DAP calls for
all-party roundtable conference to forge an united national non-partisan
response to the US unilateral-led war against Iraq to deal with the
international, political and economic fall-outs of the first war of the new
millennium which might claim UN as its first casualty outside Iraq
Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
(Petaling Jaya,
Friday):
DAP endorses the call by the Acting Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi that Malaysians must be rational and not be guided by
sentiments and emotions in facing the Iraq crisis.
Yesterday, the United States launched its war against Iraq, starting with an
opportunistic stike to kill Saddam Hussein and decapitate the top Iraqi
leadership with a salvo of cruise missiles and bombs, but which proved to be
a failure.
Abdullah's live RTM live telecast on the start of the US-led war on Iraq is
a proper reflection of the gravity of the new international situation as
Malaysia will not be spared from its international, political and economic
effects and the country must take the necessary measures not only to lessen
their adverse impacts but to adapt to a new geo-political world scene.
It is unfortunate that Parliament yesterday failed to rise to the occasion
to adjourn its current business to proceed to an emergency motion to convey
the unanimous all-party condemnation of the US-led unilateral war against
Iraq without United Nations Security Council sanction as well as to
demonstrate a national unity and resolve to address the challenges arising
from the second Gulf War.
In this hour of national and international crisis, there is an even greater
need for national unity to deal with the new global threats.
For this reason, DAP calls for an all-party roundtable conference to forge
an united national non-partisan response to the US unilateral-led war
against Iraq to deal with the international, political and economic
fall-outs of the first war of the new millennium which might claim the
United Nations as its first casualty outside Iraq.
Malaysia is Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), dubbed the second
largest organization of nation-states after the United Nations. How is
Malaysia to provide leadership to NAM to face the challenges of the illegal
and unjust war unleashed by the United States against Iraq without UN
sanction, and the worst-case scenarios in a post-Iraq-war world?
Or is NAM to be finally exposed as utterly irrelevant and impotent in the
world affairs of the 21st century, with Malaysia in the chair after we have
spent hundreds of millions of ringgit to host the recent 13th NAM Summit in
Kuala Lumpur?
What could NAM do to salvage the credibility and purpose of the United
Nations from meeting the fate of its predecessor, the League of Nations and
relegated to the dustbin of history?
What should Malaysia, both the government and people, do to act rationally
to respond to the Iraq crisis?
What are the economic impacts of the Iraq war on Malaysia and what should be
the thrust and priority issues in the first economic stimulus package to
protect and safeguard the Malaysian economy?
The police ban on all protests and demonstrations against the US-led war
against Iraq, except for the government-sponsored demonstration by the
Malaysian People's Alliance for Peace (Peace Malaysia), smacks of political
double-standards and expediency which have nothing whatsoever to do with a
"rational response" to the Iraq war or maintaining order and security, and
should be rescinded.
These and many other weighty issues consequent upon the launching of the
United States-led unilateral war against Iraq should be properly addressed
at the all-party roundtable conference on the second Gulf War which should
be convened within 48 to 72 hours.
(21/3/2003)
*
Lim Kit Siang, DAP National
Chairman
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