Asian Parliamentary Assembly source of strength for Asia: Senator Mushahid Hussain

Lahore: Chairman, Organising Committee of Asian Parliamentary Assembly, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, along with a group of Asian leaders, has called on the newly elected Indonesian President Jokowi at his office, in the capital city Jakarta, today. Says a press statement issued by his Media Coordinator based in Islamabad.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, who is also Secretary General of the Asia-wide civil society organisation, Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), is the first Pakistani to meet President Jokowi after his election on October 20, 2014.

During the 40-minute meeting, Senator Mushahid Hussain extended heartiest congratulations of the people of Pakistan to President Jokowi, and he said Pakistan takes pride in lauding Indonesia as the ‘Muslim World’s biggest democracy’. He also told President Jokowi that he was the third leader from the Muslim World to become President after being Mayor, the others being Erdogan and Ahmedinijad.

Senator Mushahid Hussain referred fondly to studying in his formative years in Jakarta, where his father was Pakistan’s first Military Attaché during the days of President Soekarno, who awarded his father, Colonel Amjad Hussain Sayed, with the highest Indonesian military award, ‘Bintang Dharma’, the Star of Merit, for laying the foundation of strong friendship between Indonesia and Pakistan.

Senator Mushahid Hussain urged President Jokowi that Indonesia should recognise Kosovo’s independence, as it would be upholding the principle of the right of self-determination, still denied to Palestine and Kashmir.

President Jokowi thanked Senator Mushahid for his good wishes and lauded the recently-concluded Asian Parliamentary Assembly in Lahore, where Indonesia was represented by deputy speaker of their parliament. Asian leaders appreciated Pakistan for successfully hosting APA twice within a year, rejuvenating the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, which they termed as a ‘source of strength for Asia’.

Responding to comments from the Asian leaders, President Jokowi said, in his view, ‘democracy means delivering a better life for the people’. Listing his priorities, he said these were reforming the bureaucracy by cutting red-tape, building badly-needed infrastructure, providing electricity to the people and slashing subsidies.

Apart from Vice President Yusuf Kalla, other Asian leaders present included the former President of the Philippines Fidel Ramos, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Sok An, Speaker of the Philippines Jose de Venecia, Civil Society leader from Turkey Gozde Gizdar, and Malaysian economic leader TanSri Dr Chen Lip Keong.