CALD

March 21 2015

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) recently held a communications workshop in Metro Manila, Philippines. The workshop, with the theme, “Political Communication, Elections and Governance”, took place on 13-16 March 2015 and was attended by around 30 participants from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The event served as a venue for the participants to share experiences and best practices in political communication, especially as a number of CALD member-parties are contesting elections this year and in 2016.

http://cald.org/site/cald/?p=9179

NLD Plans to Win 2015

March 18 2015

Last 10-13 March 2015, the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) assembled in Rangoon, Burma (Yangon, Myanmar) for phase II of the 5th CALD Political Party Management Workshop, “Project 2015: Winning Elections Towards Continuing Reforms”. The event was hosted by the National League for Democracy (NLD) at the NLD Meeting Hall in Kyaikkasan Road, Yangon District, and was participated in by around 60-65 NLD party members and campaign officials and by representatives from the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA). This workshop, similar to phase I held in August 2014, aimed to capacitate NLD candidates and their campaign managers with the knowledge and skills in winning elections, drawing from electoral theory and practice in the Asian context.

http://cald.org/site/cald/?p=9172

CALD 8^th Communications Workshop, Manila

New Campaign Strategies in Party Management, Communication & Fund

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.802493963119210.1073741870.200439473324665&type=3

Day 1

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.857461040967510.1073741934.167155769998044&type=3

Day 2

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.857561160957498.1073741935.167155769998044&type=3

Farewell Dinner

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.859553187424962.1073741940.167155769998044&type=3

CALD 5^th Party Management Workshop, Yangon

Day 1

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.858778307502450.1073741936.167155769998044&type=3

Welcome Dinner

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.858789377501343.1073741937.167155769998044&type=3

Day 2

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.858798484167099.1073741938.167155769998044&type=3

Day 3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.859546827425598.1073741939.167155769998044&type=3

FRIEDRICH NAUMANN FOUNDATION

March 18 2015

“Be grounded in reality and take into account last election’s results and current market research,” said South Africa Democratic Alliance Special Advisor Jonathan Moakes in a lecture on New Campaign Strategies in Party Management, Communications and Fundraising before members of the Liberal Party of the Philippines on 13 March 2015 in Cubao, Quezon City.

http://fnf.org.ph/news/fnfnews.php?id=153&article=Be_Grounded

We Inspire Each Other 

March 17 2015

The nine-member delegation to Brussels, Belgium met with European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux on 17 March 2015 in preparation for their visit to the capital of Europe on March 23-26, 2015.

http://fnf.org.ph/news/fnfnews.php?id=154&article=We_Inspire_Each_Other

BURMA

March 20 2015

On March 16, 1988, he joined a group of Yangon students protesting against the military junta which then ran Myanmar. They had reached a lakeside spot called White Bridge when police and soldiers attacked.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/17/asia-pacific/myanmars-student-protesters-at-odds-with-old-guard-as-reforms-stall/#.VQuh5TpgpUQ

President Holds Rare Talks With Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

March 5 2015

Myanmar President U Thein Sein and National League for Democracy chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi held rare talks at the former’s farm residenceMarch 2, according to a news release by the Minister for Information U Ye Htut, a spokesperson for the President.

http://www.mizzima.com/mizzima-news/myanmar/item/18333-president-holds-rare-talks-with-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi

CAMBODIA

March 20 2015

Violence allegedly followed an opposition-led, fact-finding mission to a protected fishing zone in Battambang yesterday when fighting broke out after a soldier opened fired over an argument with members of a fishing community charged with guarding the area.

Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers Mu Sochua and Pin Ratana visited the area in Prey Chas commune yesterday following complaints from local villagers that bribes were being accepted for access to the protected zone.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/shots-fired-over-fishery

HONGKONG

March 20 2015

Martin Lee is an unlikely freedom fighter with his well-cut suit, posh, British-accented English

and quiet reliance on his Catholic faith and the rule of law to guide his struggle for democracy.

Although he’s now 76, the founder of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party remains on the front lines.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Daphne+Bramham+Hong+Kong+unlikely+freedom+fighter+asks+help/

10894827/story.html#__federated=1

LegCo Members Head to Germany

March 2 2015

A delegation led by Emily Lau departed yesterday for a 6-day parliamentary visit to Berlin and Bremen in response to an invitation from the German Government.

http://harbourtimes.com/openpublish/the-week-ahead-20150302

INDONESIA

Japan to Expand South-east Asia Security Ties with Indonesia Pact

March 20 2015

Japan will sign a defence pact with Indonesia next week, officials in both governments said, the latest effort by Tokyo to forge closer security ties with South-east Asian nations and build a counter-balance to China.

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/japan-expand-south-east-asia-security-ties-indonesia-pact-20150319

Indonesian President Joko Widodo to visit Japan

March 19 2015

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and First Lady Mrs. Iriana Widodo will conduct a state visit to Japan from March 22 to 25.

The Japanese Embassys Deputy Chief of Mission to Indonesia, Yusuke Shindo, said here on Tuesday night that as part of their trip, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Mrs. Iriana Widodo are scheduled to meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on March 23.

http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/98161/indonesian-president-joko-widodo-to-visit-japan

MONGOLIA

March 5 2015

Tarja Halonen, president of Finland from 2000-2012, and Oyun Sanjaasuren, a member of Mongolia’s Parliament, and CALD Chairperson, were honored with the 2015 Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in politics and civil society. The awards were presented by Cindy McCain, honorary chair of the WDN Council, as part of WDN’s annual International Women’s Day conference.

http://www.democracyspeaks.org/blog/2015-jeane-j-kirkpatrick-award

SINGAPORE

March 18 2015

Teacher, Thinker, Rebel, Why? Portraits of Chee Soon Juan is a new book written by several authors about Dr Chee Soon Juan to counter the decades of PAP smear campaign against the SDP leader.

http://yoursdp.org/news/better_to_have_anybody_else_other_than_chee_soon_juan/2015-03-17-5977

This is Why the SPD Wants Trade Unions to be Free

March 18 2015

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that without trade unions free from state control, workers rights – including their wages – are always going to be adversely affected.

What is surprising, however, is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently published a study, Power from the People, saying that “Weakening of unions reduces the bargaining power of workers relative to capital owners and top earners.”

http://yoursdp.org/news/this_is_why_the_sdp_wants_trade_unions_to_be_free/2015-03-09-5974

TAIWAN

March 20 2015

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday rejected an invitation by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to jointly hold a national affairs conference on constitutional reform with other political parties and civic groups, DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/03/20/2003613960

57.4% VOTERS FAVOR DPP FOR TAIWAN’S 2016 Presidential Elections

March 2 2015

More than 57% of Taiwan’s voters believe that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will win next year’s presidential election, according to the latest poll conducted by our parent group Want Want China Times Media Group.

If DPP chair Tsai Ing-wen is nominated as the party’s presidential candidate as expected, she will win the support of 41.7% of the voters, compared with 33.1% for chair of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Eric Chu and KMT legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng, if they were to run, according to the poll.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150228000027&cid=1101

THAILAND

March 19 2015

Far from being the knight on a white horse that many had hoped for, the military is ushering in a bureaucrat-led guided democracy that will lead to “one-party China-style politics” in Thailand, a prominent…

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/495744/kasit-warns-china-style-regime-awaits

Draft Charter ‘Steals Democracy’

March 18 2015

He said the new charter, which is now in its formative stage, is a retrograde step and will lead to fresh rounds of political conflicts.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post, the former prime minister said a referendum must be held on the new charter to ensure its legitimacy.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/491554/