Pictured: January 28, 2010 rally to protest 100 days of SBY presidency. Photo by Ulfa Ilyas.

Peter Boyle
An historic decision to relaunch itself as an open party was made at the 7th congress of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) of Indonesia on March 1-3. The party's socialist politics will be expressed within the five principles laid out by Indonesia's first President Sukarno's June 1, 1945 speech on “Pancasila” (nationalism, internationalism, democracy, socialism and belief in god).

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association held a rally on March 5 in Port Vila in support of West Papuan independence from Indonesia.

Protesters marched to the head office of the National Council of the Chiefs where they delivered a petition in support for West Papuan self-determination signed by more than 1100 people.

Niko Leka, Green Left Weekly
6 March 2010 -- Manju, one of the 254 Tamil refugees aboard the Jaya Lestari in Merak, Indonesia, is due to have her baby on 5 April.
She has become infected with chicken pox, Saradha Nathan, Australian refugee advocate, told Green Left Weekly. She added that Manju had not received any of the maternity dresses, folic acid or vitamin supplements purchased with funds raised by Australian supporters. They were all confiscated by local immigration officials.

[The article below is by Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a member of the socialist Turn Left Thailand group. He was forced to leave Thailand after being charged under Thailand's anti-democratic lese majesty (insulting the monarch) laws. Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who despite his corrupt record still enjoys support from much of Thailand’s poor, was overthrown in a 2006 coup by royalist army officers. For more information, visit Wdpress.blog.co.uk.]

I don’t shed any tears about former PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s billions being seized by order of the Thai Supreme Court on February 26.

[The following statement has been signed by the Working Peoples Association (Indonesia), the Socialist Alliance (Australia), Socialist Workers (New Zealand), Partido Lakas ng Masa (Philippine), Solidarity (Australia), the Labor Party Pakistan and Socialist Alternative (Australia).]
We, the undersigned progressive, anti-war, anti-neoliberalism and anti-imperialist organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, call for a wave of protests to meet US President Barack Obama's planned visits to Guam, Indonesia and Australia in March this year.

March 1, 2010 - Malaysiakini.
The government’s full-paying patient (FPP) scheme has again come under fire from the Coalition Against Health Service Privatisation, which held simultaneous pickets outside four public hospitals nationwide.

In the Klang Valley, short pickets by small groups were held at the Serdang and Sungai Buloh hospitals.

[Statement by the Australia West Papua Association Sydney - March 1, 2010.]
The Australia West Papua Association in Sydney has written an open letter to Prime Minister Rudd asking that he raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President during his March visit.

Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly
26 February 2010 -- The Dutch government collapsed on February 20 as a result of growing popular opposition to Dutch participation in the US-led war in Afghanistan.
The Labour Party — the junior partner in the ruling coalition — withdrew after Christian Democrat Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende agreed to a US request to prolong the deployment of the 2000 Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan.

Click here to sign this online Petition to Stop the Impending Massive Crackdown on Undocumented Migrant Workers in Thailand.

We the undersigned are calling on the Thai Royal Government to reconsider its decision to launch a massive crackdown on nearly 1.4 million undocumented migrant workers in Thailand after February 28, 2010.