ID :
54489
Wed, 04/08/2009 - 17:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/54489
The shortlink copeid
SMOOTH POWER TRANSITION IMPRESSES AMBASSADOR
By Nor Faridah Abd Rashid
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- Moroccan ambassador to Malaysia Ahmed
Amaziane is impressed with the smooth transition of power from Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi to Najib Razak.
"It is such an achievement to be able to transfer power in a peaceful
manner. I would like to pay tribute and salute the Malaysian leadership in
general for this peaceful transition of power from Abdullah to Najib," he said.
Najib was sworn in as the new prime minister before the King on April 3
after Abdullah relinquished the post a day earlier.
On March 28, Abdullah handed over the United Malays National Organization
(Umno) presidency to Najib to pave the way for the latter to take over as prime
minister. By tradition, the Umno president is the country's prime minister.
Amaziane opined that with Najib helming the country, some of his actions
would be a continuity of what Abdullah had done, especially on Vision 2020 to
turn Malaysia into a developed nation which the ambassador described as a
laudable objective.
"I think the vision is still there right from (former prime minister) Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad's time and continued by Abdullah and now Najib," he told
Bernama in an interview, here, recently.
However, he said, amid the current economic crisis, the scenario might
be a little bit challenging for the new prime minister.
"But most probably in a year or two when the world economy starts to grow
again, Malaysia by then will continue its steadfast work towards realising
Vision 2020," he added.
Touching on bilateral relations, he described Malaysia-Morroco ties as
excellent and that both nations shared similar views regarding the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"However, my hope is to try to have more exchange of high-level visits, so
hopefully during Najib's tenure there will be more exchange of visits at the
prime ministerial level," he said.
He explained that last year, the Moroccan prime minister tried to make
arrangements for Abdulllah to visit Morocco, but unfortunately the visit could
not be realised for "calender" reason.
He said the Moroccan prime minister would be extending an invitation to
Najib to visit the country.
"During the visit, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to
exchange views on bilateral relations and conclude some agreements which are in
the pipeline, especially on higher education to facilitate the exchange
of students as well as the abolition of visas," Amaziane said.
According to the ambassador, such high-level exchange of visits could help
in sorting out "technicalities".
He said Morocco was also impressed with the way Malaysia promoted itself and
would like to learn from Malaysia, especially on the "Visit Malaysia Year"
concept to see how Morocco could benefit from it.
The Moroccan ambassador also paid tribute to Abdullah's tenure as prime
minister and noted that Malaysia had chaired NAM and OIC during that period.
Malaysia was NAM chairman from February 2003 to September 2006 and OIC chairman
from October 2003 to March 2008.
He said when Malaysia chaired NAM, Abdullah had brought developing countries
together and there was more cooperation among them, and when Malaysia was OIC
chairman, Abdullah was adamant that Islamic countries should also have more
economic ties.
"Most people look at the OIC as an organisation which deals more with
political issues, but Abdullah insisted that economic ties among the member
countries be enhanced and there should be more cooperation to solve problems
like poverty and illiteracy in Islamic countries," he elaborated.
He said that within the Islamic realm, Islam Hadhari promoted by Abdullah
during his tenure was prominent, especially when there were many quarters in the
world labelling Islam as pro-violence.
"The Islam Hadhari concept has, however, shown the real aspect of Islam
which is moderation, cooperation and peaceful existence."
He said that there were 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, so one should not
emphasise on the small minority who happened to be extremists since there were
millions of other Muslims who live peacefully.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- Moroccan ambassador to Malaysia Ahmed
Amaziane is impressed with the smooth transition of power from Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi to Najib Razak.
"It is such an achievement to be able to transfer power in a peaceful
manner. I would like to pay tribute and salute the Malaysian leadership in
general for this peaceful transition of power from Abdullah to Najib," he said.
Najib was sworn in as the new prime minister before the King on April 3
after Abdullah relinquished the post a day earlier.
On March 28, Abdullah handed over the United Malays National Organization
(Umno) presidency to Najib to pave the way for the latter to take over as prime
minister. By tradition, the Umno president is the country's prime minister.
Amaziane opined that with Najib helming the country, some of his actions
would be a continuity of what Abdullah had done, especially on Vision 2020 to
turn Malaysia into a developed nation which the ambassador described as a
laudable objective.
"I think the vision is still there right from (former prime minister) Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad's time and continued by Abdullah and now Najib," he told
Bernama in an interview, here, recently.
However, he said, amid the current economic crisis, the scenario might
be a little bit challenging for the new prime minister.
"But most probably in a year or two when the world economy starts to grow
again, Malaysia by then will continue its steadfast work towards realising
Vision 2020," he added.
Touching on bilateral relations, he described Malaysia-Morroco ties as
excellent and that both nations shared similar views regarding the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"However, my hope is to try to have more exchange of high-level visits, so
hopefully during Najib's tenure there will be more exchange of visits at the
prime ministerial level," he said.
He explained that last year, the Moroccan prime minister tried to make
arrangements for Abdulllah to visit Morocco, but unfortunately the visit could
not be realised for "calender" reason.
He said the Moroccan prime minister would be extending an invitation to
Najib to visit the country.
"During the visit, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to
exchange views on bilateral relations and conclude some agreements which are in
the pipeline, especially on higher education to facilitate the exchange
of students as well as the abolition of visas," Amaziane said.
According to the ambassador, such high-level exchange of visits could help
in sorting out "technicalities".
He said Morocco was also impressed with the way Malaysia promoted itself and
would like to learn from Malaysia, especially on the "Visit Malaysia Year"
concept to see how Morocco could benefit from it.
The Moroccan ambassador also paid tribute to Abdullah's tenure as prime
minister and noted that Malaysia had chaired NAM and OIC during that period.
Malaysia was NAM chairman from February 2003 to September 2006 and OIC chairman
from October 2003 to March 2008.
He said when Malaysia chaired NAM, Abdullah had brought developing countries
together and there was more cooperation among them, and when Malaysia was OIC
chairman, Abdullah was adamant that Islamic countries should also have more
economic ties.
"Most people look at the OIC as an organisation which deals more with
political issues, but Abdullah insisted that economic ties among the member
countries be enhanced and there should be more cooperation to solve problems
like poverty and illiteracy in Islamic countries," he elaborated.
He said that within the Islamic realm, Islam Hadhari promoted by Abdullah
during his tenure was prominent, especially when there were many quarters in the
world labelling Islam as pro-violence.
"The Islam Hadhari concept has, however, shown the real aspect of Islam
which is moderation, cooperation and peaceful existence."
He said that there were 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, so one should not
emphasise on the small minority who happened to be extremists since there were
millions of other Muslims who live peacefully.
-- BERNAMA
