Puan Affirms Indonesia's Support For Palestine At The African Parliament Together Forum

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani (Dok DPR Photo)

JAKARTA - The Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, reiterated Indonesia's support for the independence of Palestine and Ukraine in international forums. This time, Puan ensured Indonesia's position for Palestine in the Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum (IAPF) or the Indonesian parliamentary forum with African countries held in Bali.

"So all international events and international conferences in Indonesia's position are clear that we are still trying to encourage (peace) through the government, through parliamentary diplomacy, through all decisions made by Indonesia," said Puan on the sidelines of the IAPF event in Nusa Dua, Bali, Sunday 1 September.

This was conveyed by Puan when answering reporters' questions regarding her speech at the opening of the IAPF alluding to the importance of world support for Palestinian independence over Israel and Ukraine's independence over Russia.

Puan emphasized that Indonesia will carry out its maximum efforts for this noble mission, including through parliamentary diplomacy.

"We continue to encourage and try, either through the DPR RI or through the Government route," said the first woman to serve as Chair of the DPR RI.

"That Palestinian independence is one thing that must be done, namely through diplomacy and peace negotiations," continued Puan.

In her opening remarks at the Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum (IAPF) conference this morning, Puan emphasized the issue of peace that must be a common concern. Apart from Indonesia, the IAPF was attended by parliaments from 20 African countries.

Initially, Puan said that the heated geopolitical situation had a direct impact on the people around the world, including Indonesia and Africa. Therefore, she asked Parliament to make more contributions to solving global problems.

"Given that various crises in the world have a direct impact on the people in our country, the Parliament needs to be more active in contributing to solving various global problems," said Puan.

Puan said Parliament should encourage peace by prioritizing dialogue and diplomacy on peaceful negotiations, including on conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine.

"This includes that Parliament must encourage the creation of peace. I encourage us to reject the way of violence. We must prioritize dialogue and diplomacy in solving problems between countries," explained Bung Karno's grandson.

Puan said war and conflict are policy choices taken by one country. So in a democratic country, she emphasized that Parliament plays a role in determining a country's policies whether to start a war or take a peaceful way.

"Including in this regard, we need to fight for full independence of Palestine, stop the war in Gaza, Ukraine, and various regions that are hit by war and conflict," said Puan.

"Similarly, it is an option, whether we will encourage mutually beneficial cooperation and not zero-sum approach, or strengthen multilateralism, and not carry out unilateral policies," he added.