Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue :
Tarikh/Date : 24/09/91
Tajuk/Title : THE PLENARY OF THE FORTY-SIXTH
SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Mr President,
Allow me at the outset to extend my congratulations to
you upon your election as the President of the Forty-Sixth
Session of the United Nations General Assembly. It gives me
great pleasure as a close friend of Saudi Arabia to see the
world community honour your country through your election to
the high office. With your wisdom, experience and skill, I
am confident that you will discharge your responsibilities
successfully, guiding this august assembly to a fruitful
conclusion.
2. I would also like to take this opportunity to express
my appreciation to your predecessor, H.E. Mr Guido de Marco,
who has carried out his task with dedication and innovative
zeal contributing toward efforts in revitalising and re-
examining the functions of the General Assembly.
Mr President,
3. It is with pleasure that I on behalf of Malaysia, ex-
tend a very warm welcome to H.R.H. Prince Norodom Sihanouk,
President of the Supreme National Council and Head of the
Cambodian delegation to the General Assembly. The United
Nations which has long missed the statesmanship and the
ebullience of the Prince will, I am sure, be happy to wel-
come the Prince back to the General Assembly. Malaysia is
gratified to see at this General Assembly members of the Su-
preme National Council representing Cambodia, offering defi-
nite promise of a final solution to the Cambodian issue.
4. This is also an occasion to join in extending
felicitations to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
and the Republic of Korea for their historic decision to be-
come members of the United Nations as separate nations.
That decision will serve to defuse some of the tension in
North East Asia and hopefully lead to normalisation in their
relations. As a friend of both, Malaysia welcomes such de-
velopments. May I also welcome as members of the United Na-
tions the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and
the Republic of Lithuania, having deservedly regained their
sovereignty. I would also like to add my felicitations to
the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, Malaysia's Pacific neighbours, who have
become members of the United Nations. Malaysia extends a
hand of friendship and stands ready to cooperate with them.
Mr President,
5. The world has witnessed in the last two years more rev-
olutionary changes than in the preceeding hundred years.
Without doubt these changes have opened new and historic op-
portunities to build a better world, anchored firmly in the
rule of law, the sovereignty of nations and a collective
commitment to social and economic justice for all. The
world is ripe for 'A New World Order' but it is hoped that
this New World Order will not be one that is imposed upon
the world by the main beneficiary of the current revolution.
All members of this august body called the United Nations
should participate in the shaping of the New World Order if
we are to avoid a return of a new colonial era.
6. When the United Nations was formed after the Second
World War, the allied victors assumed the right to create a
world order in which each of the five major powers could
veto anything that does not serve them. But then the five
fell out and the East-West conflict divided the world into
two antagonistic camps. The Cold War that followed not only
retarded modern civilisation but converted poor countries
into pawns and proxies, devastating their territories and
economies with confrontations and wars. That they were not
fighting their own battles is clear from the outbreak of
peace in every continent as soon as the East-West confronta-
tion ended.
7. With these experiences still fresh in our minds how can
we be assured that a New World Order formulated by any one
country or group of countries will be good for everyone? We
are already feeling heavy hands forcing us to do this and
not that. In East Asia we are told that we may not call
ourselves East Asians as Europeans call themselves Europeans
and Americans call themselves Americans. We are told that
we must call ourselves Pacific people and align ourselves
with people who are only partly Pacific, but more American,
Atlantic and European. We may not have an identity that is
not permitted, nor may we work together on the basis of that
identity. Is this a foretaste of the New World Order that
we must submit to?
8. Democracy, and only democracy is legitimate and permis-
sible now. No one really disputes this. In fact, speaking
for Malaysia, we can think of no alternative but democracy
in the context of our pluralistic society. We can also af-
firm that we have no intention of siding with despots or ty-
rants and those that deny their people their rights to
democratic government. But is there only one form of democ-
racy or only one high-priest to interpret it?
