Issue 140

 

'Engagement - way forward, even with fundamentalists' says LI President

Liberal International President, Lord Alderdice, delivering a major public lecture at the Institute of Psychoanalysis in London on Friday gave backing to the policy of engagement of US President Barack Obama.   'There has been a good deal of confusion about how to understand and deal with the rise of fundamentalism, radicalization and terrorism.' said Lord Alderdice.  'These are separate though connected and overlapping phenomena.  We need to appreciate the differences as well as the connections.  Most fundamentalists do not support violence, and many radicals do not have a religious motivation.  As we have explored these overlapping questions with an open mind we find increasing evidence that it is possible to engage with some fundamentalists.   Some of them are genuinely open to addressing problems.  The moves in Hamas and Hizbollah to accepting democratic politics should be encouraged not dismissed, and even the recent events in Iran show that amongst the people there is a powerful move towards freedom of thought.  This is a real encouragement to the more open attitudes in the West towards engagement, which is the right way forward.'

back to top

Europeans liberals at a summit after EU elections

At the first summit of European liberals after the European elections earlier this month, Prime Ministers, Commissioners, Ministers and leaders of liberal parties across Europe met in Brussels to discuss the electoral outcome. Reflecting on the composition of the European institutions, Annemie Neyts, ELDR President and immediate LI Past President concluded that 'the liberals are open for negotiations with the EPP (conservatives) and PES (socialists) to reach a fair share of the power in the Union'. Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland and Leader of the Finnish Centre Party presented the position of the liberal Prime Ministers to 'support the nomination' of  [conservative former Portuguese Prime Minister] Baroso for a new term as President of the European Commission, aiming to swiftly establish the new EU bodies. Irish Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Brian Cowen, attending his first liberal summit, announced a new referendum on the Lisbon treaty to move forward with EU institutional reforms. In the presence of Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Center Party leader Maud Olofsson and the Europe Minister Cecilia Malmström, the liberal leaders discussed the priorities of the upcoming Swedish presidency of the EU, in which LI Secretary General Emil Kirjas offered LI's assistance in helping to consolidate an international agenda for the EU.

back to top

LI position on economic crisis in Peru's media

As part of a series of meetings in Latin America, LI Secretary General Emil Kirjas was recently interviewed by the noted Peruvian Spanish language daily, El Commercio. In the article , Mr. Kirjas staunchly defended the supposition that liberalism is the root cause of the global financial crisis: “It often happens that people seek to explain what is happening in the world without having any understanding of what they are talking about. Liberal International has produced a report  [by LI Vice President on the Bureau Juli Minoves] which analyzes the causes of the global crisis and the conclusions reached indicate that there are several factors that were not understood in the appropriate manner. The socialists and conservatives are pointing out that liberals were the cause of this problem. In looking at their records, conservatives and socialists have been half-heartedly applying elements of liberalism for over thirty years. However, none of them has applied our ideology in its complete form. Thus we have arrived at this crisis.” Mr. Kirjas was also featured in another newspaper Peru21. While in Peru, Mr. Kirjas also met with Jaime Salinas, leader of LI observer member Partido Justicia Nacional.

back to top

Maaten visits liberals in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Former LI Secretary General and former leader of the VVD group in the European Parliament, Jules Maaten, was in South Africa and Zimbabwe this week with Hubertus von Welck from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.  Mr.Maaten met with several high profile politicians from LI full member the Democratic Alliance, including party leader Helen Zille. Continuing on to Zimbabwe, Mr. Maaten commented on his visit: “Visiting Zimbabwe is hardly an uplifting experience. We met with human rights organisations, whose foreign support is drying up which leads to real problems for their work. We met with education minister David Coltart, who is doing excellent work with his ministry and made a good case for targeted help to promote education in Zimbabwe.” Senator Coltart, a member of the Mutambara faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, also contributed an article to the most recent issue of Liberal Matters. Mr. Maaten and Mr. von Welck were key participants at least year's LI-ALDE Conference “The Future of Democracy in Zimbabwe — European Assistance under African Leadership.”

back to top

Moroccan liberals consolidate position in municipal elections

Moroccan voters went to the polls last Friday to vote in the North African country's municipal elections, leading to the newly established Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) winning an overall victory, and the Moroccan liberal parties consolidating their position. The PAM won 6,015 seats, giving it 21.7 percent of the vote, ahead of the governing Istiqlal (Independence) party with 19.1 percent. The Mouvement Populaire (MP), an LI Full Member party, won 2213 seats (8 %), with LI's other Full Member l'Union Constitutionelle winning 1307 seats (or 4.7 %). Former LI Bureau member and Secretary General of the Mouvement Populaire Mohand Laenser said he was 'relatively happy' with the results obtained by his party: 'We are quite satisfied of the results of MP, since' we have improved our ranking in terms of coverage by the party of the national territory.' Mr. Laenser also noted that within his party there was 'still much room for progress in the future by improving its coverage in rural areas'.

back to top

Liberal Cambodian MP stuggles for immunity

The international debate continues in Cambodia, where opposition MP Mu Sochua from LI member the Sam Rainsy Party, is faced with a defamation suit brought on by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodia's National Assembly, in which the ruling Cambodia People's Party holds more than two-thirds of seats, is to determine whether to revoke Ms Sochua's parliamentary immunity to allow the defamation case filed by the Prime Minister to proceed in court. Cambodia authorities have filed at least 8 criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against political dissidents and government critics, including leader of the Sam Rainsy Party (LI Member), Sam Rainsy. The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights said in a statement: “These actions undermine the constitutional freedom of opinion and expression which everyone in Cambodia is entitled to, and which is the cornerstone of the exercise of civil and political rights.” During the new UN rights envoy's recent visit toCambodia, he also warned that the lawsuits against the opposition could nurture “fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence.”

back to top

Japan’s opposition DPJ wins three local elections

Japan's main opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a landslide victory in last Sunday's mayoral election in Chiba, a city near Tokyo, making it the third victory for DPJ in local elections in recent months. The back-to-back election losses is thought be have “deepened a sense of crisis” in the ruling coalition ahead of the general elections which must be held by October this year and which many expect to be held in August. Public opinion polls have shown the Democrats well ahead of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the runner-up to the upcoming general elections. 'Naturally, we believe the result reflected the public's high expectations for a leadership change in the central government as well,' said DPJ Leader Yukio Hatoyama. In a party statement issued on 14 June: “[DPJ] will succeed in achieving a change of government in the general elections scheduled to be held shortly, and will definitely realise a politics that puts people lives first.” LDP has ruled Japan for almost 50 years.

back to top

LI welcomes two new researchers

In preparation for the upcoming Isaiah Berlin lecture and the 56th Congress  in Cairo, Liberal International  International welcomes two new researchers to the office. Jeff Rubin, joining the team until the end of August, is from the UK and is currently completing a MA in International Relations at King's College, London. Jeff will assist with archival and communications duties in the office. According to Jeff: “I am excited to be working at the heart of a truly global organisation and I am looking forward to what will be a unique learning experience.' Anna-Stina Sandfors, who comes to us through the extremely successful program facilitated by the Swedish Cultural Foundation, is from Finland and studies political science at the Åbo Akademi in Finland. She also spent a year (2007-2008) studying Latin American politics in Peru at the Pontifícia Universidad Católica del Perú. Anna-Stina is “very much looking forward to work in and to learn from the international environment that the Liberal International provides.” A Spanish speaker, she will serve as Latin America Officer, amongst other duties. The Liberal International secretariat warmly welcomes them both to the team.

Print this page