The ELDR Party is delighted to congratulate David Ford, Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland on becoming Northern Ireland’s new Justice Minister, following a vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday. In taking up this position, Ford becomes the first local politician to hold the office of Justice Minister for 38 years. 
 

European and Arab Liberals convened at the Moroccan Parliament in Rabat to hold a joint working session on challenges and chances of migration. Read the joint statement here.

A high ranking delegation of European Liberals led by ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (and including Irish Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche as well as MEPs and MPs) visited Turkey for a three days visit upon invitation of the Turkish entrepreneurs association TUSKON. For more information please click here.

The General Election wheels are in full motion in the UK after an election was finally called last week for 6th May. The Liberal Democrats enter the race in a strong position (hovering between 19-21% in the opinion polls) and could finish it in even better shape. The outcome of this election is particularly hard to predict with neither Labour nor the Conservatives currently polling enough support to win a clear majority in the next parliament. Very interesting times lie ahead for the Liberal Democrats and the ELDR Party offers its full support to Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg and to all the party’s candidates as they vie to build a fairer Britain.

Last week, both Dutch liberal parties presented their draft electoral manifesto for the 9^th June 2010 parliamentary elections. The VVD, which in the opinion poll of 7 April (Maurice de Hond) moved up to second place, will, according to their slogan, “Put the house in order” and guide the Netherlands through the economic crisis. VVD aims to reduce taxes on labour and entrepreneurship, get the budget deficit under control and invest in security, roads and education. VVD members will approve the manifesto on 24 and 25 April. Furthermore, the VVD nominated MEP Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (picture) on the fourth place of the VVD’s electoral list.

Following the victory of the Fidesz centre-right party in the elections that took place in Hungary last week, Attila Retkes, President of the Alliance of Free democrats SZDSZ, ELDR member party, commented: "It is with great disappointment that we acknowledge the results of the elections, which showed that the "democratic centre", a conservative-liberal alliance could not secure the support of 5% of the voting population. All the more so, because with this the only platform holding a rational and well-balanced programme could not get seats in the parliament. On the other hand, the strengthening of the far right has been a very unfortunate and troubling phenomenon. Still, liberal values are certainly going to gain prominence in the next few years, although it would be irresponsible to predict who and in what fashion will represent them in the political sphere."

15 years since the Srebrenica massacre the Serbian Assembly adopted the "Declaration of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Condemning the Crime in Srebrenica" perpetrated over the Bosnian people.
ELDR congratulates the Liberal Democratic Party of Serbia for its commitment to guaranteeing that the Serbian Parliament adopts such a resolution, while having reservations on its specific wording, in order to ensure that Serbia remains committed to the process of reconciliation and cooperation with its Western Balkan neighbours.
“Victims and their families need, not least the punishment of the war crimes` immediate perpetuators or commanding officers (which is being done by the ICTY or by other courts), but also a denunciation of the very ideologies and policies that led to the worst war crimes in Europe since WW2” reported Dušan Gamser, LDP, International Secretary. “A genuine reconciliation in the Western Balkans, therefore also a European integration of the whole region, would not be possible without the truth about the recent past”, he concluded. To know more