9. We see differences in the practice of democracy even
among those who are preaching democracy to us. Can only the
preachers have the right to interpret democracy and to
practise it as they deem fit and to force their interpreta-
tions on others? Cannot the converts too interpret the de-
tails, if not the basics? If democracy means the right to
carry guns, to flaunt homosexuality, to disregard the insti-
tution of marriage, to disrupt and damage the well-being of
the community in the name of individual rights, to destroy a
particular faith, to have privileged institutions which are
sacrosanct even if they indulge in lies and instigations
which undermine society, the economy and international re-
lations; to permit foreigners to break national laws; if
these are the essential details, cannot the new converts opt
to reject them? We, the converts, will accept the basics
but what is the meaning of democracy if we have no right of
choice at all, or if democracy means our people are consist-
ently subjected to instability and disruptions and economic
weaknesses which make us subject to manipulation by the pow-
erful democracies of the world? Hegemony by democratic pow-
ers is no less oppressive than hegemony by totalitarian
states.
10. Democracy means majority rule. The minority must have
their rights but do these rights include denial of the
rights of the majority? Admittedly the majority may not op-
press the minority but if the minority exercise their rights
without responsibility, become the agents of foreign democ-
racies, and try to weaken their own country so as to make it
a client state to certain democratic powers, must the major-
ity in the name of democracy submit to the minority?
11. If democracy is to be the only acceptable system of
Government within states, shouldn't there be also democracy
between the states of the world? In the UN we are equal, but
five are more equal than the rest of the 166. Seven coun-
tries on their own lay down the laws which affect adversely
the economies of others. A few nations on their own have
taken it upon themselves to determine the New World Order.
Powerful trade blocs demand voluntary restraints and impose
laws and rules extra-territorially. Clearly the states of
the world are not equal; not in the UN, not anywhere. If
democracy is such an equitable concept why must we accept
inequality between nations?
12. All these point towards an unhealthy and an undemo-
cratic relations between nations. Yet equality and freedom
is supposed to be the sole guiding principle of this modern
civilisation.
13. When the UN was formed in 1945 the victors of World War
II arrogated to themselves the right to dictate the roles
and the distribution of power between nations. Many things
have happened since then. The victors of 1945 are no longer
the powerful major players in world affairs. New powerful
nations have emerged while some major powers have changed
structurally. And new ideas about rights and wrongs and de-
mocracy have crystallised. Are we going to be shackled for-
ever to the results of World War II?
14. If international democracy as represented by the UN is
to be meaningful and effective, there must be an infusion of
some of the current ideas and realities. The world needs
policing, as the Gulf War demonstrated to us. But are we to
have self-appointed policemen or are we to have a police
force that is beholden to this august body, the UN?
15. Police action by the UN needs to be governed by princi-
ples, and rules. Laying seige and starving out a castle or
a city until the people had to eat rats or starve may seem
appropriate and acceptable in the olden days. But can our
conscience remain clear if a whole nation is starved into
submission? Can our conscience be clear if the principal
victims are the old and the infirmed, the pregnant mothers
and the newborns, the young and the innocent?
16. With the advent of modern weapons, should wars be
fought or police action taken by destroying the recalcitrant
nation totally in order to avoid casualties among our police
force, and above all to avoid the demoralising coffins being
brought home? Is it truly possible that everything that is
hit by massive bombs and rockets is military in character?
17. Is the Geneva Convention still relevant in the conduct
of war? We condemn chemical warfare but must we still have
the nuclear weapons around? Are the people who possess them
responsible and concerned about the horrendous effect of
these weapons and will not use them other than as a deter-
rent? Who determines when a deterrent is needed?
18. The leaders of nuclear nations, the people who will
push the nuclear buttons, are not safe as events in the
Soviet Union amply demonstrated. We cannot even be sure
that someone irrational might not become a leader and gain
access to the button. Accordingly, the existence of all nu-
clear weapons cannot be justified in the present world.
19. The UN which is playing the role of inspectors in Iraq
should extend that role to supervise the destruction of all
nuclear weapons everywhere. More, it should supervise the
invention and production of other diabolical weapons. Weap-
ons for defence should be solely for defence and their capa-
bilities must be such as to prevent them from being used as
weapons of aggression except in a limited way. Researches
in new weapons by all nations should be reduced and no
weapon should be sold by anyone without permits issued by
the UN. Malaysia has joined efforts with other delegations
at this General Asembly to work towards a U.N. Arms Regis-
ter to provide transparency and confidence as a first step
towards giving the United Nations a comprehensive authority
over disarmament.
20. We need weapons only for fighting criminals. If a na-
tion is subjected to armed uprising then the UN should take
part in putting it down. Democratic Governments should only
be brought down by democratic process. Anything that goes
beyond democratic processes should merit UN intervention if
a request is made. We cannot preside over the disinte-
gration of nations into ethnic communities, particularly if
military action had no role in the initial consolidation of
a nation.
