Tongan Pro-democracy rally in Auckland tommorow

Yep. All or nothing. That's really stupid. A bourgeois national democratic revolution is a step forward on the road to socialism. It gives labour activists more space.

One could have made a similar argument for the South African situation.

"anarchists and revolutionaries should get involved in this and help overthrow the Monarchy, while arguing for a more radical politics."

Yeah exactly, a revolution has to start somewhere.
Marx, in the manifesto said the communist movement should ally with the bourgeoisie in order to defeat a common enemy (feudal class).

This is basic common sense. This happened in the french revolution.

Alani, tuku a ho'o 'ulu fulihi. 'Oku ke hange koe ko Hitler. 'Osi 'ae muimui 'ae kakai 'o Siamane 'i he tangata ko 'eni. Toki ma'u hake ia tana'e vale, fakasesele, ka kuo mate 'ae kakai ia 'e lau miliona. 'Alani Taione, 'oku ou pehe keke 'alu 'o totongi ho mou'a 'ihe Funaki Enterprise, kake toki ha'u 'o feinga ke fakatonutonu 'ae Pule'anga Tonga.

"The speed of revolutions need to be determined by the capacity of the oppressed classes and the parity of forces."

Well said. We can apply this to the current situation in this way.

The majority of working Tongans made some important headway in the big PSA strike last year.
Then they faced a setback when the PM delayed the vote on the reforms. The more militant pro-dems countered with the targeted destruction of the class enemies property last week. This produced an immediate concession by the Cabinet to increase the peoples' MPs from 9 to 21 but not until 2008.

Then the King seized on the 'riot' to justify calling on the ANZ military to prop up his regime. We can see what is coming next, Tonga will be classified by Howard and Clark as a 'failed state' to justify a permanent RAMSI-type intervention to keep the people down.

This move by the King has quite a lot of support as the 'violence' has damaged the pro-dems and isolated the militants from the conservatives. But it is at the cost of a state of emergency and the presence of foreign troops.

This is a necessary but risky move by the King. First it tells us that he couldnt rely on the Tongan army to control the people. Second, blaming the riot on the pro-dems and suppressing the movement will bring about a more militant resistance. The role of the troops as 'peacekeepers' to suppress this resistance will be clearly demonstrated as propping up the King.

This will renew the challenge to the King and the fight for democracy. Pohiva's call for all MPs to be elected by the people who would then elect the PM and Cabinet, may get more support. The problem is that this does not do away with class distinctions and the old constitution.

But even this limited reform won't happen unless the pro-dem movement opposes the presence of foreign troops, organises their own defence guards to keep 'law and order', and succeeds in winning over the rank and file of the Tongan army to the cause of democracy.

The way to do this is get the pro-dem movement behind the demand for a Constitutent Assembly based on one vote for every person over 16. A Constituent Assembly is the most radical bourgeois constitution which would mobilise individuals as equal citizens regardless of class, status and gender, and at the same time prove in practice that such democracy is impossible in a tiny semi-colony ruled by a pro-imperialist ruling class.

So the more militant left would fight in the Constituent Assembly for a republic, to repudiate the foreign debt, get out of WTO, renationalise public assets, and nationalise land, without compensation and under the control of workers and farmers.

Opposition to this program by the ruling class and imperialism would prove to the majority that they have two choices - live under the domination of a reactionary bourgeois regime, or going beyond a Constituent Assembly to form a Workers and Farmers Government, or a socialist republic.

Dave

Good luck with your campaign to get the CTU to organize immediate political strike action to bring the troops back Dave.

It does make more sense than working constructively with government and employers to create a high wage high skills economy, but I'm afraid Ross will want to get that one out of the way first.

I agree with your suggestion that we make efforts to convince New Zealand workers that the troops are there for private profit rather than people's peace. I think time spent on that would be more productive.

Don Franks