KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia succeeded in securing a joint Asean statement condemning violence against Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli incursions into the Middle East, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the agreement, reached during Malaysia's Asean chairmanship, marked a significant diplomatic achievement, as the regional bloc had previously struggled to reach a consensus on explicitly condemning Israel's actions.
"For the first time, we managed to issue a joint statement at the Asean level during our chairmanship.
"Previously, we could not reach a consensus within Asean. Asean requires consensus. Without it, only a chairman's statement could be issued," he said in response to a supplementary question from Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (PH-Balik Pulau).
Mohamad acknowledged that reaching a common position among Asean members was challenging because of differing views and the bloc's consensus-based decision-making process.
"We know Asean has different views among its members," he said, adding that the joint statement represented progress.
He said Malaysia would continue raising the Palestinian issue on regional and international platforms, noting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim consistently pressed the matter during engagements with foreign leaders.
He said Anwar had raised the issue directly with the German chancellor and at multilateral meetings, including those involving BRICS and APEC, regardless of the diplomatic setting.
"The prime minister has never left the Gaza issue off the agenda. Wherever he goes, at multilateral or international meetings, he raises it strongly," he said.
He also reiterated Malaysia's call for reforms to the United Nations Security Council, arguing that expanding its permanent and non-permanent membership alone would not resolve the problem of veto powers being used to block action on Palestine.
Mohamad added that he had raised the issue with the UN secretary-general, warning that repeatedly adopting resolutions only to see action blocked by vetoes risked making a mockery of the international body.
"What is the point of 160 countries expressing support and adopting resolutions together, only for them to be vetoed by one country in the United Nations Security Council?" he said.
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