The Liberal International 62nd Congress took place between the 28th and the 30th of November 2018 in Dakar, Senegal.  

On this occasion, African presidents and heads of state members of the Liberal International were among the keynote speakers, including the President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara, the Senegalese President Macky Sall and the exiting chairman of the Liberal International Juli Minoves. They exchanged about the expansion of the Liberal International to other African countries, and discussed limitations of presidential mandates and rewriting of constitutions. President Ouattara encouraged his Senegalese counterpart to follow his example, repeating his promise not to be candidate to a re-election at the end of his second mandate and arguing that the two mandates limitation was a key element to maintaining democracy in Africa. President Sall acknowledged whille reminding that legally the amendment of the Senegalese constitution to limit the exercise of power to two mandates did not apply to his first mandate.

 Hakima El Haite, member of the Bridge Tank’s board, was elected as the new president of the Liberal International, becoming the first African woman to hold this position. 

Joël Ruet attended this election, along with several current or former heads of government. Among them was Cellou Dallein Diallo, former Guinean Prime Minister and candidate to the Guinean presidential election. Him and The Bridge Tank have already worked together in the past, notably on the Climate Summit for local and regional leaders of November 2016.

This edition of the congress included the launch of the Climate Justice Committee, and working sessions on gender equality to which Joël Ruet participated. These work sessions notably focused on the barriers to and opportunities for women’s full and equal political participation.