CP Finland speech at 15.th International Meeting of the World Communist and Workers´ parties in Lisbon

CPF chairman, JP Väisänen – 07.11.2013

Comrades,

Communist party of Portugal,

International collective,

The globalization of the economy, technology, politics and culture has created increasingly wider and closer mutual dependencies. At the same time, it has also meant exploitation, oppression, and internationalization of many other conflicts. The contradiction between labor and capital, democracy and capital, nature and capital, peace and the pursuit of profit by capital deepens.

It is of high importance to be able to share some actual political points of views with You all here in Lisbon present. Thank You for the possibility. Thank You for the hospitality.

We wish to lift up questions of imperialisms faces such like nature catastrophes, mass unemployment and oppression of the minorities. We also give information about resent changes in our party.

Dear comrades,

Mining industry, search for natural recourses; uranium, gas and petrol is increasing in northern Finland, Scandinavia and in the Arctic region.

There are catastrophic examples how international mining business destroys local natural resources. Partly nationally owned Talvivaara uranium mine has been run with extremely low environmental precautions causing a huge environmental catastrophe polluting local waters.

Imperialism is showing every day a more and more violent face.

In our Northern regions, in Lapland mining business and the growing international interest in the Arctic is oppressing the process of the Saami people in their just demand for their rights to land, culture and language. For us finnish communist it is important to declare here internationally that we firmly stand with the right of the saami-aboriginals for their basic democratic rights. We demand the Finnish government to approve the ILO 169 declaration.

Big capital is safeguarding its own interests.

We really experience special times. Mass unemployment, especially unemployment of the young people is in figures of war times. State is shutting down public services and combining our local government to a bigger market areas suitable for international corporations.

At the same time we have extremely broad-based government of six parties, running down what is left from the welfare state built up by the working class movement in the past. Today parliamentarian left and social democrats approve all the austerity measures, cutting lists and politics of the Troika - Central European bank, European commission and International monetary fund.

We are living under dictatorship of the values of the European Union:

free movement of the capital,labour, goods and services. In EU-elitpolitics labour rights and peoples basic rights have place only in the empty bourgeois talks.

European union is not the answer to this problem. It is the problem.

***

Party congress made a radical change to leadership of the party. 25 % of our CC is now younger than 30. These young members face many challenges including process of updating our party program. Even though we are young, our guidelines in this process are ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin.

Many members in our central committee are now taking positions and responsibility from senior comrades. Our new general secretary is Heikki Ketoharju, 24 years old activist and IT enthusiast - Also present here at this international meeting. Please welcome Heikki to the collective.

Europarlamentarian elections for us communists function as a visible tool to invite radical left and green activists to join a new truly left and communist front to oppose the current system and neoliberal right wing politics, nationalism and racism. We have a slogan that says "it is time to whistle an end the business play of the bourgeois".

We absolutely don´t want to leave the political floor to the neoliberal, ultra right and nationalist parties to occupy the political debate.

With the guide lines of Lenin we will participate in the EU-elections creating speaker platforms for comrades to demand referendum about European union agreements. We have to get rid of those antidemocratic chains in order to rebuild a Europe of peoples, democratic Europe and a socialist Europe.

Comrades,

...To finish my speech

Central committee of the party underlines the role of the international work as key element in the class struggle.

Communist parties of Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden meet yearly in the Arctic North region. Last meeting was held this year in spring in Tromsøin Norway.

In the declaration of the nordic communist parties it was underlined that international growing need for more and more natural recourses does not safeguard the nature, climate and communities in a sustainable way.

Tromsø declaration says clearly that the only sustainable way is long-term economic and ecologic thinking.

Communist party of Finland wishes that the collective of the world communist parties and workers´s parties start to pay more attention to environmental issues.

Fossil energy resources like oil and gas pollute and emit greenhouse gases. The use of these energy resources must be reduced. We communist should clearly demand a proper environmental processing of energy (gas) and raw materials (minerals) in local integrated industrial complexes with zero emissions of CO2 (carbon oxide). We say the only alternative is to invest in renewable energy solutions. We vote for Sun-, wind-,

water- and wave power. We vote for the future.

Defending workers rights, working conditions and agreements should not have any borders. There should not be any need to pay attention to the origin, skin color or any other criteria of the worker. We stand against racism, homophobia, gender inequality, fascism and all kind of discrimination. All workers should have the same right to a just pay of the work done.

There for workers of the world unite! Long live class struggle! Long live the communist international collective!

JP (Juha-Pekka) Väisänen

Chairman

Communist Party of Finland

15.th International Meeting of the World Communist and workers´ parties in Lisbon juha-pekka.vaisanen@skp.fi

+358 505738598