KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Gerakan Malaysia (Gerakan) yesterday admitted that the party is a member of Liberal International.
Its secretary-general Loh Kah Yong, however, insisted that parties in Liberal International vary in ideologies and do not necessarily share the same aspirations and ideals.
This included Liberation International's stance to support Israel, which Loh said was made without the consensus of members of the organisation.
"It is regrettable for Liberal International to publish statements in support of Israel without the consensus from its members and observers, including Gerakan.
"We find this distasteful and disappointing, as the international community should be standing firmly in solidarity with the Palestinians, instead of showering support to the aggressor, i.e. Israel," read the statement.
Loh added that Gerakan would not hesitate to take the stern action of withdrawing further engagements with the organisation, especially when it contravenes the very values of liberty, equality, and community it long espoused.
On the other side of the political divide, PKR has dismissed claims accusing the party a member of the United Kingdom-based organisation.
The party's information chief Fahmi Fadzil yesterday said PKR has made an official request to Liberal International to take down the party's name and logo from their website.
He said that he had contacted Liberal International to correct the matter as PKR was never a party to the organisation.
As of press time, checks by the New Straits Times on Liberal International's website at www.liberal-international.org (https://www.liberal-international.org/) showed that the organisation has already removed PKR's name and logo.