After many hesitations and delays, not least because of the brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto and hundreds of her supporters, the Pakistani parliamentary elections are scheduled to go ahead on 18 February. These elections are different to any other ever held in Pakistan. We have received an appeal by three candidates who are sponsored by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign and are standing on a clear socialist program.
Read this appeal in Spanish, German, Arabic, Danish, Italian, Swedish and Dutch.
An appeal to all readers and supporters of In Defence of Marxism
Dear comrades and friends,
After many hesitations and delays, not least because of the brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto and hundreds of her supporters, the Pakistani parliamentary elections are scheduled to go ahead on 18 February. These elections are different to any other ever held in Pakistan. We have received an appeal by three candidates who are sponsored by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign and are standing on a clear socialist program.
They are standing in three of the most diverse areas of Pakistan – from the proletarian heartland of Karachi to the tribal areas of Waziristan – but their struggle for a vote against both Islamic fundamentalists and the stooges of imperialism has a widespread appeal.
This makes the election significant for workers, peasants and everybody in the whole world who is against poverty and oppression. Manzoor Ahmed, Ali Wazir, and Riaz Lund stand for a socialist federation of the South Asian subcontinent and world revolution. If the elections are not rigged, these candidates will win. Poor people throughout Pakistan are enthusiastically raising funds for their campaigns. But they are facing some of the richest people in Pakistan. They need our help.
What can you do? We need to raise awareness about their campaign internationally, so please distribute this appeal and the accompanying pamphlet as widely as possible. Organise meetings and explain the situation in Pakistan and the programme these three candidates are standing for. Raise the issue in your trade union or left wing political party. Prepare for protest actions in case of electoral fraud against them.
Make a donation towards their campaign
By credit or debit card
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PayPal
Make Dollar donations via PayPal or credit card here.
By bank transfer
Account holder: Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign
Reference number: K3414742PAK
Account number: 0005 0005
Sort code: 09 00 00
Swift code: to be provided by your bank
Bank's Address: Abbey National Plc 2 Triton Square,
London NW1 3AN
United Kingdom
Direct donations
PTUDC, PO BOX 6977, London, N1 3JN, Britain
PTUDC, PO Box 4244, St. Paul, MN 55104, US
Comradely,
Editorial Board of In Defence of Marxism
Election material
Manzoor Ahmed
Riaz Lund
Ali Wazir
Other
Featured articles
Our website has been following closely the events in Pakistan. Read the most recent analysis and news we published:
- Pakistan: Coalition – no solution! (February 20, 2008)
- Pakistan: PPP confirms blatant fraud in elections (February 20, 2008)
- Pakistani vote-rigging raised in Belgian press (February 20, 2008)
- Pakistan elections: The Mother of all Frauds (February 19, 2008)
- Massive fraud! – An Eyewitness Account (February 19, 2008)
- Monitoring the elections in Pakistan (February 17, 2008)
- Pakistan Elections – class contradictions sharpening as the election campaign heats up (February 15, 2008 – also in Spanish)
- Pakistan Elections: Reactionary MQM preparing for massive rigging in Karachi (February 8, 2008 – also in Spanish and Arabic)
- The Pakistani Elections: Marxist MP Manzoor Ahmed vs. Wealthy Industrialist (January 28, 2008 – also in Arabic, French and Spanish)
- Solidarity with Pakistan from the EC of the Socialist Youth of Austria (January 25, 2008)
- Pakistan: "If the regime tries to rig the elections, there will be a social explosion" (January 24, 2008 – also in Arabic, Spanish and Dutch)
- The Post – Lahore publishes the Marxists' analysis on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (January 24, 2008)
- Pakistan: Elections in South Waziristan offering a socialist alternative to imperialist hegemony and fundamentalist barbarism (January 24, 2008 – also in Arabic and Spanish)
- Bomb Blast in Karachi – Fascist MQM tries to sabotage the mass movement (January 16, 2008 – also in Dutch, German and Spanish)
- The intervention of the Pakistani Marxists in the movement against the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (January 9, 2008 – also in Arabic, Dutch, Farsi, Italian and Spanish)
- Pakistan: Government covers up the crime – masses demand action against conspirators (December 31, 2007 – also in Arabic, Dutch , Farsi, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish)
- Leaflet of the Pakistani comrades (December 31, 2007 – also in Indonesian)
- Letter of protest and solidarity from Morocco (December 31, 2007)
- Pakistan: The assassination of Benazir Bhutto (December 27, 2007 – also in Arabic, Catalan, Danish , Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish)
