The special parliamentary motion on US-led war on Iraq should be jointly
drafted and sponsored by BN, BA and DAP, and should propose effective NAM
responses, such as UN Security Council resolution to send UN forces to Iraq
and to convene a special session of the UN General Assembly
Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
(Petaling Jaya,
Saturday):
DAP welcomes the government decision on a special motion in the Dewan Rakyat
as early as Monday to allow all political parties to state their stand on
the United States' attack on Iraq.
When US President Bush unleashed war on Iraq on Thursday, DAP had called for
an immediate motion and debate in Parliament to convey the unanimous
all-party condemnation of the US-led unilateral war against Iraq without
United Nations Security Council sanction and for the government to lay out
its contingency plan in the post-Iraq war, in particular the economic
stimulus package which had been completed sometime ago but held back
awaiting the Iraqi war.
DAP fully agrees with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister, Datuk
Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that the government and opposition parties shed
their differences and speak with one voice on this important issue, and that
the debate should not be derailed and linked to other issues.
For such a spirit to prevail with the desired result , the Barisan Nasional
government should take the first step to demonstrate its sincerity in
adopting a totally non-partisan approach on the issue, starting by
consulting with the Barisan Alternative and DAP on the wording of the
special parliamentary motion as well as a joint sponsorship of the motion in
Parliament, i.e. proposed by the Barisan Nasional, seconded firstly by
Barisan Alternative followed by the DAP. There is time for such consultation
in the 48 hours before any such debate in Parliament on Monday.
Secondly, the Barisan Nasional government should demonstrate its willingness
to adopt a non-partisan stand on the Iraq issue, and not just for a
parliamentary debate but outside Parliament as well, and this was why DAP
had proposed the convening of an all-party roundtable conference to forge an
united national non-partisan response to the US unilateral-led war against
Iraq to deal with its international, political and economic fall-outs for
the country.
One of the challenges facing Malaysia is how to shoulder the responsibility
of the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), dubbed the second largest
organization of nation-states after the United Nations, and prove that NAM
is not totally irrelevant and impotent in the face of the greatest challenge
to international law and order for half a century posed by the US-led
unilateral war against Iraq without UN sanctions.
The special parliamentary motion in Parliament should also
address this challenge, suggesting effective NAM responses, such as
spearheading a NAM requisition for an emergency meeting of the UN Security
Council to send UN forces to Iraq and to convene a special session of the UN
General Assembly to demand an immediate halt to the US-led war or
alternatively, that the United Nations should bear a major responsibility in
the post-war reconstruction of Iraq to ensure that the US-led war on Iraq is
not followed by the US conquest and colonization of Iraq.
(22/3/2003)
*
Lim Kit Siang, DAP National
Chairman
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http://dapmalaysia.org