UNSC: Heavy Responsibilities On Malaysia's Shoulders - GMMF Chairman

By Noor Farhana Ahmad Norain KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia shoulders enormous responsibility to help tackle various issues as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) non-permanent member, says Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF) chairman Razali Ismail. He said besides political security, more and more critical issues were coming to the Security Council to be looked at, including issues on environment, humanitarian, social injustice and transnational crime. "Obviously, the people who elected us in such big numbers must have a very good idea in their mind that we can do the job. And therefore, we must not let them down. "Discharging our responsibilities in the Security Council now, I think, may be more difficult than before. But we have learned three times, and I can imagine it will be very good in discharging our duties," he told reporters at the second Russia-Asean Youth Summit here Friday. Razali was commenting on Malaysia's success in securing a seat in the UNSC as a non-permanent member from Jan 1, 2015, to Dec 31, 2016. Malaysia secured 187 votes from the 192 member states, in a secret ballot, in New York on Thursday. Malaysia held a UNSC non-permanent seat for the first time in 1965 and was again elected to the council in 1989/1990. It secured a seat for the third time in 1999/2000. Elaborating, Razali said GMMF, as an organisation that promoted moderation would play a role in helping to 'inject' the spirit into tackling various issues. This included economic and financial issues, he said, adding that there must be some regulations in dealing with it, and not allowing free market or capitalism to take charge, or else the people, especially the lower and middle class would continue to be vulnerable. "Something is not right in the way financial infrastructure is looked at internationally. Here, we have experts in Malaysia who can really speak about this, not necessarily in the Security Council," he said. Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to Malaysia Lyudmila G. Vorobyeva praised Malaysia's achievement to have been elected as UNSC non-permanent member. "I hope with the participation, the ideas of moderation will help and contribute in ensuring peace and stability of our world," she said. Vorobyeva opened the three-day summit which gathers 86 youths from Malaysia, Russia and Asean countries. The summit, jointly organised by GMMF, Asean Centre in Moscow State Institute of International Relations University and Akademi Belia, aims at connecting youths into a more integrated community, and cultivates the virtues of moderation among future leaders of the region. -- BERNAMA