KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim, secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, has thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his support and leadership in guiding the ministry to lobby the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) to adopt the UNSC Resolution 2334.
Ramlan said Malaysia’s success in lobbying the Security Council’s vote calling on Israel to stop the illegal construction of settlements in Palestine was done by utilising a moderate approach through The Voice of Malaysian campaign.
“Time is running out (in Palestine) and we have to speak out to address the pressing issues faced by the Palestinian,” he said during his interview on TV3’s Soal Jawab.
He said moderation was key to rope in UNSC’s members to vote for Resolution 2334.
The former permanent representative of Malaysia to the United Nations said Malaysia had always been committed and consistent in mitigating the burden of the Palestinians.
“We looked for impartial way to address the politicking in Security Council as there have been many radical and extremist views pertaining to the situations in the Middle East,” he said.
He said despite the fact that Malaysia was longer a member of the Security Council, the nation will continue to play an active role to fight for Palestine.
“We will continue to speak out and be involve in forums and public debates in the United Nations to continue what we have started long ago.
“We will continue to observe how the resolution takes effect although we are no longer a member country to the Security Council. This is our commitment to Palestine,” he said.
Last month, eighteen members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) including the four permanent members – China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom – voted in favour of the resolution while the US abstained, and Israel voted against it.
Malaysia and three other countries, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela, had put the text of a draft resolution on Dec 23, 2016.
Ramlan said the positive development was clearly a diplomatic success story for Malaysia.