Malaysia And Indonesia Agree To Form Parliamentary Caucus

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA (Indonesia), May 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia on Wednesday agreed to set up a parliamentary caucus to act as an effective platform in finding quicker solutions to bilateral issues involving the two neighbouring countries. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Aziz said the Malaysia-Indonesia Parliamentary Caucus (KPMI) would be formed soon so that the parliamentarians from both countries could sit down together and discuss arising issues before they became more serious to the extent of jeopardising relations between the two countries. "On my return, I will inform the Malaysian cabinet, the Dewan Rakyat (People's Hall) Speaker and Dewan Negara (National Hall) President, as well as the opposition leader that we would be setting up this caucus immediately. "With the existence of the caucus, I believe many issues will be resolved and this will help improve relations between the two countries," he said. Mohamed Nazri who arrived here this morning with a delegation from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Malaysia, met with Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, Senate Speaker Irman Gusman and president of the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the IPU, Dr Nurhayati Ali Assegaf. Asked whether the setting up of the caucus had anything to do with the shooting of three Indonesian criminals from Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat in a robbery case in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan in March, he said the incident was a catalyst to it. Mohamed Nazri said the cabinet recently decided that Malaysia-Indonesia relations was very important as they were neighbouring countries with close historical and cultural ties and spoke the same language. However, of late, several issues had arisen which were blown up by the Indonesian media, posing a threat to Malaysia-Indonesia relations. Consequently, Malaysian cabinet ministers were encouraged to frequently keep in touch with their Indonesian counterparts and not to only visit each other when problems arise. Mohamed Nazri said althogh his visit here this time was in his capacity as the IPU Malaysian chairman, he also called on his counterpart Djoko Suyanto to discuss and exchange ideas on bilateral issues. He was confident that the parliamentary caucus would be an effective forum to resolve Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral issues as parliament had the power to call the relevant authorities to explain on an arising issue. "Parliament also has the power to call a cabinet minister to explain, on behalf of the executive, problems related to his/her ministry. This approach will not only help avoid misunderstandings on both sides but the issues to be resolved faster and amicably," he said. Mohamed Nazri said in his discussion with Nurhayati, the two countries agreed to play a more active role in promoting gender equality as both countries had a large female population. "There is a misconception that most Muslim countries oppress their women when in reality, it is a cultural practice in the countries concerned. "Islam actually enjoins that women be protected," he said. -- BERNAMA