Philippines - Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), - Power of the Masses Party

by Campsie branch member and Scottish Socialist Voice reporter, Thomas Swann

The launch of a new socialist party in the Philippines has been hailed by some on the international left as a confident step in creating a united mass electoral organisation in the country. Peter Boyle of the Australian Democratic Socialist Perspective has described how 920 delegates, representing a number of groups such as trade unions and students organisations with an estimated membership of around 300,000 between them, gathered for the inaugural congress of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), or Power of the Masses Party. Others, however, including members of political groups active in the Philippines, have been more cautious in their assessment of the PLM.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Scottish Socialist Voice, two members of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of Mindanao (RPM-M), who preferred not to be named, accompanied by Alex de Jong, the editor of Dutch socialist monthly Grenzeloos and an expert on the Filipino left, told of the complex political situation in the Philippines and of their impressions of the new party.

Following the uprising against the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the subsequent split in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the Filipino left has been fragmented and several groups in different areas and representing different approaches to socialism have competed both at the electoral level and in the day-to-day struggle for equality and democracy. Most of those on the left who chose to split from the CPP in 1992 have been working within the Laban ng Masa (Struggle of the Masses) coalition, but the launch of the PLM marks the abandonment of this project.

In a recent interview, Sonny Malencio, leader of the Filipino Workers' Party (PM) and newly elected chairperson of the PLM, spoke of the failure of Laban ng Masa to reach consensus on major issues. 'There were some problems there which were related to the character of a left coalition, meaning that the different left groups have different interests and different directions. Just recently on the Mindanao question, we couldn't give a sure statement and then we could not undertake a project where we could use all of our resources.'

Mindanao, the easternmost island in the Philippines has been the stage for a four decade old insurgency by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and violent responses on the part of the government. So far thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands internally displaced in Mindanao. Attempts at quelling the insurgency through extending the autonomous Muslim region have so far failed and negotiations continue to prove unfruitful.

For Malencio and those allied around the new PLM, the party presents an opportunity to make gains for socialism in the upcoming elections, scheduled for 2010. 'We want to put power into the hands of the masses,' says Malencio. 'This has to happen from below through the transformation of barangay (neighbourhood) councils into barangay assemblies that can institute alternative structures to replace the congress that is dominated by the trapo (traditional politician) elite.' The programme of the PLM includes in addition proposals for nationalisation of essential services and the provision of basic necessities – education, housing, jobs, health – for the people. But the relevance of the PLM has been questioned.

While the opening congress of the new party boasted support from mass organisations with a combined membership of as much as 300,000, Alex de Jong is suspicious of the veracity of this claim. 'There is a difference between membership of these mass organisations and members of the party proper. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the members of these groups didn't know about the PLM.' There is also the suggestion that the PLM represents a relaunch of Malencio's old party, the PM, which has been oddly silent of late. If the PM were able to take into the new electoral party some of the support of the old Laban ng Masa coalition, it could significantly increase its political potential.

The members of the RPM-M, which has also been engaged in combat with the government, with which it is now in peace negotiations, as well as the CPP guerillas who have been targeting the leadership of those groups who split from it in the early 90s, who spoke to the Voice also warned of the lack of support for the PLM outside of the capital Manila. It is typical, they said, of some political organisations to act only within the Manila area and be completely inactive elsewhere. 'These people from Luzon (the most economically and politically important island in the country) are dominating everything. Even when there is an opportunity for the smaller peoples to speak, they don't give them the chance.'

However, the RPM-M members share the same goals as the new PML in terms of welfare and democracy, citing government corruption as a key obstacle to progressive social change. While concerned about the possibility that the PML will turn out to become a party similar to the social democratic Akbayan, they do see the launch as a welcome development. 'If all the left stands together we could do some good. The Arroyo government is weak, but the left is weaker at the moment.'

De Jong agrees with the analysis presented by the RPM-M members. 'It looks like a step forward. I don't think it's only a front for the elections, because the people involved are people with a lot of experience and a long history in revolutionary socialism.' With the PML in talks with revolutionary elements within the armed forces, and proclaiming their intention to build a mass party based on the experiences of Chavez and others in Latin America, the prospects for a genuine socialist movement arising from among the people of the Philippines may be good. Ultimately, the selection of a candidate for the 2010 elections and the conduct of the PLM in those elections will be the litmus test for the potential of this new grouping to achieve genuine socialist change in the Philippines.

