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Stay updated about the Liberal family!
December 2007 - Posts
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President David Hardt just sent the following email out. Hope your Holiday is going well! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Dear Young Democrat, At our Fall National Conference you met President Clinton and experienced the excitement of the New Hampshire Presidential Read More...
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Last Monday, a major blow was dealt to
Portuguese pluralism when the Constitutional Court reinforced the
anti-democratic Political Parties Act.
The Portuguese democracy had been under threat
already since 2003, after the adoption of Act 2/2003 on political parties. With
this law, various barriers were created to creation and existence of small
political forces:
- Rules on financial transparency that are
impossible to comply with and punishable with fines that are higher than the
total annual budgets of small Portuguese parties;
- An increase of the number of signatures
needed (7,500) in order to found a political party;
- Parties are obliged to present candidates
for general elections or for a very high number of local councils (20% of all
councils in the country), otherwise they will face forced dissolution;
- Tough restrictions on private financing to
all political parties while not allowing public financing to small parties;
- All parties are obliged to have at least
5,000 members.
The compliance with this new law, of which the
constitutional basis is highly questionable, was enforced last Monday by the
Constitutional Court. This is a major attack on Portuguese democracy, but
certainly not the last one, as more are being prepared: PS and PSD, the two
biggest parties, are currently in negotiations to raise election thresholds for
the national parliament and to create a winner-takes-all system for local
elections. If
these two measures are taken, even the current medium-size parties will soon
disappear from the Portuguese politics.
Movimento Liberal Social finds it unacceptable
and profoundly anti-democratic to link the legality of political parties to a
high number of members. This high number can hardly be met by any new political
group in a society like Portugal where social and political participation by
the population is very low.
The recent enforcement by the Constitutional
Court of the 5,000-member rule draws Portugal dangerously close to shady
democracies such as Russia and Venezuela. It is incredible that the same
generation which gave Portugal its current democracy 30 years ago is now
dismantling it again.
If the current law
remains in effect, the Portuguese democracy will have its pluralism reduced
within 90 days (the time given by the Constitutional Court for parties to prove
their membership numbers), and Portugal will find itself among the European
countries with the lowest number of parties. The Portuguese political system,
already moribund, will only deteriorate further. Of the 14 political parties in Portugal, 8 to 10
are currently under threat of forced dissolution
and, with the exception of one party that is a merger of older parties, no
party created after 1975 will likely survive. The list of parties facing forced
dissolution includes parties that are currently represented in the national
parliament, regional parliaments and local councils.
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Better Programs, Stronger YLDA.
This, in a nutshell, was the message the new Executive Committee of the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia relayed to the general membership during the organization's annual general assembly held in Jakarta, Indonesia last month, November 26, 2007.
With their eyes on the future just after getting a fresh mandate from the general assembly, the 2008 Executive Committee headed by YLDA President Rajendra Mulmi and Secretary General Jan Argy Tolentino proposed to the body a two-page list of projects primarily intended to strengthen YLDA and its member organizations from within while implementing changes in the way programs are undertaken.
For the first item, the centrepiece of the proposal revolves on the promotion of the YLDA Program Officer from a part-time position to a full-time position starting in January 2008. "With the ambitious goals we have set forth for 2008 in celebration of YLDA's 5th Founding Anniversary, the Executive Committee needs a permanent and reliable partner to ensure things are running smoothly in the Manila Secretariat office," declares YLDA President Rajendra Mulmi.
Improving the quality of future workshops, seminars and conferences is the focus of the other restructuring efforts of YLDA to expand the participation base of YLDA participants and generate quality participation from delegates. Headlining the list of YLDA international events next year is the proposed YLDA Liberalism Institute that aims to jumpstart a productive dialogue amongst Asian youths on Asian brand of liberalism and the Training of Trainers (ToT) on Modulation and Facilitation Skills, which aims to produce a battery of YLDA-trained facilitators and moderators.
The culmination of the YLDA activities in 2008 shall be the celebration of the organization's fifth year anniversary in November at Siem Reap, Cambodia. The exact place where YLDA was officially born with the ratification of its constitution in 2003. This event is being panned to be a joint project with IFLRY. The theme of the event is "Youth Changing the World".
Other programs mentioned are publication of the papers and proceedings presented during the YLDA liberalism institute seminar, creation of the new YLDA multimedia presentation, reconstruction of the YLDA website, and the various capacity-building visits by YLDA to member organizations and partners in the region.
"The meat of this proposal reflects the resolute effort by the YLDA Executive Committee to further improve the organization's political standing and influence amongst Asian youths," adds Secretary General Jan-Argy Tolentino. He also expressed optimism that with the re-election of Camelia Puji Astuti and the election of Chee Wey Hng and Buddhika Pathirana as Executive Committee members, YLDA shall see the fruition of its 2008 goals.
YLDA Program Officer Felipe C. Canlas meanwhile looks forward to sustaining the administration improvements at the YLDA Secretariat. The cornerstone of this endeavour shall be the consistent and reliable appointment of an YLDA Program Assistant from partner universities in the Philippines to help streamline administrative functions of the Secretariat and build a strong partnership base for YLDA in the Philippines.
