Statement by LI Vice-President Minister Lamine Ba
“Minister Mzila of Zimbabwe must be released without further delay”
Following the news of the arrest of Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, the Minister of National Healing and Reconciliation in the Government of National Unity of Zimbabwe, Liberal International Vice-President and President of the Africa Liberal Network, Minister Lamine Ba, expressed a message of solidarity and requested an immediate release of Minister Mzila.
“The news from Zimbabwe on the arrest of Minister Mzila-Ndlovu is deeply disturbing. We, liberals of Liberal International and Africa Liberal Network, condemn the arrest in the strongest possible terms. Those who characterized this move by the Mugabe-controlled police as a shameful “hypocrisy” are absolutely right. It constitutes unnecessary provocation and harassment.
Moses is known in Zimbabwe and abroad (particularly in the liberal world) for his wise, moderate and lawful approach. We know him very well and we can say: he is not a criminal and he would not have run away. Minister Mzila is a defender of Human Rights and rule of law in Zimbabwe. So, he must be released without further delay”, said LI Vice President Ba.
He continued: “This act is not about rule of law. It is not even about implementation of a draconian legislation imposed by the current regime to prosecute political opponents. It seems the only purpose is to keep in jail over the long weekend a person, a Member of Parliament, a Minister, who fought all his life for freedom and justice. This is an imprisonment of freedom of speech and freedom of thought. Ironically, it is on the day when we celebrate 31 years of Zimbabwe’s independence, for which Moses has fought his entire life.”
We, liberals from Liberal International and Africa Liberal Network, request justice and freedom for Minister Mzila. The Vice President of the Africa Liberal Network in the region, Mr Clement Stambuli, will follow the situation in Harare and report to our different offices and to our liberal partners around the world.
London/Dakar, 18 April 2011

The Ethiopian Democratic Party has elected a new leader at its National Conference. Mr Mushe Semu, the former Chairman, is the new EDP President, replacing Mr Ato Lidetue, in accordance with a constitutional convention that the party leader may only serve two consecutive terms of two years. Thus EDP has become the first political party in Ethiopia to change its leadership in accordance with a term limit rule.
Dr Mamadou Lamine Bâ, President of the Africa Liberal Network, has expressed his congratulations to Mr Mushe Semu and welcomed this important step by EDP in electing a new leader. This exemplary behaviour has made it clear that EDP is a truly liberal and democratic party which should set an example for other Ethiopians, including the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, HE Mr Meles Zenawi, who has promised to stand down in 2015.
Within the Ethiopian Democratic Party, Mrs Sophia Yilma Deressa retains her portfolio as EDP Vice-President, having successfully represented EDP during its membership application to join the ALN in 2010. The new party Chairman is Mr Mesfin Mengistue, who previously served as the organisational head of the party. Mr Lidetue has pledged to remain involved in the party through membership of EDP’s 25 member council.

ALN President, Minister Lamine Bâ, and UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, have written to congratulate Dr Alassane Dramane Ouattara on finally taking up his rightful position as President of Côte d’Ivoire.
Dr Lamine Bâ congratulated Dr Ouattara for having overcome the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, praising his tolerance and patience following the November 2010 elections.
The ALN President, who also serves as Minister for International and Humanitarian Affairs in Senegal, welcomed the Ivorian President’s on-going commitment to democracy and liberalism, values which have been strengthened on the African continent thanks to RDR.
Nick Clegg said that he was “proud that we in the Liberal Democrats have given the RDR our support both through our Westminster Foundation for Democracy programme and through Liberal International.”
The Liberal Democrat leader welcomed the commitment to a fair trial for Mr Gbagbo, and to ensure that those guilty of crimes are held accountable.  He added that “this will be important in laying the foundations for reconciliation and moving Côte d’Ivoire forward towards a stable and prosperous future.”
Both Liberal leaders assured President Ouattara that their respective parties and governments would continue to provide their full support for the new Ivorian leader as he starts the important task of reunifying the country.
Rassemblement des Républicains, the party led by President Ouattara, are founding members of the Africa Liberal Network. They hosted the inaugural ALN Gender Workshop in Abidjan in 2009, and are represented on the ALN Executive Committee by National Secretary, Mme Kaba Yaya Fofana. RDR are also full members of Liberal International, who sent a delegation to Abidjan in support of Dr Ouattara in November 2010.

