Puan Maharani's Long Struggle For Palestine's Independence At The MiKTA Forum

JAKARTA - The 9th Mikta Speakers Consultation event in Jakarta has resulted in a commitment to peace in Palestine. The agreement between the 5 parliaments of the middle power is considered inseparable from the role of the Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, who continues to voice the independence of Palestine as the leader of this year's Mikta.

"The call to stop violence through ceasefire in Gaza is one of the initiatives of the chairman of the DPR RI that deserves appreciation," said Professor of International Relations of FISIP University of Indonesia (UI), Shofwan Al Banna Choiruzzad, Wednesday, November 22.

The DPR hosted the 9th Mikta Speaker's Consultation, which is a consulatative forum for the chairman of the MIKTA member parliament on Monday (20/11) yesterday. MIKTA itself is a group of middle power countries consisting of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia.

The parliamentary forum resulted in 15 attitudes from all MPs leaders of MIKTA members as stated in the Chair's Statement. One of them is related to peace in Palestine, which is still facing military aggression from Israel. As is known, the war in the Gaza Strip has caused more than 13 thousand people to drift, many of whom are children, women, and the elderly.

In the 9th Mikta Speaker's Consultation, Puan continued to call for independence for Palestine. Including when Puan led the courtesy call or honorary visit of the heads of the MIKTA state Parliament with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Most of the parliament members of MIKTA also pushed for a ceasefire, although some countries have different views on the way of dealing with war between Israel and Palestine. Shofwan said the MIKTA parliament could not be separated from Puan's self-consistent and firm role in fighting for peace in Palestine.

"Indonesia is the initiator that makes MIKTA and other middle countries have stronger voices in international politics, injecting common sense and conscience amid the geopolitical tensions of superpower countries," he said.

"As a manifestation of the voices of the people, the DPR RI and the parliaments of MIKTA countries represent the aspirations of their respective people to bring a more peaceful and prosperous world to all mankind," Shofwan continued.

According to the Executive Secretary of the ASEAN Study Center UI, the chairmanship of the DPR at MIKTA this year has a big role for Indonesia in dealing with geopolitical issues. Through the MIKTA forum, said Shofwan, Indonesia can express its attitude and fight for national interests and international interests.

"DPR can participate in becoming a strength for Indonesia to realize our national goal of realizing world order based on independence, eternal peace and social justice," he said.Shofwan assessed that the 9th Mikta Speaker's Consultation held in Jakarta resulted in policies that could have a global impact. Because in Chair's Statement it was also conveyed that the MIKTA state parliament encourages and is ready to accommodate humanitarian aid for people in the Gaza Strip who are trapped in war.

The results of the 9th Mikta Speaker's Consultation are quite clear and firm. The substance is sharp. Despite differences of view, all condemned attacks on civil society. Most MIKTA members also demanded an immediate ceasefire and sustainable and safe humanitarian access in Gaza," Shofwan said.

Chair's Statement in the 9th Mikta Speaker's Consultation also emphasized the importance of the role of Parliament and Speaker of the Parliament of MIKTA countries in encouraging dialogue and cooperation to uphold universal values of humanity, justice, and inclusiveness based on multilateralism.

The consulting forum for the head of the MIKTA state parliament in Jakarta is not only encouraging peace in Palestine, but also other countries that are experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Both for Ukraine, which is still at war with Russia, Myanmar, which is still in a humanitarian conflict, to issues of security stability such as the South China Sea conflict.

Therefore, Shofwan considers MIKTA's position at the global level to be quite important in finding solutions to various world challenges, including through parliamentary diplomacy.

The parliamentary channel that connects the parliament of MIKTA countries and then the G20 countries is one of the important routes to being able to push the agenda with Middle Power countries to ensure peaceful and conducive international politics for the welfare of mankind, said the doctor who graduated from Ritsumeikan University, Japan.

As middle power countries, MIKTA is considered to have important weights to bring world stability by building bridges and ensuring the voices of countries outside of superpowers. Especially in the midst of world geopolitical tensions between the United States as an old and Chinese superpower as a new force.

For Indonesia itself, according to Shofwan, MIKTA can have an important role. MIKTA is said to be one of the proactive ways in shaping the direction of international politics and preventing global instability.

Thus MIKTA can help maintain the sustainability of national development. MIKTA can also be a platform to access new resources," explained Shofwan.