Malaysia

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the President on his election to preside over the sixty-second session of the General Assembly. Malaysia will work with him towards realizing the objectives of the Organization, particularly in efforts aimed at conferring more power on the General Assembly in managing the affairs of the United Nations. The course of human history is marked by a few pivotal moments during which we had an opportunity to make either the correct or the wrong decision, which had an impact on the destinies of those who come after. We are now living in such a time. There are certain problems that touch all our lives without exception. The change in climate and the increasing discord between cultures and civilizations are two such problems. The first problem is now globally affecting the well-being of planet Earth, while the second is threatening to tear apart the fabric of peaceful relations between peoples and nations. Let me first say something about climate change. We are now fully aware of the gravity and the immediacy of the situation. Natural disasters and other extremes in the weather are occurring now, often in parts of the world that never before experienced such calamities. The worst is yet to come. Indeed, the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that the scale and urgency of the challenge is greater than we had thought or feared. In December of this year, Indonesia will be hosting on Bali the thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We must agree to launch the process for negotiations on a post-2012 agreement. Ongoing national and regional initiatives to deal with climate change must not compete with, and should instead complement, the negotiations under the United Nations framework. Malaysia will fully support Indonesia in order to ensure that the Bali Conference achieves the success that it deserves. We need to achieve consensus on certain fundamental issues, even before the negotiations begin for a post-2012 agreement. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities must prevail. We must recognize the fact that the poorest countries of the world have the least capacity to adapt and should therefore be apportioned the least responsibility to mitigate the impacts of climate change. A post-2012 agreement needs to build upon the architecture and other fundamentals of the Kyoto Protocol. For example, there should be absolute emission-reduction targets for developed countries, expanded mechanisms that facilitate contributions from developing countries and special provisions for the least developed countries and the small island developing States. We know that climate change has implications not only for the environment but also for the global economy. That is an important additional reason why the principle of differentiated responsibilities must apply, so that developing countries can maintain their capacities for sustainable development. Of course, developing countries have their part to play in the management of climate change, but it must be commensurate with their abilities to perform. On this subject, we must never forget the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where it all began. Caring for the environment and ensuring sustainable development were the themes of that global conference. The message of that Summit was that nothing less than a transformation of our attitude and behaviour will bring about the necessary changes. Those principles remain fully valid, and they should guide us as we begin the process of negotiations for the post-2012 agreement on climate change. Let me now turn to the problem of the discord that is growing between Islam in general and the West as a whole. The main cause is the misperception in the West that Islam promotes exclusivity and encourages extremism. We must take action to generate greater understanding between the followers of different cultural and civilizational traditions. Malaysia fully supports the various efforts being made in that regard at the international level. We are confident that such dialogue will establish the truth that Islam is a religion that espouses universalism and not exclusivity, and tolerance rather than bigotry. Malaysia is equally convinced that it is wrong to put the blame on religion as the cause of existing disputes between nations. All genuine religions advocate peace and harmony among peoples, as well as acceptance of others. That is certainly the case with Islam, which teaches its believers to practice tolerance, forgiveness, peace, fraternity and coexistence. The Koran, which is the foundation of the religion of Islam, is very explicit in recognizing the existence of religions other than Islam. That religion is not the root cause of the world’s troubles, as has been confirmed by the report of the High-level Group for the Alliance of Civilizations that was released on 13 November 2006. The report maintains that, although religion is often cynically exploited to stir passions, fuel suspicions and support alarmist claims that the world is facing a new war of religions, the root of the matter is political, not religious. We should support various initiatives at the national and regional levels to promote the message and recommendations of the 2006 report. Nevertheless, it is Malaysia’s view that such national and regional initiatives must finally culminate in a truly universal dialogue based on the multilateral intergovernmental process. It is only such a process that can establish binding commitments. Indeed, the success of such a dialogue has now become an important condition for securing the wider goals of global peace, security and prosperity. There is