Global Left Midweek – May 14, 2025
- The Spirit of Bandung
- South Asia Left Party Statements and Comments
- China in the Mix
- Winning in Sri Lanka
- Where is the Bangladesh Left?
- Workers on the March in India
- Pink Wave Boosts Akbayan Party in Philippines
- Unions and Gaza Solidarity
- Left vs Right in the European Parliament
- Union Leader on the Billionaires’ Coup
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The Spirit of Bandung
Walden Bello and Shalmali Guttal / Foreign Policy in Focus (Washington DC)
The very first principle of the Bandung Declaration urged “Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” Nehru, Nasser, and Zhou En Lai played stellar roles in Bandung, but can it be said that the governments they represented have remained faithful to this principle?
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South Asia Left Party Statements and Comments
- For De-escalation and Peace CPIML (Liberation) et al. / Links (Sydney)
- CPIM: What Not to Do / Peoples Democracy (New Delhi)
- Aping Modi? Aasim Sajjad Akhtar / Dawn (Karachi)
- CP of Pakistan: Class War not Indo-Pak War / Solidnet
- Jammu Kashmir Awami Workers Party / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (Paris)
- Hear the Voices of Kashmir Vaishna Roy / Frontline (Mumbai)
- On the Brink? Tariq Ali / New Left Review (London)
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China in the Mix
Antara Ghosal Singh / Observer Research Foundation (New Delhi)
China is worried that India will reduce tariffs imposed on imports from the United States in exchange for technology, energy and security cooperation, and may even agree to purchase certain American agricultural products, complicating Beijing’s trade war strategy vis-à-vis the US.
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Winning in Sri Lanka
- NPP Still Ahead PTI News Agency / The Indian Express (Noida)
- May Day PTI News Agency / ThePrint (New Delhi)
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Where is the Bangladesh Left?
Saqlain Rizve / The Diplomat (Arlington VA)
Portside update: The former ruling party Awami League was banned from any activity, by the interim government of Muhammad Yunus. Go here for a news report.
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Workers on the March in India
Vijay Prashad / Globetrotter
The joint platform of trade unions that brings together most of the confederations of unions met in Delhi to announce a nationwide general strike on 20 May 2025 for higher minimum wages and fixed working hours as well as for a rollback of the government’s anti-worker policies.
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Pink Wave Boosts Akbayan Party in Philippines
Via Bianca Ramones / Daily Tribune (Manila)
In a historic twist in the 2025 party-list elections, Akbayan Party-list, led by renowned human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, has surged to the top spot based on partial, unofficial results released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Through this system, 20 percent of seats in the lower house are reserved for parties representing marginalized and underrepresented sectors.
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Unions and Gaza Solidarity
- Swedish Dockworkers Arthur Neslen / Equal Times (Brussels)
- Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions / Palestine Chronicle (Mountlake Terrace WA)
- Tens of Thousands March in Brussels / VRT (Brussels)
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Left vs Right in the European Parliament
Denys Pilash, Li Andersson and Jonas Sjöstedt / Commons (Kiev)
As long as the far right stays in opposition, they can cultivate the illusion that they’re on the side of workers, of “ordinary people.” But once in power, it becomes clear: they’re just racist right-wingers with an aggressively pro-business economic agenda.
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Union Leader on the Billionaires’ Coup
Luc Triangle / International Trade Union Confederation (Brussels)
Decades of deregulation and neoliberalism have fuelled distrust, enabling a dangerous rise of new forms of fascism and authoritarianism. Today, a loose alliance of billionaires, tech elites and far-right forces is exploiting economic despair and institutional weakness to dismantle democracy. It is time not just to repair the broken, but to reimagine what is possible.