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Chinese Liberal Democrats welcome coalition and vow to fight for Chinese interests
May 12, 2010 4:47 PM
The announcement of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has met with mixed responses from all sides. Many recognise that a strong, stable, government is in the national interests and that mathematically this was never possible with any form of Liberal Democrat-Labour administration.
It will pose it's own challenges, especially after David Cameron's comments with regards to Trident and China, but this is why the role of the Liberal Democrats to moderate Conservative policies in the coming years will be incredibly important.
Nick Clegg and the Chair of CLD Merlene Emerson
Chair of the Chinese Liberal Democrats, Merlene Toh Emerson welcomed this new era of politics stating:
"Any agreement was always going to involve compromise. The Conservatives didn't win, Labour didn't win, the Liberal Democrats didn't win. The agreement between our two parties recognises this and brings us together where we can. Of course there are many areas where both the Liberal Democrats, and indeed the Chinese Liberal Democrats, will continue to fight and campaign, in particular around immigration for example."
She continued:
"The big task at hand will be in dealing with the UK economy and we are pleased that Vince Cable MP will get a Cabinet job in banking and business. The markets have reacted positively to the news of the coalition and I would like everyone in Britain to give the new coalition Government the support they need to tackle the huge challenges ahead."
Cllr Allan Siao Ming Witherick speaking on some of the concerns raised said:
"If you voted Liberal Democrat you will now see us working to make Liberal Democrat policies a reality which must be a good thing.
We are not an annexe to the Conservative party and neither were we ever an extension of the Labour party.
One of our arguments for Proportional Representation is that the parliament would better reflect the views of the people. Unfortunately, despite an increase in the vote share to 23% nationally we secured just 8.8% of the seats. So whilst a Labour-Liberal Democrat grouping represent 52% of the vote we would have had just 49% of the seats in parliament, making an such coalition highly unstable and simply non-viable."
You can read the full text of the agreement using the link below.
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