Liberal Youth elects New YLDA Leadership
2004-11-23

Jonathan E. Malaya of the Young Liberals of the Philippines (KALIPI) has been reelected President of the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) together with Rajendra Mulmi of Youth Initiative (Nepal) as Secretary General during the federation's 2nd Annual General Meeting held early this month in the scenic city of Kathmandu in Nepal.

This will be the second consecutive term for Malaya and Mulmi in YLDA's top positions having been first elected a year ago in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Also reelected to the Executive Committee were Koy Koung of the Khmer National Youth Movement (Cambodia) and Eko Darwanto of PKB-Indonesia. A new addition to the committee is Sandun Gamage of Institute for Democracy and Leadership-Sri Lanka.

Malaya expressed optimism with the new leadership in promoting liberal values among the youth across Asia. "The Executive Committee embarks on its new term with great optimism and renewed vigor in its political work. I thank the Member Organizations and Individuals for this new mandate and I expect their full cooperation in the coming year," he said.

Among the priorities set by the new leadership is to expand the organization's membership base to more countries in the region and to launch political campaigns on key issues concerning Asian youth.

He also announced that -- consistent with the General Assembly's decision to locate the Secretariat in the Philippines - the YLDA Office will soon be inaugurated within the Friedrich Naumann premises in Manila. The office will be manned by a full-time Program Officer assisted by an intern.

"Once the YLDA office is made fully operational, our members can expect a flurry of activities to happen. Our office will be the nerve center for all our activities across the region," he added.

Garda Bangsa Garda Bangsa was formed in 1998 following the successful political reform spearheaded by students and other campus activists to depose the tyrannical regime of President Suharto. The organization was founded by Abdurram Wahid, a former adviser of President Suharto who resigned following an escalation in government corruption and political management by the administration. He championed "Responsible Openness" within the government system and proposed the establishment of a Reform Committee in order to mitigate poor governance within the administration. His calls were left unheeded and so he eventually withdrew support for the government and joined the efforts advocating for reform in the government. Read more...