Liberal International

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Liberal International

Headquarters of Liberal International, London
Abbreviation	Libintern
Formation	April 1947, constituted with the Oxford Manifesto
Type	Federation
Purpose	World federation of liberal political parties and organisations
Headquarters	National Liberal Club
Location	London, SW1A United Kingdom
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	106 political parties (as of December 2018)
President	Hakima El Haite
Main organ	Congress of Liberal International
Website	liberal-international.org

Liberal International (LI) is the political international federation for liberal political parties. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the strengthening of liberalism around the world. Its headquarters are at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. The Oxford Manifesto describes the basic political principles of the Liberal International.

Aims[]

The Liberal International Constitution (2005) gives its purposes as

to win general acceptance of Liberal principles which are international in their nature throughout the world, and to foster the growth of a free society based on personal liberty, personal responsibility and social justice, and to provide the means of co-operation and interchange of information between the member organisations, and between men and women of all countries who accept these principles.

The principles that unite member parties from Africa, America, Asia and Europe are respect for human rights, free and fair elections and multi-party democracy, social justice, tolerance, market economy, free trade, environmental sustainability and a strong sense of international solidarity.

The aims of Liberal International are also set out in a series of seven manifestos, written between 1946 and 1997, and are furthered by a variety of bodies including a near yearly conference for liberal parties and individuals from around the world.^[1]

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Bureau[]

The bureau^[2] of Liberal International is elected every 18 months by the delegates of the congress.

The 14th president of Liberal International is Hakima el Haite of the Mouvement Populaire (Morocco), is former a Minister of Environment, UN climate champion, and climate scientist. Madam El Haite succeeded Dr Juli Minoves, formerly Andorra's foreign minister and representative to the United Nations.

Former Presidents include Hans Van Baalen MEP, John, Lord Alderdice, Dutch politician and former European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, German politician Otto Graf Lambsdorff, and Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after Francoist Spain, Adolfo Suárez.

Other members of the bureau include Deputy President Prof. Karl-Heinz Paque, and Vice Presidents Cellou Dalein Diallo [Guinea]; Kitty Monterrey [Nicaragua]; Abir al-Sahlani [Sweden]; Kiat Sittheamorn [Thailand]; and Robert Woodthorpe Browne MBE [United Kingdom]. There are two elected treasurers, Judith Pallares MP [Andorra] and Minister Omar Youm [Senegal]. The secretary general is Gordon Mackay, a former Member of Parliament from South Africa.

Awards[]

Liberal International awards prizes to worthy individuals in the fields of human rights and liberalism.

Prize for Freedom:

The Liberal International Prize for Freedom is LI's most prestigious human rights award. Conveyed annually since 1984 to an individual of liberal conviction who has made outstanding efforts for the defence of freedom and human rights, recipients include Maria Corina Machado [Venezuela], Senator Leila de Lima [Philippines], Raif Badawi [Saudi Arabia], Waris Dirie [Somalia], and Vaclav Havel [Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic].

Medal of Liberalism:

The Liberal International Medal of Liberalism is awarded to individuals who have worked to advance liberal values on a local, national and international level. Recipients include President Alassane Ouattara [Côte d'Ivoire]; Prime Minister Xavier Bettel [Luxembourg]; President Tsai, Ing-wen [Republic of China]; Sir Graham Watson [United Kingdom].

Publications[]

The LI Human Rights Bulletin is published three times per year and consists of opinion articles, video interviews and digest of the work of the LI human rights committee.

