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Former President John Agyekum Kufuor (left) welcoming the IDU delegation  to his residence
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor (left) welcoming the IDU delegation to his residence

Forty-five delegates participate in IDU meeting

Forty-five delegates are participating in this year’s International Democratic Union (IDU) meeting currently underway in Accra.

The three-day IDU meeting has delegates drawn from the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA), the Democratic Union of South America, the Democratic Union of Far East and the European Democratic Union (EDU).

The meeting, the first to be held in Africa, south of the Sahara, is being hosted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The delegates are from several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Nicaragua, Norway, Venezuela, Chile Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania.

Founder members of the IDU include Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; then US Vice-President George Bush Sr; Paris Mayor and later President of France, Jacques Chirac; German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and many other party leaders.

Parliament House

The delegates are expected to visit Parliament House and interact with its leadership. They have already visited former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic at the meeting grounds at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra last Tuesday, the Vice Chairman of IDU, Mr Peter Mac Manu, said the meeting was to ratify the minutes of the IDU meeting held in Munich, Germany in January this year and also make projections for 2017.

He said the ratification of the minutes would be laid before party leaders in India in September this year.

 Mr Manu said: “The union is made up of parties with like-minded ideas which believe in liberal democracy, freedom of the individual and economic growth based on individual initiative and free, competitive enterprise economies.”

Under the Presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who himself participated in the Party Leaders Meeting in Seoul, South Korea, from November 19 to 21, 2014, Mr Manu further said the NPP had also been recognised by the union for its active participation in IDU meetings.

What is IDU?

Throwing light on the three-day meeting, Mr Manu, who was the Campaign Manager for the NPP in the 2016 general election and a former National Chairman of the party, said the union “is a working association of over 80 Conservative, Democrats and like-minded political parties of the centre and centre right.”

He stated that, “The NPP welcomes the delegates to the historic city of Accra and looks forward to fruitful deliberations and strengthening of cooperation at all levels with the IDU.”

Formed in 1983, the IDU provides a forum for parties that hold similar beliefs to come together and exchange views on matters of policy and organisational interest so that they can learn from one another, act together, establish contacts and speak with one strong voice to promote democracy and centre-right policies around the globe.

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