Wavel Ramkalawan received unanimous supportto be the SNP’s candidate in the Presidential election to be held May 19-21,2011. At an extraordinary convention held in the STC Conference Hall on SundayMarch 13, Mr. Ramkalawan’s nomination was presented by SNP Secretary-GeneralRoger Mancienne as a resolution for the approval of the convention.
Annette Georges, who has been Mr. Ramkalawan’s running mate for two previous elections, delivered an address in support of Mr. Ramkalawan. His nomination was adoptedunanimously by members.
Mr.Ramkalawan then named Nicholas Prea as his Vice-Presidential nominee. SNP MNA Gervais Henrie gave a speech in support of Mr. Prea, who received enthusiasticacclamation from the members.
The presentation of candidates marked the moment of departure in the SNP’s campaign for the Presidential election. Members were called upon to rally for the work ahead.
‘Ansanm Pouren Meyer Lavi ” is the slogan presented by Presidential candidate Ramkalawan for his campaign. He explained that this encapsulated the two overiding goals of his leadership which would be to bring the Seychellois people togetheras one nation and to improve life for everyone in Seychelles.
SNP Presidential candidate Wavel Ramkalawan has said that the SNP vision forGovernment included a new mission for leadership. State House will have adifferent role, he said.
The Presidential candidate stated that his choice of Nicholas Prea for Vice-President corresponded to the particular role that he wanted the President andVice-President to play in a new Government. They would not be Ministers,whether for tourism, finance or other portfolio, he said. Ministries would havecompetent people in charge of them and the role of State House will be lead,supervise and monitor the work of ministries.
Mr. Prea wasa man closely in touch with people who could listen and understand theirproblems and concerns, Mr. Ramkalawan said. He will be there for people andensure that their concerns are heard in the work of Government.
Mr. Prea’srole as Vice-President would also be to bring the Seychellois people togetherin unity. This reflected the aim of the SNP Government in eliminatingdiscrimination and allowing everyone in the country to play a full role.
SNP Presidential candidate Wavel Ramkalawan has called for a debate among the Presidential candidates for the May 21 election.
A debateamong national leadership contenders is now an accepted and necessary part ofthe political process. Voters want it and should have a right to see how thosewho want to lead the country deal with important issues and questions.
In the Sunday convention, Mr. Ramkalawan designated Bernard Georges, the SNP Liaison with the Electoral Commissioner’s Office, to take up the subject and press fora debate. Mr. Ramkalawan has said that everyone knows that Mr. Michel is alwayseager to be on television. This is an occasion he was being offered, the SNPleader said.
If James Michel does not accept the challenge, it will be because he is afraid of facing the Seychellois people on equal footing with his challengers.

In the aftermath of the announcement of the results by the Independent Electoral Commission of Cote d’Ivoire, which declared Dr Alassane Dramane Ouattara, leader of RDR, the winner of the Presidential Elections with 54% ofthe vote, please find below the following documents:

