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MasLer of Ceremonles, CuesL Speaker rofessor 8lman rasad, nl ?ouLh and Women's
coordlnaLors, arLy Cfflclals, former offlclals, former Ms, Mayors and Counclllors, parLy
sLalwarLs and guesLs.
l am deeply honoured as nl resldenL Lo be able Lo welcome you all Lo Lhls hlsLorlc
funcLlon Loday.
As l acknowledge and Lhank our founders, parLy leaders, members and acLlvlsLs over Lhe
years for all Lhelr conLrlbuLlon, l also acknowledge Lhose presenL here LonlghL and who
have served our parLy ln varlous capaclLles. l wanL Lo parLlcularly recognlse Lhe presence of
................. ..........................
lease glve Lhem a warm applause as appreclaLlon for Lhelr conLrlbuLlon and sacrlflces.
1o survlve flfLy years as an lnsLlLuLlon and more so as a pollLlcal parLy ls no mean feaL.
1onlghL Lhe naLlonal lederaLlon arLy [olns Lhe ranks of perhaps only a small number of
slmllar organlsaLlons ln Lhe world who have achleved such a mllesLone.
1o be able Lo do so requlres a sLrong foundaLlon, a basls ln sound phllosophy, prlnclple and
pollcy, and mosL lmporLanLly an abldlng commlLmenL from all of us. l am proud Lo say Lhe
nl has all of LhaL.
Ladles and genLlemen pollLlcal parLles and Lhelr behavlour are always Lhe sub[ecL of lnLense
scruLlny, analysls and recordlng by hlsLorlans, academlcs, pollLlcal analysLs and Lhe medla.
1he nl ls no excepLlon. Much has been wrlLLen abouL our parLy and leaders pasL by
dlsLlngulshed hlsLorlans and mosL noLably by rofessor 8rl[ Lal who has chronlcled and
documenLed a large volume of our early and recenL hlsLory.
l urge you all parLlcularly Lhe youLh of Loday Lo read Lhese Lo beLLer undersLand Lhe
sLruggles and sacrlflces LhaL have shaped modern ll[l. lL ls ofLen sald and l also agree LhaL lL
ls only when we acknowledge and undersLand our pasL LhaL we can deal wlLh Lhe presenL
and prepare for Lhe fuLure.
ShorLly LonlghL anoLher dlsLlngulshed conLemporary academlc and soclo-pollLlcal
commenLaLor rofessor 8lman rasad wlll Lake us on a slmllar [ourney of our half cenLury's
exlsLence.
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8uL leL me say LhaL as we remember Lhese pasL flfLy years we musL also focus on Lhe
challenges LhaL lle ahead.
Ladles and genLlemen we have been ln Lhe grlps of a mlllLary dlcLaLorshlp for Lhe pasL seven
years. lL appears Lo be ln a hurry Lo lmpose whaL lL clalms as lLs own unlque vlslon for ll[l. lL
ls Lyplcal of such reglmes Lo do whaL Lhey do and Lo wanL Lo do so wlLhouL Lhe complexlLles
of popular approval and accounLablllLy.

ln our recenL Lravels around Lhe counLry we have found LhaL mosL ordlnary people hold Lhe
bellef LhaL an elecLlon wlll once agaln resLore fully Lhe rlghLs, freedoms and democracy LhaL
Lhey had known before. 1hey have llLLle or no appreclaLlon LhaL Lhe 2013 ConsLlLuLlon wlll
subsLlLuLe Lhe mlllLary dlcLaLorshlp wlLh a consLlLuLlonal dlcLaLorshlp and whlch enLrenches
even more deeply Lhe resLrlcLlons on personal llberLles, lack of accounLablllLy, an lron cloak
of lmmunlLy and mosL serlously a perpeLual prohlblLlon on Lhe peoples' ablllLy Lo
consLlLuLlonally change LhaL consLlLuLlon ever.
Ladles and genLlemen our lmmedlaLe fuLure wlll be hugely challenglng and wlll requlre
speclal skllls and commlLmenLs from leaders.
Cur arLy has survlved many challenges buL perhaps Lhe blggesL was ln any case for me
personally early Lhls year when as we prepared Lo celebraLe our greaL achlevemenL of 30
years, we also faced Lhe real posslblllLy of exLlncLlon.
?ou all know when Lhe reglme lmposed Lhe pollLlcal parLles reglsLraLlon decree early Lhls
year lL seemed an lmposslble Lask for exlsLlng parLles Lo be able Lo meeL Lhe requlremenLs.
ln facL we are only parLy Lo have survlved LhaL challenge and remaln lnLacL.
lor nl Lhe Lask was even more daunLlng as Lhe decree ouLlawed Lwo of our key
personallLles from holdlng offlce or even belng members of Lhe arLy.
As we celebraLe Lhls occaslon l wlsh Lo puL on record Lhe arLy's slncere appreclaLlon Lo Lhe
dozens of our supporLers who rose Lo Lhe challenge and Lhe over 8000 who slgned up Lhelr
supporL for our reglsLraLlon wlLhln Lhe space of a couple of weeks.
l expecL from all of you here LonlghL as well as from all ouL Lhere Lo commlL Lhe same level
of supporL for Lhe arLy ln Lhe weeks and monLhs ahead.
llnally, l wanL Lo clear Lhe mlsconcepLlon or lll-lnformaLlon amongsL some quarLers abouL
Lhe nl worklng wlLh oLher pollLlcal parLles for nexL year's general elecLlons. We have been
parL of Lhe unlLed lronL for uemocraLlc ll[l (ulul) for Lhe sole purpose of ensurlng genulne
democracy ln ll[l, noLhlng else.
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1hls ls noL a new Lrend as hlsLorlcally and even currenLly LhroughouL Lhe world, pollLlcal
parLles have cooperaLed on naLlonal lssues and common values LhaL are unlversal.

Powever, l wlsh Lo make lL clear LhaL Lhe nl wlll conLesL Lhe general elecLlons on lLs own.
We have noL and wlll noL form a coallLlon wlLh Lhe ll[l Labour arLy, Soclal uemocraLlc
Llberal arLy (SCuLLA), Lhe eoples uemocraLlc arLy (u) or any oLher parLy yeL Lo be
haLched, for Lhe purposes of conLesLlng Lhe general elecLlons.
lease en[oy Lhe resL of Lhe evenlng and l look forward Lo sharlng oLher experlences afLer
Lhe formallLles are over.

1hank you.