Dutch Diary

Lenzie SSP member Thomas Swann explains the Dutch Squatters movement...





Nijmegen, situated on the river Waal only 5 km from the German border, has a rich history of squatting (Kraaken in Dutch) stretching back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite various changes in local and national legislation in the Netherlands, occupations of unused buildings is still occurring in Nijmegen. In contrast to Scotland, where squatting is illegal and squatters can face immediate eviction from a property, Dutch law in effect entitles individuals to squat a building if it is left unoccupied for a period of twelve months, though it does not mention squatting directly. This article will chart briefly the development of the squatters movement in Nijmegen, highlighting the factors which have contributed to its prominence in the city, while also focussing on one event in the history of squatting which was a landmark not only in Nijmegen but across the Netherlands.

First, how does the law in the Netherlands in relation to squatting differ from that in Scotland? While in England and Wales squatting is more practical and so also more common (there are an estimated fifteen thousand squatters in England and Wales), Scots law imposes a fine or even imprisonment on anyone found to be occupying a property for which they do not possess ownership. In the Netherlands, the law is more sympathetic to squatting than even in England and Wales. In order to legally squat a building, an individual needs only to access the building without forcing entry, and live in it with a bed, a table and a chair, as well as a working lock which the squatter can use. These conditions define a home in the Dutch legal system, and since it is prohibited for the authorities to interfere in the private home of an individual, they are also prohibited from invading a squatted building, in so far as it meets the criteria required for it to be legally a home. This would be true of any dwelling, but is also true of a building which has been left unoccupied for twelve months. An individual can be evicted for non-payment of rent, but as squatters have no rent contract, this does not apply. In this way, squatters can occupy certain buildings and, provided they register the squat with the police, not face harassment.

This was one of the three factors which laid the legal and social/political foundations for the squatting movement. The second was the acute shortage of housing which had plagued the Netherlands since the Second World War. This was common to most Western European states, where the number of households was increasing at the same time as a decrease in residential construction in the post-War years. The population shot up following the war from 10 million in 1949 to around 13 million in 1970. Now, the population stands at over 16.5 million. While the birth rate has decreased dramatically since the 1970s (later than other European countries), immigration has contributed to a net rise in the population, and recent projections predict that the population will continue to climb gradually. While the government invested heavily in the third quarter of the twentieth century in social housing (resulting in the Netherlands to this day having a high proportion of social housing: 35 percent), the shortage was not eliminated and still remains an issue.

The third contributing factor was the Western sexual revolution of the 1960s. In addition to liberating individuals from sexual tradition through making available female contraceptions, it liberated people also from other social hierarchies including that of the parent-child dynamic. Generational antagonism fed a demand on the part of the new youth to live independently from their parents at a younger age than had previously been the norm. This, coupled with the New Left outlook of this social group, resulted in an active movement to take over formerly private space and turn it over to a wider public use. It was youth and social workers then who first began squatting buildings in order to provide homes for those who could ill afford to buy or rent their own, or for whom there was simply such a lack of housing that no other option was available. In addition, there was an increasing number of vacant private buildings as the wealthy were more inclined to invest in real estate than in the stock market following the recession of the 1970s.

These factors then contributed to the squatting movement all across the Netherlands as a social need for housing was met through the activities of the youth, made possible by the legal recognition of squatters' rights. This was especially true of Nijmegen because of its large student population, generating a significant number of individuals willing to occupy buildings in order that they could be used to provide housing for those who needed it. This would seem to suggest that squatting was a relatively peaceful affair, with no real antagonism between squatters and the state, whose laws facilitated the occupations. However, to paint such a rosy picture would be to ignore some of the significant events which marked the response to squatting by local and national authorities. One such event in Nijmegen occurred in Piersonstraat in 1981.