Leaders of Liberal International meeting in Brussels condemned attempts by incumbent President of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, to hold onto power after the independent electoral commission had announced a victory in the November 28th presidential poll for Alassane Ouattara, of the ‘Rassemblement des Républicains’ (RDR), a full member of Liberal International (LI), and the Africa Liberal Network.
LI is calling on the African Union and EU to remain firm in their support for Mr. Ouattara as the legitimate winner of the elections. A video of the press conference is available here:
ALDE-LI Press Conference
Louis Michel MEP (MR, Belgium), former commissioner for development policy, pointed out that Ouattara had legitimately won the election but, in an open and inclusive spirit, had offered to include members of the defeated ruling party in his government, once confirmed.
“The European Union and the wider International Community must be clear with Mister Laurent Gbagbo that we will not tolerate legitimate elections that have been conducted fairly and peacefully, to be overturned by vested interests clinging onto power. If necessary we should be prepared to use whatever measures we can to isolate the regime responsible for denying the results of democracy,” said Michel.
Hans van Baalen MEP (VVD, Netherlands) and President of Liberal International, had sent a delegation of Liberal International observers , led by Bulgarian parliamentarian Dzhevdet Chakarov, to the Ivory Coast in the run up to the November elections and expressed his disappointment that the regime was refusing to concede defeat to the Liberal challenger.
“We are determined that the solution to the political crisis in Cote d’Ivoire can only be the recognition of Alasane Ouattara as legitimate President of Cote d’Ivoire. Services by former South African President Thabo Mbeki are only of help if this is the outcome of the process he leads. It would be extremely unhelpful if Mr. Mbeki would try to broker a deal along the lines of Zimbabwe and Kenya, allowing a defeated President to remain in office”
Dr Lamine Bâ, Senegalese Minister (Parti Democratique Senegalais) and President of the African Liberal Network underlined that the Ivorian electoral commission had declared Ouattara the winner with 54% of the vote:
“It is unacceptable that the Ivorian Government refuse to acknowledge the outcome of the freely expressed will of the people. All democracies amount to a commitment, at some point, to give up power to someone else.”
“Western Governments must insist on the transition of power in Ivory Coast to the legitimate winner if we are to avoid continued tension and a repeat of divisions seen elsewhere in Africa when incumbents refuse to step down from power. Gbagbo must leave office. It is easier for the International Community to support a peaceful transition than deal with the consequences of a conflict if such issues remain unresolved.”

Despite the remarkable evolution of human civilization and the extent of technical and scientific inventions; human rights remained the Achilles heel of a human society which recognises democracy as a mode of rational government. Human rights are often forgotten or neglected in the relations between states.
For many, if human rights are now the subject of political speculation, women’s rights and their observance and their violation has now acquired the status of a universal criterion by which could to measure the evolution of human society.
We Tunisian liberals, we have always believed that crimes against humanity and violations are the logical result of complacency by those who adopt humanitarian slogans for demagogic use, often attached to a election issue.
The awarding of the Prize for Freedom by Liberal International to Shirin Ebadi is a tangible proof of the inseparable nature between liberalism and modernity. This civil woman is the juridiquo-political synthesis of modernity.
The universal aspect of human rights leads us to reject the arguments of cultural specificity. No argument can waive these inalienable rights.
What young girls are forced to suffer in Pakistan, India, and Sudan … (to mention only a few regimes in the world) is simply unacceptable from the point of human dignity.
The forced marriage of under age girls, female circumcision, and organized rape, ignoring for a secong, issues such as female illiteracy and violence perpetrated against women, cause us to invoke the forces of civil society to conduct a global compaign on several fronts to stop this practice and to ensure that women regain their rights to dignity and freedom.
Several countries in which the rights of women have evolved, such as Tunisia, have found themselves today threatened by clear regression of social consciousness and the negative return of fundamentalism!
This phenomenon is reflected by increased graduate unemployment and the crisis of secular democracy.
This will, without recalling that the fundamentalist movement has the appearance of an international organization amplified by support from several states and has sources of funding likely to be significant.
Rawdha Seibi, Social Liberal Party, Vice-President INLW

Helen Zille, leader of the Democratic Alliance and Premier of Western Cape Province, held a joint press conference with the ALN President, Dr Lamine Ba, on 11 November to celebrate the opening of the network’s General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa. They were joined on the podium by former Vice-President of Burundi, Mme Alice Nzomukunda, and National Chairman of the Civic United Front, Professor Ibrahim Lipumba.
Ms Zille made the following statement:
“The Democratic Alliance would like to welcome the members of the Africa Liberal Network to South Africa and specifically to Cape Town, for the General Assembly which will take place here over the coming weekend. We have just hosted a successful FIFA World Cup, which has demonstrated what we as a province and country can be, if we work together and all give our best. Albeit a slightly smaller event, we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to host this General Assembly, which is also an historic event and a great show of unity.
“The Africa Liberal Network is made up of 24 parties from 19 African countries, and is an associated organisation of Liberal International. The ALN aims to promote liberal democratic objectives and principles throughout the African continent. The parties involved work together to ensure the freedom and dignity of all people through securing socio-economic and political rights, entrenching basic freedoms and the rule of law, promoting economic growth, ensuring free and fair elections, and fighting corruption.
“This General Assembly is an opportunity to discuss the state of democracy in Africa, to share democratic best practice, and to support one another in our respective political contexts. In that regard, I would like to thank our sister-parties from across the continent for their friendship, and for the enduring co-operation between our parties over the years.
“Today, our world and our peoples are more interconnected and indeed interdependent than ever before in history. People the world over, despite any differences, basically seek the same things – to realize a better future for them and their children, to live in security and dignity, and to seek progress and justice.
“We are also all too aware that this meeting is taking place while in much of Africa people do not enjoy even the basic democratic rights that we often take for granted. The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Sudan shows how despotism and violence still threaten the future of our continent. Many of our member parties are actively engaged in the hard work of pursuing peace, while others, like the DA, are working to give people and nations a path out of poverty.
“It is against that backdrop that I look forward to meaningful discussions with all of the ALN delegates this weekend, and once again, am delighted to welcome them to Cape Town.”

