PM: The Global Movement Of The Moderates Foundation To Be Launched In January Next Year

FROM MIKHAIL RAJ ABDULLAH HONOLULU, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that the Global Movement of the Moderates Foundation will be formally launched in Kuala Lumpur in January next year. He said the move to establish the foundation was timely as international support for moderation was gaining momentum in the face of extremist acts globally. The foundation would be launched at the inaugural international conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 17 to 19 next year organised by the International Islamic University's Alumni, he said in his speech Saturday at the prestigious East-West Center, here. "It is time for us, the majority who are peace-loving and moderate to reclaim our rightful place," he told some 200 international guests during the address chaired by the center's President Dr Charles E. Morrison. Najib is here to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit Sunday to be chaired by U.S. President Barack Obama. Earlier, he had attended the first-ever leaders’ meeting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as well as bilateral talks with his Russian Counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Also present was Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and Lauren Moriarty, former US Ambassador to APEC as well as former governor of the city John Waihee, who is also honorary consul for Malaysia in Hawaii. In an immediate response after the speech where Najib received a standing ovation, Dr Morrison said the center would be keen to sit on the board of the foundation given the noble values and aspirations of the foundation which were in line with international principles of peace and justice. Puongpun Sananikone, the chairman of the Board of Governors of the center, told Bernama that Najib’s consistent stand on moderation will provide the leadership that is sorely missing in the global arena today to counter extremism. “It's time moderates stop being spectators and get involved in pursuing peace and justice and making their voices heard,” Sananikone said. Describing the Prime Minister's speech as being frank and forthright, he said it was time the world hear viewpoints focused on moderation as espoused by Najib. “This (moderation) is exactly what we need around the world today (and) to bring back sanity and moderation in the face of extremism today,” he said. “We really needed it right now and it is very consistent with what the East-West Center is trying to promote,” he said. To a question as to whether the moderates or extremists were winning now, he said that “moderates were standing up now and that “we cannot be mere spectators but get involved.” Najib also urged the international community to make a stand against extremism, saying that “we must ensure that our voices are heard - not just the voices of moderate Muslims, but those of moderate Christians, moderate Hindus, moderate Jews, and moderate atheists." He lamented that for far too long, a lack of collective action on the part of the moderate majority had ceded the floor to the extremist minority, allowing the discourse to be dominated not by sense and reason but by those who shout the loudest. “It's time for us, the majority who are peace-loving and moderate to reclaim our rightful place in the centre...we cannot afford to stand by and remain silent in the face of extremism and violence,” he said. He also warned that the movement should not just be an academic exercise but that real action must be taken to deliver real change. Governments must lead by example, he said. “How can we expect moderation from others if our own actions take us away from the middle of the road,” he said. Najib said the movement which he announced at the United Nations General Assembly last year was gaining traction and had received widespread backing, even last month at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia as well as the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. -- BERNAMA