Thematic publications are published online and in print on an ad hoc basis. Recent texts have offered a liberal perspective on issues ranging from freedom of belief to the responsibility to protect. ʒ

Oxford Manifesto[]

The Oxford Manifesto, drawn up in April 1947 at Wadham College in Oxford by representatives from 19 liberal political parties, led by Salvador de Madariaga, is a document describing the basic political principles of the Liberal International.^[3]

The Oxford Manifesto was inspired by the ideas of William Beveridge^{[citation needed]} and is regarded as one of the defining political documents of the 20 century.^{[citation needed]}

Fifty years on, in 1997, Liberal International returned to Oxford and issued a supplement to the original manifesto, The Liberal Agenda for the 21st century, describing Liberal policies in greater detail. The second Oxford Manifesto was adopted by the 48th Congress of Liberal International, which was held on 27–30 November 1997 in the Oxford Town Hall.^[4] In 2017, the global federation marked its 70th anniversary with the adoption of the Andorra Liberal Manifesto for the twenty-first century (ALM). A three-year project across numerous continents initiated by then president Juli Minoves, the ALM embodied the widest consultation of views undertaken by Liberal International in order to compile a policy document.^[5]

Organisation[]

Presidents[]

N°	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Country	Presidency		Membership
1		Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978)	United Kingdom  Spain (exiled)	20 April 1948	18 April 1952	Association Mont Pelerin Society
2		Roger Motz (1904–1964)	Belgium	18 April 1952	20 April 1958	Liberal Party
3		Giovanni Malagodi (1904–1991)	Italy	20 April 1958	15 April 1966	Italian Liberal Party
4		Edzo Toxopeus (1918–2009)	Netherlands	15 April 1966	25 April 1970	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
5		Gaston Thorn (1928–2007)	Luxembourg	25 April 1970	18 April 1982	Democratic Party
(3)		Giovanni Malagodi (1904–1991)	Italy	18 April 1982	26 April 1989	Italian Liberal Party
6		Adolfo Suárez (1932–2014)	Spain	26 April 1989	22 April 1992	Democratic and Social Centre
7		Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1926–2009)	Germany	22 April 1992	25 April 1994	Free Democratic Party
8		David Steel (1938–)	United Kingdom	25 April 1994	15 April 1996	Liberal Democrats
9		Frits Bolkestein (1933–)	Netherlands	15 April 1996	18 April 2000	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
10		Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (1944–)	Belgium	18 April 2000	25 April 2005	Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten
11		John Alderdice (1955–)	United Kingdom	25 April 2005	20 April 2009	Liberal Democrats and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
12		Hans van Baalen (1960–2021)	Netherlands	20 April 2009	26 April 2014	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
13		Juli Minoves (1969–)	Andorra	26 April 2014	30 November 2018	Liberal Party of Andorra
14		Hakima El Haite (1963–)	Morocco	30 November 2018	Incumbent	Popular Movement

Members[]

Incumbent heads of state and government[]

• 

  Justin Trudeau
   Canada

• 

  Mark Rutte
   Netherlands

• 

  Alexander De Croo
   Belgium

• 

  Micheál Martin
   Ireland

• 

  Kaja Kallas
   Estonia

• 

  Xavier Bettel
   Luxembourg

• 

  Macky Sall
   Senegal

• 

  Tsai Ing-wen
   Republic of China (Taiwan)

• 

  Alassane Ouattara
   Ivory Coast

• 

  Charles Michel
   European Union

Full members[]

