the candidate of the Partido de Trabalhadores (PT) Maria Luiza Fontanelle, in Fortaleza.
The PT's vote also grew in several other state capitals. The PT's candidate in Sao Paulo, Eduardo Matarazza Suplicy, for example, polled 20% of the votes. These election results, amongst other things, will be seen as an important step on the road to building a mass workers party in Brazil. Austria Referend um campaign IN MID-NOVEMBER, the campaign against a purchase of fighter interceptors won more than the 1.6% vote necessary to launch a referendum against the deal. In order to get this "popular consultation," initially 18,000 statements of support had been collected. The Austrian section of the Fourth International. the Revolutionary Marxist Group (GRM) played a spark plug role.
Franz Floss wrote in the November 15 issue of the GRM paper, Die Linke:
"It all started a little more than a year ago. Unsatisfied with the reaction of the peace movement, which conducted only 'normal' petition campaign against the fighter interceptor, the GRM had a sharp discussion on this question. It was decided to take to the peace movement the demand for a referendum on the ghter and to propose a popular asultation...
"Soon after the peace movement taken up the demand for a refadum, it became clear that the emment was stonewalling. The munist Party and the Socialist dismissed any possibility of initiating a discussion in the peace movement of a popular consultation as 'unrealistic, among other things. Austrian version of the Greens, more or less], in Tirol Alternative, activists planned a popular consultation, although without demanding or wanting a referendum. The conscientious objectors and the Catholic youth organisations were interested in a discussion of a popular consultation against the interceptor. Left Socialist personalities such as Paul Blau initially showed interest but then dropped out because they did others such as Maria Berger dropped were threatened with expulsion...
In its editorial, Die Linke pointed out that this is the first time a popular consultation has been won in Austria without the backing of a big party or newspaper and without big money. (The total budget was only about 700,000 schillings, or US 35,000 dollars.) What is more, the electronic and there was slight mention of it in the press.
"The CP and Socialist Youth boycotted the popular consultation, the diversion from the campaign against Star Wars ..." and "the Austrian peace movement announced very officially that 'the popular consultation 1s Doc an action of the All-Austrian Peace Movement.' »
But "there were 12,000 people in the human chain in the spring of 1985 in Zeltweg against the fighter purchase, 7,000 in the fall at the rally organized by the peace movement in the Vienna Stadthalle, and 121,455 gave their support in the popular consultation.
"These figures don't tell the whole story . Behind the 121,455 people who supported the popular initiative are discussions with tens of thousands of people, hundreds of rallies, 700,000 informed the most remote towns in Austria of the fight against the fighter
"The popular consultation has laid groundwork, strengthened fight around a referendum, hopefully together with stood aside up till now. The popular consultation demands a referendum before April 1986, before another 241 million schillings [12.5 million dollars], the next 10% of the purchase price is due to be paid to Saab-Scania."D
South Africa Police repression ON OCTOBER 26, the South African police announced a series of new measures banning one hundred organisations in the West Cape and Boland regions. These measures were essentially of two types.
Firstly, it is now forbidden for a series of anti-apartheid organisations to hold meetings in areas reserved for Blacks, Coloureds and Indians. Secondly, severe measures were adopted to combat the schools boycotts in the Black and Coloured townships.
The ban on meetings affects practically all the Black, Coloured Indian areas in the regions concerned. It applies to most of the organisations apartheid groups, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Forum (NF) and to dozens of other groups and associations. Among these are the National Forum Committee, the Cape Action League, the National of South African Students (NUSAS), the Azanian People's Orgapisation (AZAPO), the Federation i South African Women, the Relea landela Committee, the Western Car Teachers Union (WECTU), the New Unity Movement and the Athlone and Boland student action committees.
The measures against the schools effectively to their homes or class rooms school days and prohibit activities outside the school curriculum. Once in school they must stay in their classrooms except at the prearranged times for changing lessons. All activity at school which is not part of the school programme and not supervised by a teacher is forbidden. Moreover in the Black and Coloured areas of Paarl or Worcester, it is an offence to be in possession of petrol or any container other than a vehicle petrol tank and or to siphon it off from there
Many other container. Nobody who is not a resident the township of Mbekweni in Paarl or Zweletemba in Worcester without written permission from the security wave of repression, which affects one of the most combative regions in the struggle against apartheid cannot be ignored. It is vital that international solidarity against this and any other moves by the Pretoria regime be stepped up.
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