Global Assembly for the World Movement underway in Johannesburg
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The South African Communist Party (SACP) has denounced the hosting of the Global Assembly for the World Movement for Democracy which is underway in Johannesburg.
The event is organised under to commemorate 30 years of South Africa’s democracy and celebrate democratic resilience and innovation.
More than 500 civil society activists from 100 countries are attending. Among the keynote speakers are Filipino editor Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who also serves as the Global Assembly’s secretariat chair.
Formed in 1999 with significant backing from the United States, primarily through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the network has been condemned by the SACP as part of the apparatus aligned with the United States’ foreign policy interests, as opposed to genuine democratic principles.
“The imperialist United States-funded NED is embedded in a wider agenda that includes machinations against national democratic sovereignty of different nations. This agenda is often hidden under events objectives such as building greater unity of effort to counter the challenges facing democracy around the world today,'” the SACP said in a statement received by PANA.
It noted that Nelson Mandela was included in the United States “list of terrorists” before he became South Africa’s first ever democratically-elected President in April 1994.
“The activities of various components of the imperialist United States apparatus, such as the NED, are known to include interference in the internal affairs of other nations under the guise of supporting democracy. This includes funding conformist or right-wing opposition groups. It was one of the factors at play in recent elections, including post-election destabilisation, in different global regions, Southern Africa and South America included,” it added.
Meanwhile, Mamphela Ramphele, the chairperson of the Archbishop Tutu Intellectual Property Trust, has demanded the withdrawal of all Tutu-related associations with the event for similar reasons.
-0- PANA CU/MA 21Nov2024
