Setting the stage for parliamentary diplomacy in Asean

The Star

Malaysia’s upcoming hosting of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (Aipa) is poised to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy in the region, says Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.  In an exclusive interview with The Star, Johari revealed that the meetings leading up to the Aipa General Assembly in September will tackle key issues, including food security, renewable energy, digital innovation, inclusive governance, and inter-parliamentary cooperation to bolster regional stability.  As this year’s AIPA President, Johari is determined to take a fresh approach, setting his leadership apart from his predecessors.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00What are your plans as the chair of IPAR this year, and what is your vision for IPAR this year?

00:07First of all, we are glad that we are again the President of the IPAR, meaning to say

00:19that I'll be leading all the discussion among all the 10 Member Countries as far as Parliament

00:25is concerned. And of course, the Secretariat is very active. IPAR Secretariat is stationed

00:34in Jakarta, led by a very able lady from Brunei. She's an architect by qualification. So we

00:46really communicate with each other what's going on. And IPAR itself has a couple of

00:51meetings that is, quote-unquote, monetary, has to go on through. And of course, the highlight

00:58will be the General Assembly that will happen in September, probably middle of September

01:06in Kuala Lumpur. And there are also other meetings prior to that, which is like the

01:14Women's Parliamentarian, Youth Parliamentarian, then issues like drug issues, and some other

01:22issues. But this time around, our strategy was to spread all the meeting places, not

01:29in KL alone. But the General Assembly, of course, will be held in Kuala Lumpur. But

01:35for Women's Parliamentarian meeting, that will be done by Occupy Earth. But this time

01:44around, it will be hosted by the State Assembly of Sarawak, in Kuching. That will happen in

01:53April 18, I think, or 19. And then on drug issues, that will happen in Pekan, in Kuantan.

02:08And youth will happen in Selangor, and the rest are in KL. So, six of these meetings

02:16we spread out, so that the participants who come from all the member countries would feel

02:24different places, and seeing different places, see the beautiful of Malaysia. Pahaw will

02:31be different from Selangor, Selangor will be different from Kuching, and that kind.

02:34I think probably for the first time, we do that.

02:37The last ten years, when we were the president of APOI, it was held in Kota Kinabalu, just

02:46one place, where Pendekak Amin was then the Speaker. But this year, I decided to spread

02:53it out, so that not only the states in Malaysia would benefit from there, because people come

03:01and see how it's assessed. Certainly they will assess the development of the state,

03:06see the beauty of it. Then probably when they go back, they campaign, come to the state

03:11of Pang, where Durian is, Luslan King is. Or they can go to Kuching, where the beauty

03:20is, Orangutan, and beautiful island behind you there. Or, they can come to Selangor.

03:31So that's the whole idea.

03:33How were the preparations so far this year?

03:37Thank God. My staff, we had a special team, headed by the Ketua Petak Abeh. Of course,

03:49we get assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other ministries, other ministries.

03:56From time to time, we have been preparing this since last year. Financially, physical

04:03preparation, plus location and venues of the meeting, staffing, volunteers. We really have

04:11the details, that's considered done. I personally went around all the member countries, to meet

04:21with the speaker of each country, and hand the invitation letter personally to them.

04:29Has never been done before, only this time around. So that, very personalised, it was

04:34very personalised. Everybody is excited to come down to KL, and to see, we made a lot

04:42of difference as compared to some other, probably organised by some other countries. Because

04:48I want to show that, we are a bit different, we are a bit different.

04:54PM has also called for Malaysian reps to share more views in IPAR, and all that stuff.

05:01So how can IPAR facilitate this route around?

05:05Well, IPAR is, you are talking about, these are among the parliamentarians. We are not

05:14the executive. At executive level, they have what they call a summit. IPAR is about inter-parliamentary

05:23assembly. So, meaning to say, how do we get together, propose, and discuss, and push the

05:34opinion from the legislature to the executive. So, this is very important to us. Of course,

05:43if you are to compare from one country to another, the political differences there,

05:51of course, the whole structure is different. Probably Vietnam and Cambodia, Vietnam and

05:58Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, I mean, there are a lot of differences between us. But at

06:03the end of the day, it's about, there's about two separate entities altogether. Number one,

06:10it's about legislature, those who are in parliament and making policies and laws. But the other

06:17one is about executive, who implement the laws, and who run the whole entire country.

06:24So how do you transmit the thinking, the ideas, and all that, of the legislature to the executive?

06:33That needs a lot of discussion. Some countries, well, do it differently. But certainly, we

06:43follow the Westminster system, whereby certain structure is there, that has to be followed.

06:52I think most of the speakers understand, and so far, things are doing okay, because among

06:59the discussion that we had, the relationship between the legislature and the executive,

07:05okay. Of course, we will not interfere into whatever happens in their country, but consensusly,

07:15this is a way forward.

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