21. Perhaps it may be asked why a tiny developing nation
like Malaysia should be advising on how the world should be
managed. We should not, except that what the world does and
what some nations or even individuals do, can affect us and
affect us adversely.
22. Today individuals in some developed countries consider
it their right to tell us how to rule our country. If we
don't heed them, then they consider it their right to de-
stroy our economy, impoverish our people and even overthrow
our Governments. These people latch on to various causes
such as human rights and the environment in order to reim-
pose colonial rule on us. They are helped by the western
media which also consider it their duty to tell us how to
run our country. All these combine to make independence al-
most meaningless. Our only hope lies in the democratisation
of the UN, especially as the option to defect to the other
side is no longer available to us. We want to remain inde-
pendent but we also want to conform to international norms
as determined not by some NGOs or the so-called advanced de-
mocracies, but by all the nations of the world. If we de-
fault then it is the UN and not some Robin Hoods which
should chastise us.
Mr President,
23. We are glad that the winds of change have brought about
significant developments in South Africa which we hope would
bring about the dismantling of apartheid and the start of
negotiations towards a new democratic and non-racial South
Africa. All these would not have been possible without
international solidarity, with the United Nations system
playing a key role in putting the necessary pressure on
Pretoria. Despite these important developments, interna-
tional solidarity, as manifested in the 1989 United Nations
Consensus Declaration, must be maintained to meet the still
difficult challenges ahead and ensure a successful conclu-
sion to the process of change in South Africa. Right now
priority must be given to putting an end to violence in
black townships, reviving the preparatory process for con-
stitutional negotiations involving the Pretoria regime, the
ANC, Inkatha and others as well as addressing the problems
of social and economic inequities brought about by decades
of apartheid.
24. While the climate of peace and dialogue has benefitted
many parts of the world, the Middle East remains the most
volatile region and the Palestinian people continue to suf-
fer under the cruel and illegal Israeli occupation. The
current United States peace initiative has raised the hopes
of many nations, including Malaysia, for an active peace
process that would lead to a comprehensive solution of the
Arab-Israeli conflict, including the establishment of an in-
dependent state for the Palestinians. We welcome the initi-
ative and commitment of President Bush and Secretary Baker
in undertaking this difficult task and wish them well.
25. The plight of the Palestinian people touches the heart
of every Malaysian. We would like the Palestinian people to
be treated fairly and justly. If what they do to protect
themselves is considered criminal then the same deeds com-
mitted by the Israelis should be considered equally crimi-
nal. Governments which kidnap and kill people should be
condemned even more than desperate freedom fighters who are
forced to violence because they can seek justice in no other
way. The accelerated build-up of illegal Jewish settlements
in the occupied territories is an act of unwarranted provo-
cation by the Israeli authorities and constitutes a very se-
rious and unacceptable obstacle to the current peace
efforts. In our view Jews in the Soviet Union are better
off there, where their entrepreneurial skills could be put
to good use to re-build the economy of the country.
Mr President,
26. Next year the nations of the world are expected to meet
in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the environment. If we are to
meet there, there is a need to know whether it is going to
be a constructive meeting or a finger-pointing third world
bashing session.
27. If that conference is going to be productive then let
us face the facts and deal with them. Unless we accept the
truth regarding the sources and the causes of environmental
pollution, rising temperatures and ozone depletion we are
not going to get anywhere in our efforts to reverse the
process. If we go to Rio, let us go there to discuss and
agree on a common course of action on environment and devel-
opment.
28. The idea that the tropical forests can be saved only by
boycotting tropical timber smacks more of economic arm-
twisting than a real desire to save the forests. If selec-
tive logging and sustainable management is prevented and
consequently the forests become no longer a source of
wealth, the worthless forests may be cleared in order to
produce food crops, or to provide firewood in poor develop-
ing nations.
29. On the other hand, the vast potential for
reafforestation has hardly been touched. The deserts of
California can be converted into a tropical forest complete
with rain-forest flora and fauna simply by pumping the
ground water and planting trees. Instead, the underground
water is being used for golf courses and artificial lakes to
surround luxury hotels. If we can build sophisticated
warplanes at one billion dollars apiece, surely we should
have the ingenuity and the money to create tropical forests
out of deserts? Libya should be congratulated for tapping
underground water to irrigate its desert. It is shameful
that nations richer and more advanced than Libya have done
nothing significant to green the world.
