New Moves Towards Pupular Portuguese Popula Frott

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Soares has made an ambiguously worded proposal for a four-party political pact.

In a statemer the economic crisis.

The communique explicitly stated, though, that 'the desire to reach a platform orientated around political platforms cannot be confused with executive power sharing, still less with a coalition government'.

Soares wants to protect the SP from any charges that he is collaborating with rival parties-eg. the Social Democrats (PSD) or right wing Centre Democrats (CDS).

step But the charge can still be levelled that this proposed agreement does take Soares one step further along the road to the organised class-collaboration of popular frontist blocs such as France's Union of the left.

This turn has been dictated by the worsening economic situation in Portugal.

The IMF have promised a multi-million dollar loan to Portugal, but this is now obviously conditional on formal collaboration being established between the Socialists and bourgeois parties such as CDS.

IMF control

In this way, through the CDS, the IMF can directly regulate the pace and direction of SP policies.

It is now clear CP leader Cunhal-he has already made moves towards the Popular Front.

will be directed in their entirety against the gains made by the workers and peasants during the 1975 To counter these attacks the workers of Portugal must immediately demand a scrapping of all agreements currently mooted in leading SP circles.

Pakistan's military boss, General Zia Ul-Haq, has announced that the country's general elections will not now be held until November of next year.

The postponement, he said, was cause bacity had not come Pakistan, and therefore 'free and fair elections could not yet be held.

The postponement is obviously designed to ensure that former Prime Minister Bhutto, currently charged with corruotion and responsibility for murder, is out of the way before elections take place.

Zia's man in the electoral field now seems to be the ageing leader of the Tehriki-Istiglal (Movement For Stability) group, Air Marshal Asghar Khan,, who, is rumoured to be about to lead his group out of the nineparty Pakistan : National Alliance (PNA).

This move is seen as the first step in a bid by Khan for the Prime Ministership, and seems to be supported by Zia and his military cohorts.

The decision to pull out of the PNA will undoubtedly throw the extreme right-wing remnants of the PNA into crisis.

It is possible that two possible that other parties, the Mo league and National D cratic Party, will also out, so fragmenting fu the bloc which had constructed in oppositic Bhutto's Pakistan Pec Party (PPP).

The PPP have been subject of widescale a in recent weeks, and seems to have resulted downturn in their activit There appears to be siderable lack of intere Bhutto's trial-now place in Lahore-am marked absence of de strations in his support.

All this puts a large tion mark over the future-whether they retain support without leader Bhutto.

PPP officials are conf they can, and point tr reservoirs of support the! hold in the countryside.

'Either Bhutto will lea or Bhutto's ghost will lea said one lawyer last y adding that the PPP wer "in a fighting mood'.

But with the situ changing almost daily in stan, there seem no gre for sharing such fata optimism.

In any case, the in-fig between Pakistan's bow opponents is not goin benefit Pakistan's wo and peasants.

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