Member of the European Parliament Mr Marco Pannella was received by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his residence in Dharamsala, India

Dharamshala: Marco Pannella, MEP, also leader of the Italian Radical Party and a member party of Liberal International affiliate party (ELDR), was received by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his residence in Dharamshala, India, on 28 December 2007.

During their meeting, His Holiness and Mr Pannella discussed the initiative of the Radical Party to label 2008 as the year of the First World Satyagraha for Democracy, Justice and Freedom. Satyagraha is a philosophy and practice of nonviolent resistance developed by Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Gandhi.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, expressed their appreciation of the initiative, and claimed that no other political party ever took such a Gandhian, nonviolent approach. The Radical Party’s application for observer membership in the Liberal International will be discussed at the upcoming Belfast Congress in May of this year.