Analysis

May Day Speech 2022 Raoul Hedebouw, president of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB)

The war was started by Vladimir Putin. There is no excuse for it. Russian troops must leave Ukraine. Period. Moreover, it is urgent to have a debate on how to move towards de-escalation and guarantee security in Europe.

New Year's speech by Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB-PVDA 2022 will be a year of resistance. We are going to fight to make it better. Better than 2021, which was not an easy year. We, the workers, the young people, the grassroots, the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA), are going to give all to make 2022 different.

On Sunday 5 December, Raoul Hedebouw was elected president of the PTB-PVDA at the closing session of our Unity Congress. Here is his speech at the closing session.

An extraordinary story lies behind the emergence of the PTB from a small party to a major political player. The announcement that Peter Mertens is will not run again for president is an opportunity to look back at the renewal movement that began in 2004. We have traced this history through quotes from the mainstream press.

Dear friends, dear comrades, A friend in need is a friend indeed. That's what the popular wisdom says. This summer, there was a lot of need. And there were many friends. After the floods, there was an unprecedented wave of solidarity. From the very first day, thousands and thousands of volunteers went to Wallonia to help the people there. To empty the cellars. To distribute soup. To clean schools and shops.

Some of the parties on Rue de la Loi* intend to split up our country even further in 2024 and set the people of Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders against each other. However, the vast majority of Belgians are more than fed up with the division of our country and instead want more cooperation, more solidarity and more unity. That which unites us makes us stronger; that which divides us weakens us. The working class in our country has known this for a long time. Together, those of Liege, Ghent, Brussels, Charleroi, Antwerp and all the other regions have built the workers' movement of our small country. And they have built the wealth of our society and made a strong social security system possible. Together we are building a movement for the unity of our country, against the threat of a split. The split in our country is anti-social, costly, absurd and brutal. More unity is social, cheaper, efficient and humane. That is why we want the federal state to become the centre of gravity of our country again. We are one. Nous sommes un.

A jar of chocolate spread. That's what the garbage collectors in Bruges get as a reward for their hard work. A jar of chocolate spread.

A survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries conducted byThe People's Vaccine Alliance* indicates that two out of three of these suspect that we have a maximum of one year before the coronavirus mutates to the point where most first generation vaccines will lose their efficacy and new vaccines will be needed. So, we will need more vaccines soon. Not only in Europe, but also worldwide. Variants know no borders, after all.

Foreword to the English edition of ‘They Have Forgotten Us’. With this English edition, ‘They Have Forgotten Us’ is being published in its fifth language (after Dutch, French, German, and Spanish). For that, I am extremely grateful to Vijay Prashad and LeftWord Books.