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IDU expresses optimism ahead of Ma presidency

The International Democrat Union (IDU) expressed high hopes for the stability of the Asia-Pacific region and better relations across the Taiwan Strait with president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) taking office soon, according to a statement approved by the IDU’s Executive Committee on Monday.

The IDU Executive Committee, meeting in Sydney with 50 participants from 27 countries, unanimously approved the statement drafted by the IDU Secretariat to congratulate the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate on his victory in the March 22 presidential election.

Describing the election as the second peaceful and democratic transition of power in Taiwan, the statement was hopeful that it would serve as an example for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.

“The KMT victory is a positive for the stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and is a fresh opportunity to develop relations with Mainland China [sic],” the statement added.

IDU representatives, together with a delegation from the international Young Democrat Union, were the first international representatives to meet Ma after his election victory was known.

Former Australian prime minister John Howard currently serves as the chairman of the IDU. Lin Cheng-chi (林澄枝), a former deputy chairwoman of the KMT, which joined the IDU in 1992, is the only woman among the 12 vice chairmen of the international body.

The IDU is an international grouping of conservative, nationalist, classical liberal and anti-communist political parties. It was founded in 1983 by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, then-US vice president George H.W. Bush, then-German chancellor Helmut Kohl and then-Paris mayor Jacques Chirac.

The international organization, which has more than 80 member parties from more than 60 countries, provides a forum in which political parties holding similar beliefs can come together and exchange views on matters of policy and organizational interest and to present a unified voice toward the promotion of center-right policies across the globe.
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