CALD attends Alliance of Democrats meeting in Rome

October 5, 2010 6:26 am Published by Leave your thoughts

The Alliance of Democrats, a network that promotes and strengthens political dialogue between like-minded democratic political parties to build a common global agenda, organized a meeting last September 30-Ocotber 1 in Rome, Italy to discuss “Security, Development, and Democracy.”

The meeting, attended by representatives from 45 countries from Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and the Arab nations, was held at the Sala della Lupa of Palazzo di Montecitorio, the Lower House of the Italian Parliament or the Chamber of Deputies.

Hon. Gianni Vernetti, MP, lead coordinator of the Alliance of Democrats and former deputy foreign minister of Italy, gave the welcome remarks and shared the significance of the meeting’s theme in the midst of past and present global crisis. He said security is a pre-condition to any government with a vision to achieve development and nation-building. Mr. Vernetti also talked about how important regional stability is to further strengthen the rule of law and democracy.

H.E. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan and one of the founding members of the Alliance of Democrats welcomed the delegates via a video speech. He expressed his delight about the continued growth of the alliance as an organization that brings democrats together to discuss, essentially, the global focus on “security, development and democracy.”  Prime Minister Kan is a member of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a CALD observer party.

Among those who attended the meeting from CALD were H.E. Kasit Piromya, minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand and adviser to the Party Leader of the Democrat Party of Thailand (DP); Hon. Sam Rainsy, MP, leader of the Cambodian opposition and president of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP); Ms. Bi-khim Hsiao, director of the International Affairs Department of the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan (DPP); Dr. Neric Acosta, secretary general of CALD and vice president for Mindanao of the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP); Hon. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP, chairman of CALD and international secretary of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka (LPSL); Hon. James To, legislative councillor from the CALD observer party, Democratic Party of Hong Kong (DPHK); and Mr. Paolo Zamora, senior program officer of CALD.

Hon. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP, drew attention to security and the root causes of terrorism and shared his insights in dealing with these problems. According to Mr. Wijesinha, everyone should “think of the issues and problems in terms of the thorough awareness of history and thorough awareness of the situation today.” He said unless people do so, everyone will not be able to move forward.

Dr. Acosta, in his presentation, expressed that in transition societies, people would perhaps tend to follow “security, development, and democracy” in that order. However, Dr. Acosta believes that to achieve sustainable security, one needs the antecedents or the enabling conditions of democracy and freedom and the respect of human rights to sustain economic development, to reduce poverty and to bridge the divides in society and build stronger democratic institutions.

Hon. Francesco Rutelli, former deputy prime minister of Italy and mayor of Rome and currently co-president of the European Democratic Party, gave the concluding remarks. He highlighted the security and peace efforts happening in Iraq and Afghanistan and encouraged the plenary to also continue the fight towards freedom in Burma and freedom for democracy icon, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Mr. Rutelli also explained that democrats should reach consensus and commitment in policy-making to consolidate peace, security and economic growth.

The event formally ended with a farewell dinner hosted by Mr. Rutelli and wife, Barbara, in their exquisite home in central Rome. The CALD delegation presented tokens of appreciation for the couple for graciously hosting the occasion and thanked Mr. Vernetti for the opportunity given to CALD to participate and dialogue with democrats from across the globe.

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The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) was inaugurated in Bangkok in 1993, with the support of then Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and South Korea’s Kim Dae-Jung. CALD, which offers a unique platform for dialogue and cooperation, is the only regional alliance of liberal and democratic political parties in Asia.
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