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The Network for Social Democracy in Asia (SocDem Asia), currently comprised of 15 political parties from 11 countries in Asia, extends its warmest greetings to our comrades in The Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN) on the occasion of their 5th National Congress! SocDem Asia recognizes the pivotal role of FRETILIN in the struggle for independence of the people of Timor-Leste and laying the foundations of democratic rule in the country. FRETILIN has been and continues to be a vital partner and sister-party of SocDem Asia and other social democratic and progressive political parties in Asia.

WHEREAS, we recognize that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for the peoples of the world. At its core are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are an urgent call for countries for global partnership.

The Network of Social Democracy in Asia (SocDem Asia) strongly condemns the recent executions of democracy and human rights activists Phyo Zeya Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw by the military regime in Myanmar. This heinous action committed by the military regime is the latest, but not the last, act of terror and brutality it has unleashed on the peoples of Myanmar. One hundred seventeen (117) political personalities have been sentenced to death since the coup, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP). Through this action, the military junta continue to rule by violence and fear. The execution of these pro-democracy activists alongside countless instances of atrocities against civilian populations and opposition groups must end. Peace, democracy, and prosperity in Myanmar cannot exist while the military junta remains.

The Network of Social Democracy in Asia, composed of 14 progressive parties across 11 countries in Asia expresses its warmest congratulations to the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) on its 2022 National Congress!

"SocDem Asia member parties and partners met in Bangkok from 18-20 May for the Defend Democracy Working Group, the first face to face activity in two years, to discuss the challenges and lessons faced by the region's democratic struggles in the past years with the rise of authoritarianism, COVID-19 pandemic, and economic crises.

Awarded Nationalities Hero Prize by the United Nationalities Alliance of Burma/Myanmar, Prisoner of Conscience by the Amnesty International, the leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy Khun Htun Oo, was sentenced for a total of 93 years of imprisonment by the military junta for standing up for the rigths of the ethnic people and the democratic union.

The year 2022 will see no less than 7 countries in Asia go to the polling booths to choose their local, state, and national leaders. In some countries the local elections will be a proving ground and dress rehearsal for progressive and social democratic parties to test whether they are able to consolidate their forces in regional areas and bailiwicks before the more decisive general elections.

In others, the election will determine the course of their country's progress and whether they are able to surmount populist and authoritarian forces.

A year has already passed since February 1, 2021 when the military establishment of Myanmar staged a coup to overthrow the legitimately elected government and members of parliament and plunged the country once again into military dictatorship. As a result of its takeover, mass arrests and human rights violations have again been perpetrated against its civilian population. An estimated 1,500 individuals have been killed in violent crackdowns perpetrated by the military junta. Thousands more continue to languish in jail. These along with the filing of spurious charges against leaders and activists of opposition organizations and political parties are intended to weaken the popular resistance against the regime and pacify the population. However, these measures are creating the opposite effect.

Leading up to the German Federal Elections last September, many political analysts and media commentators already wrote off the German Social Democrats as the election's biggest losers and pointed to its eventual decline. The opposite happened.