Piersonstraat was the site of a housing block which was scheduled for demolition by the local government, to be replaced by a multi-story car park, a solution to the problem caused by increasing car ownership in the city. The occupants of the building, which was being used as social housing, were opposed to the council's plans, as were many in the neighbourhood, which had existed in an incredibly close-knit form for generations. When it came time to finally hand over the keys for the properties to officials from the council, the residents reportedly relinquished their keys outside the front door, while squatters working with their support entered the building through the back. The squatters carried with them folding chairs, tables and beds, to attempt to work within the law and stop the authorities from destroying the homes. While this threw up an instant conflict between the new occupants and the local government, the local population showed a remarkable and uncommon solidarity and provided the squatters with food and other supplies.

As was required by law, the council applied to the courts for a warrant to forcibly remove the squatters. However, the day before the court was due to rule on the issue, the 16th of February, barricades were erected in the streets surrounding the building. The squatters had managed to construct the obstacles behind the backs of the police, by staging a fake demonstration in the middle of the night against the planned demolition. While the authorities were engaged in policing this demonstration in another part of town, the barricades went up. One can imagine the surprise of the first policeman at the scene the following morning, who apparently stood gobsmacked at the sight of the defences. The squatters found support from unusual corners, the break with political and social normality resonating with many. Pirate radio broadcasters decided to cooperate in sending the signal from the squatters' radio station across the country, bouncing it from one small antenna to the next. Taxi drivers used their cars reinforce the barricades and block entrances to the streets.


On the 23rd of February, the police moved in with unimaginable force. In addition to one thousand, two hundred policemen and seven hundred and fifty soldiers from the Dutch army, they were backed up by two hundred riot vans, three Leopard tanks, three armoured personnel carriers and a helicopter. Even with their barricades and support from the local population, the squatters were powerless to resist such an effort. With the area being flooded with Tear-gas and CS gas, those resisting the police and army were left with no choice but to flee. The houses on Piersonstraat were torn down. However, the parking garage was never built. The council instead used the space to build new social housing. Despite this victory, in the mid 1980's, squatting laws were changed which made it much easier for the police to remove squatters from buildings. These changes included the stipulation that a building had to be left unoccupied for twelve months prior to being squatted.

Squatting still plays an important role in political life in Nijmegen, but as a radical act of social resistance it no longer occupies the position it once did. With a Left-wing local government composed of the Socialist Party, the Green Left and the Labour Party, the council takes a contradictory approach to squatting. Recently, some of the oldest squats in the city have been legalised, while at the same time a squat situated in an old post office was evicted. However, Right-wingers in the national government are determined to use squatting as a scapegoat and attempts are being made to ban it outright, which have been resisted in the parliament by, among others, the Socialist Party. The struggle not only to maintain individual squats but to preserve the practice itself is under way not only in Nijmegen but across the Netherlands. Following a recent eviction from a squat in Nijmegen, activists revived the old squatters slogan: 'You cannot evict an idea.'

For further information on squatting in the Netherlands and elsewhere, visit squat.net/en or indymedia.nl

Or click HERE to see Dutch squatting in action.

Thomas has also written a piece for LENZIE ONLINE

Industrial Workers of the World, Scottish Assembly, March 2008

Report by Thomas Swann

Held on the 23^rd of March, the Industrial Workers of the World's (IWW) summer assembly highlighted the role the organisation has played and continues to play throughout the world. Described as one big union for all workers, the IWW remains one of the most militant unions in the world. While the union has shrunk since being able to boast 100,000 members in the US in the 1920s, recent growth in Britain suggests that it is not a thing of the past, and while its place in the history books has been guaranteed, it will be on the front line of social struggle for some time to come. In the last year alone, the IWW's membership in the UK has grown by over 400%. It was noted of the recent meeting that it constituted the largest gathering of members and interested individuals in a long time.

The Scottish Assembly focused on a number of issues that comrades have been involved in as well as ongoing battles such as the National Blood Service Campaign, aimed at challenging the extreme centralisation of blood storage centres, reducing emergency access to such services for many in outlying rural areas. This particular campaign has succeeded in securing the existence of a centre in Newcastle, as well as many functions at one in Sheffield. In addition to this, workshops looked at ways of getting the message out about what the IWW stands for and how to encourage participation in workplace organising, and strategies for dealing with specific problems encountered on the shop floor.

One particular example brought up by a member underlined the effects of partial privatisation in public services. In the recent strike action carried out at the Department of Work and Pensions by the PCS union, the office mail delivery service, run by a private company, continued to operate, resulting in around 75% of mail being delivered as normal. This lessened the effectiveness of striking as the workplaces were not brought to the standstill that such action sought. Furthermore, it was demanded of employees of this service that they cross the PCS picket lines.

