Indonesian Democratic Party joined Liberal International

H.E. Werner Hoyer “The vision and mission of Liberal International are similar to those of the Democratic Party”. This was stated by MP Atte Sugandi as the reason why the party applied to become an observer member in Liberal International. Their request was unanimously accepted by the 184th Executive Committee meeting of the global alliance of liberal parties on 11 June 2010 in Berlin.


FDP reception The first to congratulate was Hans van Baalen, President of Liberal International. He had visited Jakarta in April 2010 and encouraged the party to present their application. The Liberal Democrats from the UK and many others approached the Indonesian representatives during the rest of the programme and welcomed them to the global alliance.

The Dutch liberal party D66 inquired about the Democratic Party’s position concerning an Islamist attack on a congress of homosexuals and transsexuals in Surabaya, East Java. When that happened, the Indonesian government failed to protect the participants and later also did not prosecute the perpetrators. Mr. Atte explained the attackers belong to a small NGO and that his party upholds the norms and values of the freedom of expression.


Delivering the application The Executive Committee meeting was hosted by the German Free Democratic Party which received the guests at the outset of the programme. Later, participants from all over the world had the opportunity to listen to policy statements by the German Minister of Public Health Dr. Philip Roesler as well as the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Werner Hoyer.

During the Executive Committee meeting, MP Atte Sugandi was accompanied by Mr. Mohamad Sukri, who heads the secretariat of the party’s parliamentary faction.

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