ALN President, Dr Lamine Bâ, has written an article for Prospect Magazine clarifying his work in Haiti in his capacity as Minister for Humanitarian Cooperation and International Affairs in the Senegalese Government:
Prospect – Haiti: Africa Calling
After January’s catastrophic earthquake it seems that there is still no end to the tragedy facing the people of Haiti. This month an outbreak of cholera has left hundreds dead and thousands more hospitalised—and yesterday violence broke out in reaction to the spread of the disease, with protestors claiming that Nepalese soldiers brought the epidemic to Haiti. In the face of such horror, it is hardly surprising that many Haitians are seeking to rebuild their lives in new countries.
Earlier this year, the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, unveiled an initiative to resettle hundreds of Haitians in his country. (This is in addition to over $1m in direct aid to Haiti from the government of Senegal). Why, ask some, when Senegal is itself far from the richest country in the world, should Africans pay to support others? The needs of Africa are plain for all to see. Yet the government in which I serve, a liberal government, is part of a growing political movement across Africa that rejects the notion that Africa must always take aid, and never provide it.
When our fellow citizens in other parts of the world are suffering—particularly those to whom we have a historic connection—we believe it is our duty to support them within the means and resources that are available to us. In fact, it is our liberal commitment to internationalism and humanitarianism that demand it.
Last week I addressed the Africa Liberal Network General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, the organisation that is helping to spearhead this growing political movement across Africa. The ALN is a collection of 30 Liberal parties from 25 African countries, united in their commitment to win power on liberal political platforms and, when in power, provide government based on enduring liberal principles such as the freedom and dignity of all people, the rule of law, free and fair elections with peaceful transition, fighting corruption, and establishing free market economies.
This movement is enjoying increasing electoral success. My own Democratic Party in Senegal first won power in 2000 after decades of socialist rule; and the Democratic Alliance in South Africa has moved from 1.7 per cent of the vote in 1994 to touching 20 per cent in last year’s general election, and now controls the government of Western Cape. Just this month in Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, a former deputy general director of the IMF, powered into the run-off in the presidential election, trailing the incumbent president (who has failed to hold an election for many years) by only a few percentage points. Elsewhere, in Morocco, Zanzibar and the Democratic Republic of Congo, liberals form part of coalition governments.
Also this year, the ALN has been outspoken regarding the electoral malpractice and arrest and intimidation of opposition candidates in this years’ elections in Burundi. The network has worked hard to facilitate the increasing of representation of women in politics across Africa. Member parties have unanimously condemned the failure of the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to abide by the agreements outlined in his government of national unity, and against the wishes of his people.
In this context, it is easier to understand the government of Senegal’s actions for the citizens of Haiti. Just as other great liberal parties and governments across the world have been committed to supporting human rights and dignity—from successive liberal governments in Canada, to the Clinton administration in the US and President Clinton’s continuing humanitarian activities through his foundation on leaving office—it is the duty of liberals all over the world—including in Africa—to provide support and assistance to those in greatest need. It is in this spirit that the people of Haiti hear Africa calling them.
Dr Lamine Ba is the Minister for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs for the Government of Senegal. He is also President of the Africa Liberal Network