Liberal International

Liberal International

Headquarters of Liberal International, London
Abbreviation	LI
Formation	21 November 1946;78 years ago (1946-11-21) (In April 1947, it was constituted with the Oxford Manifesto)
Type	International non-governmental organization
Legal status	Political international
Purpose	World federation of liberal political parties and organisations
Headquarters	National Liberal Club
Location	London, SW1A United Kingdom
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	90 political parties and 21 international organizations (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.org

Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties. The political international was formed in November 1946, and constituted with the Oxford Manifesto in April 1947. It has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aiming to strengthen liberalism and democratic values around the world. Its headquarters are within the National Liberal Club, in London. The Oxford Manifesto describes the basic political principles of the Liberal International, which is currently made up of 111 parties and organizations.

Aims

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 and Europe are respect for human rights, free and fair elections and multi-party democracy, social justice, tolerance, market economy, free trade, environmental sustainability 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]

Bureau

The bureau of Liberal International is elected every 18 months by the delegates of the congress. ^[2]

Former Presidents include Hans Van Baalen MEP, John, Lord Alderdice, Dutch politician and former European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, German politician Otto Graf Lambsdorff, and Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after Francoist Spain, Adolfo Suárez. The 14th president of Liberal International was Hakima el Haite of the Mouvement Populaire (Morocco), who is a former Minister of Environment, UN climate champion, and climate scientist. Madam El Haite succeeded Dr Juli Minoves, formerly Andorra's foreign minister and representative to the United Nations.

The secretary-general of Liberal International is William Townsend. Other members of the bureau include Deputy President Prof. Karl-Heinz Paque; and Vice Presidents Cellou 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).

Awards

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 include Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela, Senator Leila de Lima of the Philippines, Raif Badawi of Saudi Arabia, Waris Dirie of Somalia and Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia and the Czech 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 President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe leader Sir Graham Watson of the United Kingdom.

Publications

The LI 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 an ad hoc basis. Recent texts have offered a liberal perspective on issues ranging from freedom of belief to the responsibility to protect.

History

Before establishment

Because inter-war International Entente of Radical and Similar Democratic Parties ceased to operate in the beginning of the World War II, on 16 June 1946 representatives of the Liberal Party of Belgium, British Liberal Party, French Republican, 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 in Brussels and adopted the Declaration of Brussels, which called for creation of world liberal organization.

Oxford Manifesto

The Oxford Manifesto, drawn up in April 1947 at Wadham College in Oxford 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 by Salvador de Madariaga. ^[3]

The Oxford Manifesto was inspired by the ideas of William 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 the Oxford 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]

Organisation

Presidents

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		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		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		Adolfo Suárez (1932–2014)	Spain	26 April 1989	22 April 1992	Democratic and Social Centre
7		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		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		Hakima El Haite (1963–)	Morocco	30 November 2018	2 December 2024	Popular Movement
15		Karl-Heinz Paqué (1956–)	Germany	2 December 2024	Incumbent	Free Democratic Party

Members

Incumbent heads of state and government

• 
  Mark Carney
    Canada
• 
  Kristen Michal
    Estonia
• 
  Micheál Martin
    Ireland
• 
  Alassane Ouattara
    Ivory Coast
• 
  Lai Ching-te
    Taiwan

Full members

LI has 90 political parties.

