National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim said “translating Arab solidarity (can be achieved only) by rejecting differences and setting a unified strategy and one voice in international forums.”
He was speaking at the conclusion of the meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, which was held under the title Arab Solidarity. He said many realistic steps were taken and appeared in the final statement of the conference, and one of the most important things “is to close ranks to face very dangerous external challenges at a time we do not consider as one of our best times as Arabs,” reports Al-Rai daily.
He explained that “the right steps in the right direction are an attempt to remove all differences and problems between the Arabs and unite ranks so that we can confront and win these confrontations.”
He added, “As for parliaments, they represent the consciences of the people and their opinions. If there is no concord and solidarity between parliaments, how can we demand solidarity and conciliation from governments? I believe that the conference is successful, and I thank the President of the Arab Parliamentary Union (APU), Brother Saqr Ghobash, and wish all success to Sister Fawzia Zainal, who will chair the Arab Parliament during the coming period, and pray to God Almighty to guide her to lead the Union and achieve the aspirations of Arab parliaments.
In response to a question, Al-Ghanim stressed that “translating Arab solidarity into a reality can be achieved foremost by rejecting differences between countries, secondly agreeing on a strategy that will lead Arabs to their goals, and thirdly speaking with one voice during international and regional forums, “agreeing on our priorities and coordinating among us, we, therefore, asked to add a point about the necessity of coordination between Arab parliaments in all forums because we have achieved many successes, for example, in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and in some regional conferences as a result of coordination, but when coordination was absent, the achievements were absent and we failed to achieve the goals required of us, so coordination must return at the highest level, define our priorities and develop a clear strategy.”
