Extraordinary Virtual Congress

As announced earlier this year, the onset of COVID19 caused Liberal International – like many global organisations – to postpone our international events, specifically our 63rd congress. This was not a decision we took lightly but with the interests for the health and safety of you, our membership, foremost in our minds.

In these unprecedented times and with the physical meeting of our 63rd congress still postponed we must act again, now, to ensure that we are compliant with our statutes and constitutional obligations.

Among other duties, Liberal International is bound by our constitution to convene a congress every 2 years – which at present means ahead of December 2020. With an in-person meeting no longer feasible this year owing to the pandemic, the LI Bureau has approved a process for calling a 1 hour-long virtual extraordinary congress to be held. This meeting will centre solely on resolving the essential administrative matters of LI.

Date

Tuesday 20th October 2020 at 15:00-16:00 BST/UK-time.

Register

We are asking member parties to be conscious of the size of their delegations due to the ‘virtual space’ in Microsoft Teams – of course, the administrative session will primarily be held to announce the results of the online voting, which will be live on Tuesday 29 September. After wider consulatation, 1 authorised party representative will be required to cast their vote on behalf of the party. Voting will close on Sunday, 18 October 2020.

Registration now closed

Venue

Congress will be convened virtually using the video conferencing platform, Microsoft Teams. To facilitate a smooth experience please download Microsoft Teams in advance by clicking the button below.

Download Microsoft Teams

Programme of events

An exciting programme of political events will be published soon.
Please note that all events advertised are promoted in British Summer Time (GMT+1). Event timings will revert to GMT after 25th October.

View Delegate Pack & Programme

 

Virtual congress agenda

Process

The purpose of this extraordinary congress meeting is to ensure that – despite COVID19 and the enormous limitations imposed on our international federation by the global pandemic – LI remains compliant with its constitutional statutes and obligations to you, our members. Starting at 15:00 BST on Tuesday 20 October, a brief virtual executive committee meeting will precede the virtual congress. Please see this important process that will lead up to this meeting.

Ensure you have downloaded Teams on your desktop or mobile phone

DOWNLOAD FULL PROCESS GRAPHIC

Important deadlines

• Monday 14 September – Registration opens
• Tuesday 15 September – Statutory documents circulated to international officers
• Tuesday 29 September – Digital voting form circulated to international officers
• Wednesday 14 October – (Extended) Registration closes
• Sunday 18 October – Voting closes
• Tuesday 20 October – Virtual congress administrative session on Microsoft Teams – links shared with registered delegates only

FAQs

1. Why is LI holding this virtual congress now? The purpose of this extraordinary congress meeting is to ensure that – despite COVID19 and the enormous limitations imposed on our international federation by the global pandemic – LI remains compliant with its constitutional statutes and obligations to you, our members.
2. Why must I register in advance for a virtual congress? Registering in advance will allow the LI Secretariat to know which of our members will attend allowing us to vet and allocate unique voting codes specific to one party representative.
3. How many people from my party can register? We ask parties to be conscious of the size of their delegations – of course, the administrative session will primarily be held to announce the results of the online voting form. This is due to the Microsoft Teams platform we will be using as they have a limited number of ‘virtual space’ in order to join the meeting.

1. Can I vote? All parties or groups with full member status are entitled to vote, as per the LI constitution. If your party is not entitled to vote you will still be eligible to attend the virtual congress administrative session on 20th October, if you reserve your ticket in advance.
   
2. How does my party vote? Three weeks ahead of the congress, your party’s international officer will receive a digital voting form (available in the three official languages of Liberal International). Your party’s nominated voter will complete a declaration confirming that s/he is empowered to vote on the three essential questions that LI will put to the membership. Once the questions have been answered your form is submitted and your party’s votes allocated according to your preference. It is advised that consultation within your party on the questions being tabled take place ahead of submitting your vote.
3. Who can vote? Emails will be shared with the international officers of our member parties. In consultation with their member party, one person will be asked to complete the voting form and cast their party’s votes, as is typical an in-person congress. The person completing the form will be asked to confirm that they are eligible to vote on behalf of their party. The LI secretariat may contact a party’s international office to confirm the credentials of a person who has completed the voting form.
4. What questions will we feature in voting on and why? The voting form will ask voting members of the LI Congress and Executive Committees to approve three questions.
   i) In order to remain compliant with the LI standing orders, Congress will be asked to approve three scrutineers to ensure that the votes are accurately counted and recorded.
   ii) The constitutional reform committee chairman will present congress with the full and final version of the constitutional amendments, on which Congress will be asked to vote. This will conclude a 2-year process of streamlining the LI statutes and making them fit for purpose as LI develops into a stronger, more global organisation appealing to new parties and partners.
   iii) Voting members of the Executive Committee will be asked by the LI treasurers to review and approve the LI budget for 2021.
   vi) The acting secretary-general will ask the membership to extend the LI statutes by 12 months, owing to COVID making in-person meetings impossible in 2020. LI must, according to its existing statutes convene a congress every 2 years. With this not possible in the traditional manner, the congress, as the highest decision-making body of the Federation may approve an extension.
5. Will anyone know how I have voted? Voting at in-person congresses is done publicly in plenary. The digital congress will, through the voting form shared with your party 3 weeks prior to the congress meeting, not be public. While the membership will hear the final outcome of the votes on 20th October, on this occasion only the election scrutineers will see how individual parties have voted.
6. When will the results be announced? The results of the voting will be declared during the extraordinary virtual congress administrative session, which will be held at 15:00 Uk-time on 20th October 2020.
7. How do I ask a question? The secretariat invites questions related to the process or format of the virtual congress ahead of time – contact us via email here. However, the challenges LI faces – widely varying timezones, possibly poor internet connections, etc – mean that questions related to the queries related to questions on the voting form cannot be addressed during the administrative session – not least because this virtual meeting is centred on announcing the results.
8. How long will I have to vote? We recommend reviewing the questions with you party in advance and completing the voting form in one sitting. Once submitted, votes cannot be amended. Voting will close on Sunday 18 October 2020.
9. How are the votes counted? Votes will be counted by the election scrutineers appointed by the LI executive committee & the LI congress.
10. Will my party receive the same amount of votes as the last congress? Every party’s votes are checked between statutory events. They are calculated accordion to a specific formula which includes factors such as the number of members and parliamentary representation among others.

 

1. I’m interested in joining the administrative meeting… but how do I take part? In order to partake in the Congress administrative meeting, we recommend that at least one party representative be present. We are asking parties to be conscious about the size of their delegations. This is due to a limited amount of space in the virtual meeting. Nonetheless, you will have to register via Eventbrite, the access code will be shared with your party’s International Officer.
2. Will there be any political component to this virtual congress? In fact, over the course of the congress period, LI will feature more political fringe events than ever! Look out for our fantastic digital lineup happening throughout October.
3. The admin session is only 1 hour long? What format will the meeting take? The format will be virtual, via Microsoft Teams. A detailed agenda can be found in the programme [TBC]
4. Why aren’t you presenting new members and bureau candidates at this congress? Due to COVID19 this meeting will deal only with the essential administrative functions of Liberal International.
5. Will there be an executive committee meeting? Yes, a short an essential executive committee meeting at 15:00 UK time on Tuesday 20th October will precede the virtual congress. EC delegates will also be asked to vote when the online voting form is circulated on the 29 September.