PKS Faction Creative, Attractive, Substantive
05/13/2025 20:37 PKS Faction Public Relations
Jakarta (13/05) — Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Mohamad Sohibul Iman, emphasized the importance of active efforts by Islamic countries to protect minority Muslim communities in various countries.
This was conveyed at the 19th Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) or the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) which took place on 12-15 May 2025, at the DPR RI Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta.
In his presentation, Sohibul Iman raised two main points. First, he highlighted the need for a monitoring system for countries with minority Muslim communities, especially in terms of potentially discriminatory legislation.
“We need to monitor countries that have Muslim minorities, especially to monitor the possibility of discriminatory laws being enacted. If we can mitigate it early on, that would be better. Because once it becomes a law, it will be very difficult to overturn,” said Sohibul at the Nusantara Building, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday (12/5/2025) referring to the case of stateless Rohingya citizens in Myanmar which the government claims is based on their national legal basis.
The second point he conveyed was the utilization of the bargaining position of PUIC member countries in bilateral relations. He regretted the less than optimal utilization of diplomatic power by Islamic countries that have close cooperation with non-Muslim majority countries.
“PUIC countries have strong bargaining power. When they establish bilateral relations with countries where Muslim minorities live, they should use this power to lobby for better treatment of Muslims there,” he explained.
He cited the example of large trade relations such as between Saudi Arabia and other countries in the energy sector which he considered had not been maximized for the benefit of the people. “If such relations are not used for the benefit of the Muslim minority, it is very unfortunate,” he added.
The PKS Faction politician also emphasized the importance of the role of parliamentarians in encouraging their respective governments to be more active in voicing issues of the people. He hopes that the leader of the Indonesian delegation in the General Assembly of the Union of OIC Member Parliaments, Mardani Ali Sera, can play an important role in lobbying Islamic countries to act more strategically.
Categories: Asia, Indonesia, Minorities, Muslims