Youth Delegates Enjoy a Bangkok Hangover

Between 19 to 23 June 2013, the Thai capital of Bangkok gave the delegates of CALD Youth and International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) a hangover of political freedom.

The five-day event aimed to discuss the best strategies in the promotion and protection of political freedom; stress the importance of international networks in promoting democracy; further strengthen relations between and amongst CALD Youth members and other international youth networks; and uphold CALD Youth’s leading role in forwarding the principles of liberalism and democracy amongst the youth in Asia. This event was made possible by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Swedish International Liberal Center and Democrat Party of Thailand.

The seminar centred on political freedom in all its aspects – freedom of speech, right to information, and right of suffrage. Political freedom’s relationship with the promotion of transparency and accountability, the development of the economy, the holding of free and fair elections and the growth of activism (or for that matter, extremism) were also tackled, giving the participants a holistic understanding of the issues and complexities arising from the practice of political freedom.

Delegates showed solidarity in the promotion of freedom and liberal values. Resolutions on the state of political freedom in the region, LGBT rights, and a call for free and fair elections in Cambodia were adopted.

IFLRY Vice President Stanislav Anastassov ably facilitated the discussions. While the event was mostly participant-led, it also benefited immensely from the inputs of a number of resource persons namely: Rainer Adam, Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia; Miklos Romandy, FNF Regional Coordinator; Johan Pehrson, Liberal Party of Sweden; Punchada Sirivunnabood, Lecturer at Thailand’s Mahidol University; Kavi Chongkittavorn, Thai media practitioner and independent researcher; and Neric Acosta, CALD Secretary General.

Democrat Party officials led by Party Leader and former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also graced the event. The party officials present included: Kiat Sitheeamorn, Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Party Leader; Apirak Kosayodhin, Deputy Party Leader; and Nutt Bantadtan, a young Member of Parliament.

In his keynote speech, Vejjajiva highlighted the key challenges to liberal democracies and the need to build a liberal democratic culture among the people. He said: “It is important to instill values and create the right culture to support liberal democracy. And my hope has always been that the younger generation would wake up to these new challenges and demand that those in power respect the principles of liberal democracy – the right of the people to participate, to think differently, to express themselves – and that they should always encourage a deliberative process that makes liberal democracy function well.”

After their Bangkok hangover, there is much hope that CALD Youth and IFLRY delegates will rise up to meet these challenges and make Asia and the world more conducive to freedom and democracy.