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For all of you thinking of hosting Caucus Night Watch Parties, check out this funny how-to guide from Politico . Read More...
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At the occasion of the 60th anniversary and 30th general assembly of the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina, LYMEC became the first regional platform of liberal youth to be unanimously accepted as a member. Read More...
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In addition to the official signing of the Lisbon Treaty and of the agreement on sending a 1800-strong police and civilian mission to Kosovo, EU leaders gathered in Lisbon on 14 December have approved a declaration on globalisation, widely seen as a bargain Read More...
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The short version of this story is, for over a week now, some journalists and even some Democratic candidates have been questioning whether out of state students who go to college in Iowa are eligible to caucus. Read More...
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WASHINGTON, DC - A generation of young adults has now grown up in a world with HIV and AIDS. While much progress has been made, twenty-five years later, we still live in a world where we must fight to overcome discrimination, stigma, and barriers to treatment and care.
"The fight is not over, said Young Democrats of America President David Hardt. "HIV rates are rising for young adults. Educational efforts must be stepped up so our generation knows the deadly consequences of this disease, one that cannot be cured with a visit to the doctor and a pill."
This is not a political disease. AIDS knows no boundaries. It is a disease that targets men, women, and children, black, white, and brown, young and old.
We applaud the gains that have enabled many Americans with HIV and AIDS to live long, healthy lives. Our friends around the world are not so lucky and our elected officials have the power to help them. We call for universal access to education, prevention, research, treatment, care, and support.
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The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the nation's largest youth-led partisan political organization dedicated to building a solid youth voting bloc of Democrats nationwide.
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The Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia is scheduled to visit Malaysia this weekend to participate in an environment convention organized by its local partners. YLDA Executive Committee members Camelia "Lia" Astuti of Garda Bangsa Indonesia and Chee Wey Hng of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia Youth Wing with YLDA Program Officer Pey Canlas complete the YLDA delegation for the Malaysia Visit.
The YLDA delegates were invited to participate in the "Anak Malaysia Environment Convention 2007" this December 8 at the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. YAB Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Parti Gerakan National Acting President and Chief Minister of Penang will lead the official delegation from Parti Gerakan and the Malaysian government as he opens the convention at ten in the morning.
The conference session will then follow where speakers from the government, media, academe, and NGO. YLDA hopes to take some valuable lessons from this activity as part of its preparations for hosting an international seminar on Global Climate Change in 2008.
Aside from participating in the environment convention, the YLDA delegation is also scheduled to hold meetings with the Gerakan National Youth Committee to seek possible partnerships for 2008.
"This meet-up of young leaders from Asia augurs well for YLDA in 2008" says YLDA Executive Member Camelia Puji Astuti. "With the Jakarta workshop just concluded, YLDA has a chance to end the year on a high note by strengthening its partnership with Partai Gerakan Malaysia."
For his part, newly elected Executive Member Chee Wey Hng expressed the same optimism when he declares, "2007 has been good with YLDA. I am sure 2008 will be even better."
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Executive Committee of LYMEC met in Stockholm from 7th till 9th of December. Around 80 participants from over 40 member organisations discussed and voted on a number of organisational issues that make the agenda of the Executive Committee. Istrian Democratic Read More...
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from left to right: Camelia Puji Astuti, Garda Bangsa chairperson, former Indonesian President KH. Abdurrahman Wahid and Jan-Argy Tolentino, YLDA secretary-general | Active citizen participation is needed to safeguard government. In order to educate Asian youth on their responsibility to ensure governments are truly representative of their needs, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) held a workshop on engaging citizens for responsible and effective governance in Jakarta, Indonesia from 22-27 November 2007. Hosted by Garda Bangsa in cooperation with the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle, 25 youth leaders from eight countries gathered together to find common solutions to the problems hampering good governance and citizen participation in the region.
The tone of the conference was set by former Indonesian President KH. Abdurrahman Wahid: “For us to discuss good governance, we must ensure first that there is a government responsive to the needs of the people.” He added, “Good and responsible governance can only emanate from the true will of the people. The ideals of good governing are all about citizen and government engaging each other for better public service.”
To concretize their learning, participants also broke into small group discussions on political parties, government work and civil society. Each group presented a paper on governance and citizen participation that included recommendations for their own countries.
Summing up the task for the future, Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar, political analyst from the Indonesian Institute’s Center for Public Policy Research, said: "Scrutinizing government transactions should be seen both as a right and  responsibility of citizens." She continued, “Citizenship in a democratic society implies vigilance and political awareness, and these are best exemplified and exercised by the young." She enjoined the youth to participate in government not only by joining political parties but by exploring “other avenues of activism.” Muchtar however also stressed that government has an equal responsibility in that it has to create structures that foster a high-level of citizen participation.
The workshop ended with YLDA holding is annual general assembly. It evaluated its programs, planned its activities for next year and elected a new executive committee. Rajendra Mulmi remains president.
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