Country	Name	Government
Andorra	Liberal Party of Andorra[6]	junior party in government coalition
Belgium	Reform Movement[6]	in government coalition
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats[6]	in government coalition
Bulgaria	Movement for Rights and Freedoms	in opposition
Burkina Faso	Alliance for Democracy and Federation – African Democratic Rally	in opposition
Burundi	[fr]	in opposition
Cambodia	Cambodia National Rescue Movement	extraparliamentary opposition
Canada	Liberal Party of Canada[7][8]	in government
Chile	Liberal Party of Chile	in opposition
Democratic Republic of the Congo	[fr]	in opposition
Côte d'Ivoire	Rally of the Republicans	in government
Croatia	Istrian Democratic Assembly	in opposition
Cuba	Cuban Liberal Union	in exile
	Democratic Solidarity Party	in opposition
	National Liberal Party	in opposition
Denmark	Danish Social Liberal Party	support party to government
	Liberal Party	in opposition
Estonia	Estonian Reform Party	senior party in government coalition
EU	ALDE Group	N/A
	ALDE Party	N/A
Finland	Centre Party	junior party in government coalition
	Swedish People's Party	junior party in government coalition
Georgia	Republican Party of Georgia	in opposition
Germany		N/A
	Free Democratic Party	in opposition
Gibraltar	Liberal Party[6]	junior party in government coalition
Guinea	Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea	in opposition
	Union of Republican Forces	in opposition
Honduras	Liberal Party	in opposition
Iceland	Progressive Party	junior party in government coalition
Ireland	Fianna Fáil[6]	senior party in government coalition
Israel		N/A
Kenya	Orange Democratic Movement	in opposition
Kosovo	Independent Liberal Party	in opposition
Lebanon	Future Movement	senior party in government coalition
Luxembourg	Democratic Party	senior party in government coalition
Madagascar	Movement for the Progress of Madagascar	in opposition
Mexico	New Alliance Party	in opposition
Mongolia	Civil Will-Green Party	extraparliamentary opposition
Montenegro	Liberal Party of Montenegro	junior party in government coalition
Morocco	Constitutional Union	in opposition
	Popular Movement	junior party in government coalition
Netherlands	Democrats 66	junior party in government coalition
		N/A
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy[9]	senior party in government coalition
Nicaragua	Ciudadanos por la Libertad	in opposition
North Macedonia	Liberal Democratic Party	junior party in government coalition
Norway	Liberal Party	junior party in government coalition
Paraguay	Authentic Radical Liberal Party	in opposition
Philippines	Liberal Party	in opposition
Russia	Yabloko	extraparliamentary opposition
Senegal	Alliance pour la République	in government
	[fr]	junior party in government coalition
	Senegalese Democratic Party	in opposition
Slovenia	Modern Centre Party	junior party in government coalition
Somalia	CAHDI Party	in opposition
South Africa	Democratic Alliance	in opposition
Spain	Democràcia i Llibertat	N/A
Sweden	Liberals	in opposition
	Centre Party	support party to government
Switzerland	FDP.The Liberals	party in government coalition
Taiwan (Republic of China)	Democratic Progressive Party	in government
Tanzania	Civic United Front	in opposition / in coalition in autonomous region of Zanzibar
Thailand	Democrat Party	in government coalition
United Kingdom	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	in coalition government in Northern Irish Assembly, in opposition at national level
		N/A
	Liberal Democrats	in opposition
Worldwide	International Federation of Liberal Youth	N/A
	International Network of Liberal Women	N/A

Observer parties[]

Country	Name	Government
Austria	NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum	in opposition
Brazil	Partido Novo	officially in opposition, MPs in government
Burkina Faso	Union pour le Progrès et le Changement	in opposition
Comoros		extraparliamentary opposition
Democratic Republic of the Congo	[fr]	in opposition
Republic of the Congo		N/A
Cyprus	United Democrats	extraparliamentary opposition
Ghana	Progressive People's Party	in opposition
Italy	Italian Group of Liberal International	N/A
Madagascar	Arche de la Nation	in opposition
Malaysia	Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	in opposition
	People's Justice Party	in opposition
Mali	Citizens' Party for the Renewal of Mali	extraparliamentary opposition
		N/A
Mauritania	Rally for Mauritania	in opposition
Moldova	Liberal Reformist Party	extraparliamentary opposition
Romania	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats	extraparliamentary opposition
Singapore	Singapore Democratic Party	extraparliamentary opposition

Individual member[]

Country	Name	Government
Hong Kong	Mr Martin Lee – founding chairman of Democratic Party	in opposition

Cooperating organizations[]

Cooperating and regional organisations are groups with a recognised status in the constitution of Liberal International as bodies that share the values and objectives of LI but do not operate as a political party. Co-operating organisations have the right of representation but in no case the right to vote at statutory events.

Liberal think tanks and foundations[]

The International is also in a loose association with the following organisations:

See also[]

• Liberalism by country
• Prize For Freedom
• Alliance of Democrats (defunct)
• European Democratic Party

References[]

External links[]

• Liberal International official site
• The Liberal Agenda for the 21st century Archived 7 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Former LI Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao