Authoritarian rule, abuse of power, corruption, protectionism
and centralization make for bad government. Too many countries
are kept poor -and their citizens kept ignorant- by a lack of
democracy, education and effective economic and social policy.
The liberal agenda for good governance focuses on returning power
to individuals, separation of powers, decentralisation, transparency,
civil and political rights, free trade, social market economy,
policies against poverty and ignorance and the fight against corruption.
- how many countries and citizens suffer economically, politically,
socially and environmentally from weak or corrupted government
or a total lack of government;
- how other countries and citizens suffer from stifling government
interference in every area of society and the economy;
- how lack of political and civil rights adversely affects
economic and social development of many countries around the
world;
- how underdeveloped civic society in some countries and oppression
of civic society in others leaves the large potential of private
initiative unused;
- how in many countries corruption, maladministration, waste
and abuse of power make the few richer and the many poorer;
- how a well-functioning government can be a competitive factor
for a country.
A. The strengthening of democracy by recognising:
- the need to promote freedom of speech as the primary requisite
for democracy and good governance;
- the need for governments to serve not just their supporters
but to serve the best interests of all citizens and consider
themselves responsible and accountable to those citizens;
- the need for strong parliaments with effective control
over government and the right to set their own legislative
agenda;
- the need for efficient mechanisms for democratic control
and accountability over supra-national institutions;
- the need for complete separation of state and religion;
- the need for transparency in both national governments
and supra-national institutions and the requirement that citizens
have access to information and for accessibility and openness
in communicating decisions and to make them understandable
to citizens;
- the need to ensure democratically elected government’s
authority over the armed forces, police and secret services;
- the need for checks and balances that prevent abuse of
power;
- the need to enforce an equilibrium of powers and a strict
independence of the judiciary and to consolidate the role
of the judiciary, legislative and executive respectively;
- the need for governments to accept independent and international
monitoring of elections;
- the need to apply the principle of subsidiarity, decentralise
when possible, and to give to civic society those initiatives
and tasks best undertaken within that context;
- the need for freedom of the media, guaranteed by law and
upheld by the courts;
- the need to create a competitive framework for the media
and to promote plurality;
B. The protection of human rights, recognising:
- the need for governments to commit themselves to the principles
in the UN treaty and to other international law, including
the International Criminal Court;
- the need to strengthen recognition and implementation
of human, civil and political rights by enshrining them in
the constitution around the world as a cause in itself and
to enhance and promote economic and social development;
- the need to ensure free education - at least on primary
level - to enable as many citizens as possible to take full
advantage of their equal rights;
- the need to uphold the rule of law, to guarantee access
to legal and effective remedy for all, even the poorest citizens
and to ensure that all –men and women, rich and poor,
citizens and non-citizens, majorities and minorities- are
equal before the law;
- the need to end impunity;
- the need to promote tolerance and fight discrimination
and to protect the identity of ethnic, national, religious
and linguistic minorities;
- the need for independent national Human Rights Institutions
according to the so-called Paris Principles in all countries,
in order to protect and promote human rights;
- the need to protect life, liberty and property in order
to guarantee freedom.
C. The development of political parties and
civil society:
- the need to guarantee free competition between political
parties, fair access to the mass media and clear and fair
electoral rules that are enforceable in court;
- the need for local and regional governments to participate
in the decision-making processes of national and supranational
policy preparation, legislation and evaluation;
- the need to recognise NGOs as valuable partners in creating
democracy and promoting human rights and civil society and
the need to guarantee their independence and their democratic
governance while at the same time asserting the authority
of democratically elected governments;
- the need for governments to encourage citizens to participate
in politics and public life;
- the need to have effective political parties and electoral
systems in order to strengthen parity and democracy itself;
- the need to emphasise the role of political parties in
civic education and political debate in addition to their
role as vehicles to power;
- the need to make funding of political parties completely
transparent;
- the need for political parties to strengthen and implement
internal party democracy;
- the need for the political parties to provide equal opportunities
to women and men of all ages;
- the need for political parties to take into account minorities;
- the need to create and enforce clear laws regarding the
funding of political parties and especially the funding of
electoral campaigns;
D. The end of corruption in public life by
recognising:
- the need for a civil service that is impartial and unprejudiced,
transparent, cost-effective, output-oriented and accountable
without corruption, nepotism or patronage;
- the need for public servants and government officials
to follow the highest benchmark of ethical behaviour to ensure
that the principles of good government are effectively applied;
- the need for an accountable police and an independent
judiciary with a clear legal framework and sufficient resources;
- the need for freedom of information concerning the awarding
of government contracts, government purchases and privatisations;
- the need to prevent abuse of state resources by officials
for private or party-political purposes;
- the need to deregulate because an overload of regulation
invites to non-compliant behaviour, law evasion, and corruption,
and where there is regulation compliance terms have to be
transparent and accountable;
- the need to make paying bribes abroad an offence rather
than a tax-deductible expense;
- the need for an effective system of preventing conflict
of interests by politicians and senior civil servants and
to follow the highest benchmark of ethical behaviour to ensure
that the principles of good government are effectively applied;
- the need to remunerate officials adequately;
- the need to create and enforce clear laws regarding lobby
activities.
E. A free and fair economy and system of
trade by recognising:
- the need to establish clear, simple and long-term rules
for taxation that are never enforced retroactively;
- the need to create an investor-friendly climate through
low taxation, administrative predictability, deregulation
and transparency as a means for promoting economic development;
- the need for fiscal stability, balanced budgets and the
reduction of public debt;
- the need to ensure natural resources are used in the most
sustainable, cost-effective and transparent way possible;
- the need to reduce the cost of government and negative
impact of government on business and the economy;
- the need to encourage privatisation of state enterprises
when effective and expose them to competition;
- the need to promote competition and to end state and private
monopolies;
- the need to break down barriers to the free flow of labour;
- the need to allow private initiative and investment in
all areas of the economy;
- the need to remove bureaucratic obstacles to private initiative
and human creativity;
- the need to end protectionism by the large trading blocks,
particularly in the field of agriculture, and also the need
to end protectionism between developing countries;
- the need to fight the trend to replace protectionism through
tariffs with protectionism through social or environmental
standards or complex systems of quality control;
- the need to combine free trade and free rules in the economy
with effective public policies towards sustainable development
and alleviation of poverty.
The congress of Liberal International therefore calls upon all
bi- and multilateral donor countries- and organisations to give
priority to those projects of development co-operation which are
aimed at fostering good governance, democratic structures and
human rights; to monitor their implementation by the recipient
countries and to withdraw development aid in case of violations
of these basic principles.