a tendency to blame history, but there is no evidence in history that points to religion as the cause of the current discord between cultures and civilizations. Religion is not the explanation for the existence of conflicts between Western and Muslim countries. The answer lies in more recent times: the repeated use of force by the powerful over the weak to secure strategic or territorial gains. The vestiges of those wars for control and domination persist today as the gnawing problems in Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Golan Heights and Iraq. With regard to Iraq, we cannot deny the fact that many of the problems now confronting the people of Iraq emanate from foreign occupation of that great country. Iraqis should be given a full opportunity to determine their own future. For that purpose, Iraq needs a government of national unity. That can be accomplished through national reconciliation. I place great emphasis on national unity, because it has been our experience in Malaysia that national unity is best achieved through the practice of power- sharing in a government in which ethnic groups of different religious faiths are represented. Our Government has succeeded in bringing peace and prosperity to the country for the past 50 years of Malaysia’s independence. The international community has a clear responsibility to assist the people of Iraq to achieve peace and stability, so that the unity of Iraq as a nation is preserved, and the territorial integrity of Iraq as a State is not compromised. With equal candour, I must also say that the problem of Palestine, which has been festering for 60 years without a solution being found, tops the list of grievances that the Islamic world holds against the West. We are all aware that there are fresh initiatives to bring Israel and Palestine, together with other States, to high-level peace talks in the very near future. Although I take the position that any final settlement of the issue of Palestine must necessarily take place within the framework of the United Nations, let us support the peace talks and hope that they create momentum for a true meeting of minds. In particular, we should urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to act courageously so as to meet the needs and expectations of their peoples, who have suffered long enough. Of course, real peace can only be achieved if the legitimate rights of peoples are recognized and protected during the negotiations. Palestine has been partitioned before. That should never happen again. All of us must play the role of honest brokers, assisting the parties through a difficult negotiating process on the path towards true peace. Both sides to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must commit to reaching solutions through compromise. This opportunity must be seized. The onus of delivery is on all of us. I believe that the single most important issue in the way of peace and fraternity between Islamic and Western countries is the unsettled problem of Palestine. I am equally certain that once the problem of Palestine is settled, there will be greater harmony between Western and Islamic countries, the inheritors of the world’s two greatest religions and civilizations. For their part, Muslims have a responsibility to present to the world the true face of Islam. It must be made clear that Islam is a religion that abhors conflicts, more so between Muslims. When disputes do arise, Islam enjoins forgiveness and reconciliation through mushawarah, which can be translated as engaging in dialogue and peaceful negotiation. Furthermore, the teachings of Islam put a very high premium on peace and development. Islam is definitely not an encumbrance to progress and prosperity. In my country, Malaysia, although Muslims constitute the large majority of the population, the Government has used the progressive teachings of Islam as the basis for good governance to deliver benefits to all sectors of our multi-ethnic and multireligious society without discrimination. We call this approach Islam Hadhari. I have highlighted two major challenges that we now face in our time. I remain optimistic, however, that universal human fraternity and coexistence are attainable if, and when, critical political and strategic issues are resolved in tandem with the closing of the gap of misunderstandings between cultures and civilizations. That effort requires our collective wisdom and courage to recognize the problems. The well-being of planet Earth and all the people who inhabit it are actually within our control. We must have the will to moderate our excesses and cater for the needs of future generations, using science and technology as our tools. The time for us to invest in our collective future is here and now. I would be remiss if Malaysia being a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) I ignored the situation in Myanmar. ASEAN has done everything possible to encourage Myanmar towards reconciliation and democracy. Their failure to do so has brought upon them the current situation. Let me express my country’s disapproval, along with that of other ASEAN countries, of the use of excessive force by the Government of Myanmar to put down justifiable civilian protests. Malaysia supports the efforts of the United Nations in sending Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar. We call upon the Government of Myanmar to give him its fullest cooperation to enable him to fulfil his mission on behalf of the international community. Let me also call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and for direct engagement between the leaders of Myanmar and various groups in particular the National League for Democracy.