Kuwait-proposed Jerusalem emergency article passed: Speaker
GENEVA: Kuwait National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said yesterday that the passing of the emergency article relating to Jerusalem, presented by
Kuwait and three other countries, confirmed that Arab and Islamic countries could achieve a lot when cooperating. The Israeli delegation has been deeply embarrassed in terms of voting and this confirms that ‘peaceful’ parliamentary diplomacy can achieve a lot, Ghanem said. The Kuwaiti delegation, in cooperation with Arab and Islamic countries’ delegations, succeeded in passing the Kuwaiti proposal, which was a difficult challenge, he added.
Since the establishment of the IPU, the proposals of the Arab geopolitical group have not succeeded in any of the sessions except in the past two, when a proposal for the Rohingya went through and this year the proposal of Kuwait, he pointed out. A committee in the Arab Parliament recommended to include an emergency article related to Jerusalem crisis on the agenda of IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) meeting. The article passed concerns Washington’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, two Kuwaiti MPs have shared the view that an emergency article on Jerusalem was passed at the 138th Assembly of the IPU thanks to Kuwait’s balanced policies and respect of human rights. Member of the Kuwaiti Parliamentary Group attending the IPU Assembly Ali Al-Deqbasi said the fact that the proposal, submitted by Kuwait, Bahrain, Palestine and Turkey, received 843 votes in favor and 108 against, reflected the distinctive status of the Kuwaiti National Assembly. He stressed the significant role of the Kuwaiti parliamentary diplomacy that always defended causes of the Muslim nation.
“One has learnt this active and elevated role from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,” Deqbasi stressed. MP Naif Al-Ajmi expressed meanwhile his gratitude over the success of the Kuwaiti Parliamentary Group led by Ghanem, to secure the emergency article on the Assembly agenda. Kuwait has always been a pioneer in advocating the Arab and Muslim causes, he said. Ajmi, also member of the group, noted that the Palestine cause is that “of every Muslim.”
In the meantime, MP Omar Al-Tabtabaei has lauded the victory secured by Kuwait’s National Assembly as the 138th Assembly of the IPU voted for including an emergency item on Jerusalem on the agenda of the Geneva gathering. The success, realized thanks to support by the Arab and Islamic parliaments, is a “moral and political triumph for an issue the international parliaments forgot for the past years, namely the cause of the Palestinians’ and their right in their capital, Jerusalem,” Tabtabaei said. “The victory against the Zionist entity, represented by the Knesset, will be recorded in the name of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, which managed to include a similar emergency item on the Rohingya on the conference agenda last year, he stressed.” —KUNA