The success of the Scottish Assembly was attested to by one delegate. Andy Bowden, an IWW and SSP member, said that 'it was good to be with a fighting union that punches well above its weight and is more interested in struggle than excuses.' It was clear from the meeting that the IWW is an oranisation on the move, and it will no doubt play crucial roles in current struggles the same way it has done in the past, and will continue to do in the future.

Democracy in Cuba - Thomas Swann

Democracy Cuban Style

At a conference on democracy in Cuba, the former Presidents of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, wrote in a joint statement that 'freedom, democracy, and prosperity in Cuba depend on the support for Cuban dissidents, the better the chances for a future peaceful transition of the Cuban society to democracy.' In response to Václav Havel, Arpád Goncz and Lech Walesa's comments, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that 'what you have in Cuba is a very specific model of revolution. In the grassroots in Cuba, there are constant elections that take place.' Similarly, political scientists have taken sides on the issue with opinions of the democratic system ranging from descriptions of a dictatorship in which elections are a sham, to a proper democracy characterised by its reliance on popular participation. What is clear in the midst of this debate is that in Cuba there exists a political system which is so radically different to those which dominate most of the world, that many find it hard to understand and articulate.

The democratic process in Cuba takes place in three stages over a period of several months. The culmination of the latest round is due to take place on Sunday the 24^th of February with the election of the Council of State. This is the highest governing body in the country and is headed by the president and is composed of ministers elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. While it is probably unfair to compare the Cuban system with the British form of liberal democracy, the Council of State could be seen as somewhat similar to the cabinet, with the difference that its members are elected as opposed to appointed. The National Assembly occupies a similar position as the parliament does in Britain. There are, however, significant differences between the Cuban system and the one we may be more familiar with. The best place to begin in attempting to get a grasp of the distinctions and the workings of Cuban democracy is at the bottom.

On the 1^st of September last year, the first stage of the process began, Asamblea de Rendicion de cuantas para elegin al delegado, the nominations of candidates for the Municipal Assembly. This activity is organised on a local community level, with districts of no more than a few streets putting forward individuals who will stand in an election for the local administrative bodies. Meetings of between 30 and 100 citizens vote openly on who among them they consider best able to represent their interests in the Municipal Assemblies. As Maria Esther Reus, Minister of Justice and President of the National Electoral Commission, explained in Granma International, the weekly foreign language paper, 'Those nomination meetings are a key moment in the island's electoral process. Because, it is just in this period when active participations in general elections is made material, in addition to ensuring a broad scenario for the political exercise of the population.'

When I visited Cuba in September, I attended one of the nomination meetings in the town of Guayabal, around thirty kilometers West of the capital Havana. The town was split into three areas, each comprising no more than a few streets. At 8:00 in the evening, people started to congregate around the one house in the street which had working lights; there had been a power cut since the early afternoon. After an introductory speech was heard and the national anthem played the nominations began. By this point the power even to this one house had failed and the street was lit with a car's headlamps. About fifty people were assembled. The process was brief but effective with two citizens being nominated. Members of the assembled community simply shouted out the names of those they wanted to nominate. The named individuals then stepped forward before the small crowd. A vote of hands ratified the selection and the paperwork was completed, finalising the process. One of the nominated candidates, Raul Estevez Garcia, was interviewed by two Italian journalists. He thought he had been nominated because of the effort he had put into channeling the local community's needs and complaints during the most recent hurricane strike on the island. He seemed almost embarrassed to have been selected as a candidate for election, an honour individuals cannot refuse.

'More than 50,600 assemblies will take place.' Reus added. 'After the last is held, the aspirants' biographies will be made public, the sole electoral propaganda allowed by law.' A general election by secret ballot then decides who from among those nominated by the local assemblies take seats in the 315 Municipal Assemblies. There are around 15000 delegates elected into these positions. These assemblies then select from amongst their ranks candidates for both the Provincial Assemblies and the National Assembly of People's Power. In the second of these, the National Assembly, there are 614 seats to be taken up by members selected through the process described above as well as from other blocs which include representatives of the Federation of University Students, the Women's organisation, and the Cuban Trade Union Congress.

