APK: 12 Demands to a New Government

Translated by: The Espresso Stalinist

12 demands to a new government (1)

1. Stop the wars NOW! Welfare to ALL!

2. Jobs to the unemployed, places for interns/trainees/apprentices without places! Start environmentally friendly work: climate friendly energy, renovation of schools, homes, roads, sewerage etc. Places for trainees/interns/apprentices to all – now!

3. The working time must go down, not up! Scrap the lies about shortage of labour power and burden of old people! (2) Right to unemployment benefits in minimum four years – with right to education! Defend the real wage!

4. Right to a life after work! Hands off the “afterwage,” (3) retirement age, and pensions! Restore ”afterwage” from 60 years, state pension from 65 years! Full regulation and equality on transfer payments!

5. Free education to all, equal rights! Drop the reductions of the state educational grants, (4) educational grants to live on! Drop the cuts in education! Abolish users fees! Housing, that can be paid! No to youth unemployment!

6. More hands to welfare, not fewer! Stop the undermining of the public sector! Equal pay now! No privatization of health, the social sector, and public administration! Equal access to medical treatment! A well functioning eldercare! Better conditions for the children families! Stop the cuts on the weakest of the society!

7. Love and solidarity know no borders! No to discrimination, xenophobia and racism. No “point systems” (5) or “24-28-years rules”! (6) Abolish “starthelp” (7) and unpayable fees! Asylum seekers out of the [asylum] centres!

8. Stop the criminalization of political, social and labour struggles. Abolish the terror-laws, (8) the “lout package” (9) and other special laws that have undermined the legal rights of the Danes.

9. Stop the neoliberal EU! No to the union of the monopolies! The Danish exceptions (10) must be maintained! Away with the Euro Plus Pact! Referendums on all changes of the EU treaty! Denmark out of EU!

10. Danish troops out of Afghanistan NOW – Stop the war against Libya! Stop war and occupations: Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine! End Danish war participation NOW! Stop the millitarization! Bring the guilty for participation in illegal wars to justice! Drop the purchase of new fighter jets! Denmark out of the war alliance NATO!

11. Stop climate talks without action! Transition to renewable energy now! Stop the trade of carbon credits! Phasing out of fossil fuels, no to nuclear power! No to gmo-crops! Stop military and wars – the biggest polluters.

12. Stop the tax cuts on the rich, tax them! Tax the multinational corporations! Stop the grants to the capital and the support to the large
agriculture! Drop expensive privatizations and outsourcing [of public services]! Cut down on the apparatus of violence, bureaucracy, and control!

We want neither cuts nor longer working time!
There is another way: Let the rich pay the crisis!

Young, old, men, and women:
It affects us all! Stand together against the slaughter of welfare! Community and solidarity!

Worker´s Communist Party of Denmark

Footnotes

1 First time published 21. January 2011 in ”Kommunistisk Politik” (Communist Policy, the paper of APK).
i.e. dependency ratio

3 Efterløn – a form of early retirement, 5 years before retirement age. Is at 60 years (65 years retirement age), but
it is planned to change it in 2019-2022 to 62 years, with 67 years retirement age. To get it, you must pay a special
contribution for 30 years.

4 SU – “Statens uddannelsesstøtte” (Educational support of the state).

5 http://universitetsavisen.dk/node/8196

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_year_rule, there is a proposal to lift it to 28 years.

7 Starthjælp -– social benefit given to immigrants from outside the Nordic countries, EU, and Lichtenstein, aswell
to people with Danish citizenship, who have lived more than one year, of the last 8 years, outside of Denmark, the
Nordic countries, EU, and Lichtenstein. It is given to people who are without work and other possibilities to support
themselves.

It is very low, 2668 DKK for persons under 25 years, living with their parents, 5367 DKK for persons under 25 years,
living without their parents, 6472 DKK for persons, who are living alone and are at least 25 years, and 5367 DKK for
persons who are married or have cohabiting partners and are at least 25 years.
They are all before tax.

8 Gives the authorities extended right to survelliance of the people. Anton Nielsen, resistance fighter under nazi occupation and leader of the “Horserød-Stutthof association” for resistance fighters, was sentenced to 2 months prison the 16. June 2011, for supporting PFLP and FARC. The organization was forced to pay 20 day-fines on 500 DKK / day. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighters%2BLovers.

9 ”lømmelpakken”, a law package created before the Climate Summit in Copenhagen, december 2009. Preventive detention was raised from max 6 hours to 12 hours. The punishment for preventing the police doing its job was raised from a fine to 40 days prison. If there was a “gross disturbance of peace and order” on the place, it would be an aggrevating circumstance, when the punishment will be handed out.

10 i.e. Edinburgh Agreement