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.jpg) Headquarters of Liberal International, London | |
| Abbreviation | LI |
|---|---|
| Formation | 21 November 1946; 79 years ago (1946-11-21) (In April 1947, it was constituted with theOxford Manifesto) |
| Type | International non-governmental organisation |
| Legal status | Political international |
| Purpose | World federation ofliberal political parties and organisations |
| Headquarters | National Liberal Club |
| Location | |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Membership | 90 political parties and 21 international organisations (as of May 2022) |
President | Karl-Heinz Paque |
Vice-Presidents | Henrik Bach Mortensen Sidi Touré Dr. Phil Bennion (fmr. MEP) |
Secretary General | Elin Håland |
Main organ | Congress of Liberal International |
Publication | LI Human Rights Bulletin |
| Website | liberal-international |
Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organisation ofliberal political parties. Thepolitical international was formed in November 1946, and constituted with theOxford Manifesto in April 1947. It has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aiming to strengthenliberalism and democratic values around the world. Its headquarters are within theNational Liberal Club, inLondon. The Oxford Manifesto describes the basic political principles of the Liberal International, which is currently made up of 111 parties and organisations.
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 andEurope are respect forhuman rights, free and fair elections andmulti-party democracy,social justice,tolerance,market economy,free trade, environmentalsustainability 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]
The bureau of Liberal International is elected every 18 months by the delegates of the congress.[2]
Former Presidents includeHans Van Baalen MEP,John, Lord Alderdice, Dutch politician and formerEuropean CommissionerFrits Bolkestein, German politicianOtto Graf Lambsdorff, and Spain's first democratically elected prime minister afterFrancoist Spain,Adolfo Suárez. The 14th president of Liberal International wasHakima el Haite of theMouvement Populaire (Morocco), who is a former Minister of Environment, UN climate champion, and climate scientist. Madam El Haite succeeded DrJuli Minoves, formerly Andorra's foreign minister and representative to theUnited Nations.
The secretary-general of Liberal International is William Townsend. Other members of the bureau include Deputy President Prof. Karl-Heinz Paque; and Vice PresidentsCellou Dalein Diallo (Guinea), Kitty Monterrey (Nicaragua),Abir al-Sahlani (Sweden), Kiat Sittheamorn (Thailand) and Robert Woodthorpe Browne (United Kingdom). There are two elected treasurers, Judith Pallares MP (Andorra) and Minister Omar Youm (Senegal).
Liberal International awards prizes to individuals in the areas 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 includeMaria Corina Machado ofVenezuela, SenatorLeila de Lima of thePhilippines,Raif Badawi ofSaudi Arabia,Waris Dirie ofSomalia andVáclav Havel ofCzechoslovakia and theCzech 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 PresidentAlassane Ouattara ofIvory Coast, Prime MinisterXavier Bettel ofLuxembourg, PresidentTsai Ing-wen ofTaiwan andAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe leader SirGraham Watson of theUnited Kingdom.
TheLI 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 anad hoc basis. Recent texts have offered a liberal perspective on issues ranging from freedom of belief to the responsibility to protect.
Because inter-warInternational Entente of Radical and Similar Democratic Parties ceased to operate in the beginning of theWorld War II, on 16 June 1946 representatives of theLiberal Party of Belgium, BritishLiberal Party, FrenchRepublican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party,Danish Social Liberal Party,Freedom Party of the Netherlands,Free Democratic Party of Switzerland,People's Party of Sweden,Italian Liberal Party and the representatives of Spanish Liberals in exile assembled inBrussels and adopted the Declaration of Brussels, which called for creation of world liberal organisation.
TheOxford Manifesto, drawn up in April 1947 atWadham College inOxford by representatives from 19 liberal political parties from South Africa, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Spain, Estonia, United Kingdom, United States, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Turkey is a document describing the basic political principles of the Liberal International. Creation of its main principles were led bySalvador de Madariaga.[3]
The Oxford Manifesto was inspired by the ideas ofWilliam Beveridge[citation needed] and is regarded as one of the defining political documents of the 20th 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 theOxford 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]
| 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 | .jpg) | 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 | .jpg) | 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 | .jpg) | Adolfo Suárez (1932–2014) | Spain | 26 April 1989 | 22 April 1992 | Democratic and Social Centre |
| 7 | .jpg) | 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 (1933–2025) | Netherlands | 15 April 1996 | 18 April 2000 | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy |
| 10 | _cropped.jpg) | 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 | .jpg) | Hakima El Haite (1963–) | Morocco | 30 November 2018 | 2 December 2024 | Popular Movement |
| 15 | .jpg) | Karl-Heinz Paqué (1956–) | Germany | 2 December 2024 | Incumbent | Free Democratic Party |
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| Country | Name | Government |
|---|---|---|
 Hong Kong | MrMartin Lee – founding chairman ofDemocratic Party | Extra-parliamentary |
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. LI has 12 cooperating organisations.
The International is also in a loose association with the following 10 organisations:
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Centre Jean Gol | Belgium |
| Fondazione Luigi Einaudi | Italy |
| Fondazione Critica Liberale | |
| Liberal Institute | Germany |
| Teldersstichting | Netherlands |
| The Bertil Ohlin Institute | Sweden |
| Education Policy Institute | United Kingdom |
| European Liberal Forum | Europe |
| Livres (movement)[14] | Brazil |
| Paddy Ashdown Forum[15] | United Kingdom |
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