A slate of candidates for the National Assembly is drawn up which registers the nominations made by the Municipal Assemblies and the various other groups involved. This slate contains one nomination for every seat and so it is not the case that voters are asked to choose between competing candidates as they are at the municipal level. Rather, they are asked to ratify the recommendations of elected representatives. In this sense, it would be better to describe this stage of the process as a referendum given that the electorate votes to either accept or reject the slate presented. Voters can either decide on candidates individually or opt for a 'united vote' where the whole slate is judged as a whole. This stage of the democratic process took place on the 20^th of January.

Granma International reported that '8,231,365 Cubans cast their ballots, the equivalent of 96.89% of registered eligible voters. 7,839,358 ballots cast (95.24%) were valid, and 7,125,752 of these (91%) responded to the appeal for a "united vote" for all candidates nominated for the National Assembly. Blank ballots cast totaled 3.73% (306,791) and spoiled ballots, 1.04% (85,216).'

The final stage, where the National Assembly elects the Council of State is due to take place in a number of days. This will determine Cuba's President, Vice-President, and heads of government ministries. Despite this process, which begins at the local level and culminates at the national, and is characterised throughout by participation and independence from state authority, critics will no doubt continue to denounce Cuba as a one-party state. However, as the above should have made clear, this is a claim that makes little sense in the democratic system that exists there. The Communist Party of Cuba plays no role in selecting candidates, and given that members of the various institutions of People's Power advertise no party affiliations, talk of political parties does not appear to be coherent in the Cuban context.

Brian Pollitt has commented that during the 1990s and beyond, 'despite great hardships and considerable social tensions, the regime was evidently still sustained by a sufficient body of popular support.' This was and is because of the direct participation that is offered to Cubans in the decision making process of their country.

Voices from Cuba

In the current electoral process in Cuba, the government has placed a greater emphasis than ever on involving young people in the democratic system at all levels. The elections in January resulted in an average age of elected deputies falling to 49 and more than 56% of the National Assembly being born after the beginning of the Revolution in 1959. During my recent visit, I took the opportunity to speak to a number of young people about their political involvement and their opinions of the system in Cuba.

At a formal level, the Cuban youth is represented through both the relevant wing of the Communist Party, the Young Communist League (YCL), and the Federation of University Students (FEU). FEU representatives are selected from classroom or 'brigade' level and councils exists at university level and higher, all the way up to the National Assembly. The president of the FEU at the Universidad Hermanos Saiz, described the role the group plays in the university. 'The FEU is part of the directorate of the university. To be able to enjoy our studies, we must be able to follow the administration of the university. There can't be arguments between the staff and the students. To avoid this, the representative of each brigade is a member of the directorate and so has a say in the structure of the university.'

The FEU celebrates its 85^th anniversary this December after being founded in the 1920s by Julio Antonio Mella, also a founder of the Communist Party of Cuba. A representative of the FEU from the Universidad de la Habana (University of Havana), Yankiet Echeuarria, outlined the federations motivations. 'The youth should be able to think for themselves without the interference of external systems. Our only commitments are to Julio Antonio Mella, to the Revolution, and to Cuba. We have to reflect the voices of university students in criticising and providing solutions to problems.' Rafael Gómez Castillo, a 3^rd year computing sciences student at the University of Havana, spoke of how he 'participates in every activity – political, educational, and social.' Despite this being true of many students, and the existence of the FEU and many organisations like it, the general feeling amongst those of university age in Cuba is one of apathy.

Another student in Havana, a 1^st year studying philosophy, painted a far more bleak picture of political engagement among Cuba's youth. It is a picture that isn't a million miles away from the state of democratic participation in contemporary Britain. 'Young people believe in the Revolution but there are some things that are not right. The transport and the prices in the supermarket. Cubans' minds have changed in the last fifteen years. We have seen so many things. Young people, not all, but most, what they want is to go out with their friends and to have fun. They don't want to get involved because it means more responsibility.' Opinions on the causes of this apathy seem to be divided however. The student quoted above blamed it on the poor performance of the bureaucratic civil service, plagued by corruption in recent years. 'There are liars. Not in the government but between the people and the government.' Another student, from the town of Pinar del Rio, where the Univarsidad Hermanos Saiz is situated, talked differently. 'A lot of people blame Fidel for our problems but I don't. I blame the American blockade. Cuba has no choice but to buy things like rice at high prices.'

