PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Dr. Sandra M. Chase

Dear Fellow Liga Members,

The 53rd Congress of Liga Medicorum Homœopathica Internationalis to be held in Amsterdam 25-29 April 1998 is a crucial one. This is true not just because it is a Triennial Meeting, accompanied by a General Assembly of the Membership, but also because those in attendance will be participating in an historic moment in the renowned life of the seventy-three year old venerable institution known as the Liga.

In 1995, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the LMHI Executive Officers decided to put forth a proposal to the International Council Meeting to be held in October 1996 in Capri, Italy, to change the current LMHI Statutes. The concept is to change the document, separating it into a Statutes and a Procedures. There are two primary reasons for effecting this change. The first reason is that the proposal will make it easier to make desired changes in the Liga's structure and administration and the second reason is that it will make the Liga more democratic.

As the Liga Statutes exist currently, too many procedural details, including even the specific amount of the annual dues, are contained within that constitutional document. Moreover, it requires the calling of an Extraordinary Assembly to effect any changes. This is an unwieldy and time-consuming proposition to achieve. Under the proposed separation into Statutes and Procedures, only the most fundamental articles, including name, purpose, membership categories and requisites, definition of the officers and definition of the official bodies of the Liga will be retained in the Statutes. Moreover, under the proposed change, the International Council will be the highest authority in the LMHI. It will require a two-thirds vote of the International Council to amend the Statutes.

The Procedures document shall include such items as mechanisms for creation of committees, specific job descriptions of the members of the International Council, setting of the annual dues, etc. The Procedures will be able to be altered by a simple majority vote of the members of the International Council in attendance.

By attending the 53rd Congress of LMHI in Amsterdam and participating as a Liga member in the General Assembly, one has the opportunity to vote to make the Liga more democratic by voting to support this proposal. By making the International Council the highest governing authority in the Liga, it makes it possible for each country's national association(s) to believe that they have a voice in the operation of the LMHI via their liaison officer heretofor known as the National Vice President. This is because their one vote will not be overwhelmed by the many votes that may be cast by the Liga members from the host country who are more easily able to attend their own hosted congress.

Another matter upon which each member country is being asked to vote prior to the 53rd Congress by mail ballot via their current National Vice President is the title by which that liaison officer will be known from now on. By the time each member is reading this Liga Letter, that mail vote regarding the office designation should have been completed.

I hope that each LMHI member country's current National Vice President has discussed with his/her country's national association(s) these proposals so that these association(s) will understand the monumental changes that are being made in the Liga's administration to make the LMHI more democratic which can only benefit us all.

See you in Amsterdam,

Sandra M. Chase, MD.