Libertas: The largest group ever to run for European elections
Brussels, May 18th: Libertas, the pan-European people’s movement for a democratic, accountable and transparent European Union, is to-date backing 613 candidates for the European elections next month. This makes Libertas the single largest group ever to run for the European elections.
488 of the 613 candidates are running directly as Libertas candidates. A further 125 are running for parties with which Libertas has formed alliances. France, Spain, Italy, Poland and the UK have the highest number of candidates.Candidates include a former Prime Minister (Latvia), a former finance minister (Czech Republic), former presidential candidates (France), a former head of an NGO for the blind (Spain), a former soldier who fought the Taliban (UK) as well as teachers, lawyers, farmers, entrepreneurs and others from all walks of life.
The Libertas messages of more disclosure, accountability, less waste and letting people have their say in Brussels have been resonating across Europe. Several times during the campaign, the Libertas.eu website has become the most visited political party website in the world, out-performing sites such as the US Democratic party website.
Declan Ganley, Chairman of Libertas said: “Our high number of candidates is indicative of the size of the people’s movement across Europe that wants Brussels to change. Libertas, by running a pan-European campaign, is the only group that can really bring about change. National parties from even the largest countries have only a tiny percentage of seats in the Parliament. The Libertas Group in the Parliament will be at the centre of the debate – a driving force for a better Europe for its people. If people want a change in the EU, then they must vote for a Libertas candidate.”
Libertas paid Walesa to speak in Rome
EUobserver.com
03.05 @ 10:06 CET
Polish Nobel Prize winner Lech Walesa admitted in an interview with daily Gazeta Wyborcza that Libertas paid him to speak at its congress in Rome last Friday, where he wished the anti-Lisbon treaty party "success." "I wouldn't do it for free," he told the newspaper, but refused to disclose the sum.
“Gentlemen do not talk about money to other gentlemen,” Mr Ganley (Libertas chairman) told the daily newspaper Dziennik yesterday. “The word ‘honorarium’ includes the word ‘honour’. Let’s drop the subject.”
Asked by the Polish newspaper about claims he had received a €50,000 fee for the speech, Mr Walesa replied jokingly: “Are you selling me short? You must be joking. You’d have to work one year for the same amount of money that I can get for one lecture.” In a separate interview, Mr Walesa said he accepted the Libertas invitation because he is unable to live off his state pension…