30. The use of CFC and fossil fuel is greatest in the rich-
est countries. Is there really a need for CFC for spraying
when a simple rubber bulb can do the same? Do the countries
with huge populations of monster automobiles really need to
use them when there can be small cars or efficient public
transport systems using electricity generated by hydro-power
plants?
31. We in the poor countries would like to have some cheap
hydro-electric power. True we have to sacrifice a few thou-
sand acres of our forests. But we can spare these, for we
have millions of acres more. But all manner of campaigns
are mounted against our proposals for hydro-electric
projects. Now of course the World Bank will be used to de-
prive poor countries of cheap hydro-electric power. And all
these after the rich have developed most of their hydro po-
tentials. Can we be blamed if we think this is a ploy to
keep us poor?
32. If the UNCED is to be meaningful let us hear now of the
plans of the rich for reducing their own contribution to the
environmental degradation. If the sole approach is to link
aid to poor countries with what they must do environmentally
for the well-being of the rich, then UNCED would be a lost
opportunity.
Mr President,
33. Economic growth in a poor country cannot depend on the
domestic market. To grow poor countries must have either
aid or free access to foreign markets. It would be near su-
icidal for poor countries to keep their market to them-
selves. On the other hand there is every reason for the
rich to keep their markets for themselves.
34. GATT is conceived to promote free and equitable world
trade. But how can poor individual countries argue their
cases in the GATT Rounds when the huge trade blocs
monopolise the meetings? Who would listen to the plaintive
arguments of a tiny insignificant third world country?
35. To be heard the poor must band together not to form
impoverished trade blocs but to lend weight to their argu-
ments. And so the East Asia Economic Group or EAEG was pro-
posed, not as a trade bloc, but as a forum for the nations
of East Asia to confer with each other in order to reach
agreement on a common stand for a common problem caused by
the restrictive trade practices of the rich.
36. We are perplexed to find that this objective merely to
have a voice in international affairs is being opposed
openly and covertly by the very country which preach free
trade. It is even more surprising that there should be such
opposition when NAFTA itself is being formed on the princi-
ple of the right of free association of independent coun-
tries. Can it be that what is right and proper for the rich
and the powerful is not right or proper for the poor? One
is tempted to suspect racist bias behind this stand.
Mr President,
37. Malaysia has supported the UN at every turn. We be-
lieve that the UN is the only legitimate instrument for cre-
ating an equitable world, for protecting the weak and the
poor from the pressures of the strong. We welcome the end
of the Cold War but we must admit to feeling more naked and
vulnerable now. There is nowhere else to look except to the
UN. More than ever before, we need a greater role for the
UN in the affairs of the world.
38. While we believe a restructured Security Council has a
vital role to play, we would like to see a balanced consti-
tutional relationship, including accountability between the
General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretariat
in order to truly make the United Nations the guardian of
peace as suggested in the Secretary-General's report of 6
September 1991. Related to this, the Malaysian delegation
has joined efforts with others to deliberate on ways and
means to revitalise the organs of the United Nations, in-
cluding the General Assembly and ECOSSOC. The experience of
the Gulf conflict also makes it imperative for the United
Nations to explore and put into effect all the potentials of
preventive diplomacy, including a more pro-active role on
the part of the Secretary-General and an expanded U.N.
peacekeeping operations. Malaysia believes that the time
has come for the international community to explore also the
potentials of the International Court of Justice, the judi-
cial organ of the United Nations, as a means of fostering
the resolution of conflict by peaceful means and in accord-
ance with the rule of law.
Mr President,
39. The international community is now at the proverbial
crossroads. We truly have a chance to build a better world
through consensus and to use the United Nations as the prin-
cipal forum and vehicle for achieving our objectives. We
cannot afford to miss this historic opportunity to benefit
from the peace dividend resulting from the cessation of the
Cold War. It must, however, be underlined that a global
consensus approach requires tolerance for different ideas
and practices inherent in our complex and pluralistic world.
There is simply no place for an international order based on
hegemony and domination. Let us then work together as part-
ners in our common endeavour to build a better world.
|
|