Country/Region	Name	Government	Joined
Belgium	Reform Movement [6]	Government	2002
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats [6]	Opposition	1992
Burkina Faso	Alliance for Democracy and Federation – African Democratic Rally	Opposition	2006
Burundi	Alliance démocratique pour le renouveau  [ fr ]	Opposition	2009
Cambodia	Cambodia National Rescue Movement	Extra-parliamentary	2006
Canada	Liberal Party of Canada [7] [8]	Government	1947
Chile	Evópoli [9]	Opposition	2023
	Liberal Party of Chile	Government	2014
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Together for the Republic	Opposition	2008
Côte d'Ivoire	Rally of the Republicans	Government	2003
Croatia	Istrian Democratic Assembly	Opposition	2014
Cuba	Cuban Liberal Union	In exile	1992
	Cuban Liberal Solidarity Party	Opposition	2014
Denmark	Danish Social Liberal Party	Opposition	1948
	Venstre, Denmark's Liberal Party	Government	1947
Estonia	Estonian Reform Party	Government	1994
EU	ALDE Group	—
	ALDE Party	—
Finland	Centre Party	Opposition	1983
	Swedish People's Party	Government	1983
Georgia	Republican Party of Georgia	Opposition	2006
Germany	German Group of the LI	—	1947
	Free Democratic Party	Extra-parliamentary	1947
Gibraltar	Liberal Party [6]	Government	1997
Guinea	Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea	Opposition	2012
	Union of Republican Forces	Opposition	2012
Honduras	Liberal Party	Opposition	1986
Iceland	Progressive Party	Opposition	1983
Ireland	Fianna Fáil [6]	Government	2014
Kenya	Orange Democratic Movement	Opposition	2015
Kosovo	Independent Liberal Party	Extra-parliamentary	2009
	Democratic Party of Kosovo	Opposition	2023
Lebanon	Future Movement	Extra-parliamentary	2012
Luxembourg	Democratic Party	Government
Madagascar	Movement for the Progress of Madagascar	Extra-parliamentary	1994
	Arche de la Nation	Extra-parliamentary	2017
Mexico	New Alliance Party	Opposition	2006
Mongolia	Civil Will-Green Party	Opposition	2009
Montenegro	Liberal Party of Montenegro	Government	2014
Morocco	Constitutional Union	Opposition	2003
	Popular Movement	Opposition	2003
Netherlands	Democrats 66	Opposition	1986
	Dutch Group of LI	—
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy [10]	Government	1960
Nicaragua	Ciudadanos por la Libertad	Opposition
North Macedonia	Liberal Democratic Party	Opposition	1994
Norway	Liberal Party	Opposition	1947
Paraguay	Authentic Radical Liberal Party	Opposition	2001
Philippines	Liberal Party	Opposition	1989
Portugal	Iniciativa Liberal	Opposition
Romania	National Liberal Party [6]	Government	1994
Russia	Yabloko	Extra-parliamentary	2002
Senegal	Alliance pour la République	Opposition	2018
	Rewmi	Opposition	2015
	Senegalese Democratic Party	Opposition	1980
Slovenia	Concretely	Extra-parliamentary
Somalia	CAHDI Party	Opposition	2017
South Africa	Democratic Alliance	Government	1984
Spain	Fundació Llibertat i Democràcia	—
Sweden	Liberals	Government	1947
	Centre Party	Opposition	2006
Serbia	Movement of Free Citizens	Opposition	2022
Switzerland	FDP.The Liberals	Government	2009
Taiwan	Democratic Progressive Party	Government	1994
Tanzania	Civic United Front	Opposition / in coalition in autonomous region of Zanzibar	1997
Thailand	Democrat Party	Government
United Kingdom	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	In coalition government in Northern Irish Assembly, in opposition at national level	1991
	Liberal International British Group	—
	Liberal Democrats	Opposition	1989
Worldwide	International Federation of Liberal Youth	—
	International Network of Liberal Women	—

Observer parties

Country/Region	Name	Government
Austria	NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum	Government
Burkina Faso	Union pour le Progrès et le Changement	Opposition
Comoros	Alliance Nationale pour les Comores	Extra-parliamentary
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Union pour la reconstruction du Congo  [ fr ]	Opposition
Republic of the Congo	Union des Democrates Humanistes (UDH-YUKI)	—
Cyprus	United Democrats	Extra-parliamentary
Ghana	Progressive People's Party	Opposition
Hungary	Momentum Movement	Opposition
Israel	Yesh Atid [11]	Opposition
Italy	Italian Group of Liberal International	—
Malaysia	Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	In opposition
Mali	Citizens' Party for the Renewal of Mali	Extra-parliamentary
	Union pour la République et la Démocratie (URD)	—
Mauritania	Rally for Mauritania	Opposition
Moldova	Romanian Popular Party	Extra-parliamentary
Morocco	Moroccan Liberal Party	Extra-parliamentary
Singapore	Singapore Democratic Party	Extra-parliamentary
Suriname	Democratic Alternative '91	Extra-parliamentary
Syria	Syrian Liberal Party - Ahrar	In exile
Tunisia	Afek Tounes	Extra-parliamentary
Ukraine	Holos	Opposition
Venezuela	Vente Venezuela	Extra-parliamentary

Individual member

Country	Name	Government
Hong Kong	Mr Martin Lee – founding chairman of Democratic Party	Extra-parliamentary

Cooperating organizations

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 organizations.

Organization	Region
Africa Liberal Network	Africa
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats	Asia
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (ALDE-PACE)	Europe
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung
Fondazione Libro Aperto
Fondazione Luigi Einaudi
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Swedish International Liberal Centre
Red Liberal de América Latina	Latin America
Arab Liberal Federation	MENA
National Democratic Institute	North America

Liberal think tanks and foundations

The International is also in a loose association with the following 10 organisations:

Organization	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) [12]	Brazil
Paddy Ashdown Forum [13]	United Kingdom

See also

• Liberalism by country
• Prize For Freedom
• Alliance of Democrats (defunct)
• European Democratic Party

References

1. "Constitution – Politics – Liberalism". Liberal-international.org. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
2. "Bureau Members". Liberal International. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
3. "Oxford Manifesto 1947 – Manifesto – Politics – Liberalism". Liberal-international.org. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
4. "Oxford Manifesto 1997 – Manifesto – Politics – Liberalism". Liberal-international.org. 30 November 1997. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
5. "Andorra Liberal Manifesto - 2017". Liberal International. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
6. "Europe - Liberal International". Liberal International. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
7. "Liberal Party of Canada Welcomes Liberal International to 2009 Convention". Liberal Party of Canada. 6 March 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
8. "North America - Liberal International". Liberal International. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
9. "Evolución Política se incorpora como miembro pleno de la Internacional Liberal". Evópoli (in Spanish). 4 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
10. "VVD is a member of LI". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011.
11. Hoffman, Gil (3 October 2021). "Yesh Atid joins Liberal International". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
12. "Livres se torna única organização brasileira na Liberal Internacional • LIVRES".
13. "63rd Liberal International Congress (75th Anniversary) in Sofia, Bulgaria 2022". Liberal International. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

External links

• Official website