Solidarity statement by the Socialist Party of Malaysia with the people's uprising in Libya and the rest of Arab world against authoritarian regimes

February 22, 2011 -- The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) condemns the brutal repression committed by Muammar al-Gaddafi’s regime against its people who revolt against injustices and corruptions.

Gaddafi’s regime declared war on its people when Gaddafi’s son, Saif El Islam Gaddafi, threatened to “to fight to the last minute, until the last bullet”. Gaddafi even ordered fighter jets to attack parts of the capital city, Tripoli. Most of the killings have been in Benghazi on the north-east coast, Libya’s second largest city, where there has been massive uprisings of people since February 15, 2011.

Due to the government’s censorship, the actual death toll still yet to confirmed but according to some reports more than 600 may have been killed in the murderous crackdown on civil disobedience.

Gaddafi may hide behind his “revolutionary past” by employing “anti-imperialist” rhetoric, but the fact is Libya has moved toward collusion with Western capitalists in recent years when it opened up its economy for foreign investment, especially in energy sector. The economic liberalisation polices have increasingly destroyed the state economy, removed subsidies of basic foodstuff and invited more privatisation. These have contributed to fueling social discontent among the Libyan people.

SYDNEY: Australians are losing interest in the plight of Aborigines, a survey found Monday, days after the prime minister urged the country's indigenous people to take more control of their lives.

The Australian Reconciliation Barometer survey, gauging relations between Aborigines and their mostly white counterparts, showed a drop in the number of people who considered the relationship important.

The poll showed that Australians increasingly blame Aborigines, who suffer disproportionately high rates of disease, imprisonment, unemployment and alcohol and substance abuse, for their own problems.