Whatever the features of Cuban society that have led to such disengagement from politics are, it is clear from Cuba's democratic structure, which permeates the lives of young people in their school, university, and social surroundings, that their direct involvement is by no means barred. The avenues for participation remain open to young people as they do for all sectors of society. Indeed, the change that may result from the democratic system has been a topic of discussion throughout the country. On the 19^th of February, Fidel (always referred to by his first name in Cuba), the current President, declared that he would not accept another term as commander in chief. His age and recent illness have caused many to point towards someone younger being elected to the position he has held since the mid 1970s. In a letter printed in the Cuban edition of Granma, Fidel wrote, 'it would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer.'

'Fidel is a good man and has good intentions. He's very, very intelligent. I think nothing will happen when he dies. He's not been President for thirteen months.' said the philosophy student from Havana. As for Fidel's brother, currently acting President (a role prescribed for the Vice-President by the Cuban constitution in the event of the President being unable to fulfill his duties), 'we don't know much about Raul. He was head of the army. That is all we know.' Some commentators have suggested Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque as a likely candidate for the presidency, with others tipping current acting Vice-President Carlos Large. It would be inappropriate, however, for outsiders to make such predictions. Ultimately, we will have to wait until Sunday to discover who the National Assembly has selected to lead the country for the next session.

Echeuarria, the FEU representative from Havana, clarified the ideological underpinnings of the Cuban Revolution and the decentralised democratic system of People's Power that rests finally on personal responsibility. 'Action is in man's hand, not in the hand of the divine. The divine is in man's ability to do good.'

Next meeting and article about the Campsie branch

Next Campsie Branch meeting will be in Milton of Campsie Village Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 23rd January.

Building the SSP in East Dunbartonshire

This article originally appeared in the Voice - here -

by Thomas Swann

IN announcing Campsie Branch’s AGM, held on the 28 November in Milton of Campsie Village Hall, Branch Organiser Neil Scott sent a message to local members that contained the following quotation from Noam Chomsky.
“If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that’s something, but the people in power can live with that. What they can’t live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time.”
As Neil rightly noted, “that is what the Scottish Socialist Party is about”.
Having learned the lessons of the last two years, we are ready to keep doing things and, indeed, to do them better every time. With this in mind, those in attendance at the meeting set out a plan designed to make the SSP as visible possible in the coming year.
Given the area Campsie Branch organises in, composed of individual, often poorly connected villages, members know that they have to be modest about what can be achieved, but also that the most important thing they can do is to not allow people to forget that the SSP is still here.
One of the inventive methods of maintaining such a presence that was agreed was to begin a regular Saturday morning socialist cultural event.
Beginning with a film screening in early January, this will hopefully become an alternative source of information and entertainment that people in the area can come to rely on and associate with the party at large.
Continuing with a series of talks and other activities, this morning will provide the local communities with an educational voice they might otherwise never hear.
In addition to this, the branch agreed on a number of new positions aimed similarly at reasserting the role of the SSP within the area. In doing so, members took up a number of suggestions that were made at the National Council meeting in August.
This included appointing Bill Newman and Mark Callaghan branch press officers, to see that the cultural events the local party organises are as well publicised as can be, and also to provide the local newspapers with stories and information that they may be currently overlooking.
This follows the excellent example set by comrades in other branches.
Campsie Branch is also planning to launch a local edition of the Voice, in order to inform residents about both the activities of the party, and also goings on in the area that aren’t reported elsewhere.
For example, one of the press officers has been tasked with accessing the local council meeting minutes, in order that these can be published to make people aware of aspects of council decision making that may effect them, but that they may never hear about.
A member was also appointed to redesign and run the branch online presence, in the form of a blog which was set up for the May elections but which has fallen into disuse since.
This will provide a space on the internet that both those inside and outside of the SSP can refer to to see what work Campsie Branch members are involved in.
Some of the methods Campsie members intend to implement in the near future are ones that have already been proved successful by other party members. Some are the invention of those in the branch themselves.
It is crucial in the future that branches share their experiences of activism so that, as Chomsky argues, they can learn from mistakes and come back with better approaches that will not fail.