Asian political parties launch initiative for peace efforts

MANILA, Philippines – Political parties in Asia have launched an initiative for parallel and complementary peace efforts in conflict-areas in the region, including the Kashmir region, the Korean peninsula, and Mindanao, former speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday.

The initiative was launched during the 6th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last week attended by representatives of various political parties, including from the Philippines led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. representing the Liberal Party.

During the meeting, Belmonte pledged the support of the House of Representatives for the revival of the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist National Democratic Front by President Aquino.

De Venecia, who is co-chairman of the ICAPP Standing Committee with Chung Eui-yong of the United Democratic Party of South Korea, said the organization represents some 300 ruling and opposition political parties in Asia.

“There is great scope for political parties to substitute for governments that are necessarily constrained by legalism and protocol, particularly in easing up conflicts that stir up regional apprehensions,” De Venecia told reporters.

He recalled that “party-to-party” diplomacy between China and Taiwan helped reduce tensions in the Taiwan strait resulting in direct flights and expanded cross investments.

He said the ICAPP is forming a permanent peace commission that would help governments resolve conflicts through what he called “Track II diplomacy” or complementary peace efforts.

“We have a rich reservoir of experienced peace makers and political leaders with experience in Track II diplomacy,” De Venecia said.

He cited two ICAPP members – former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Dr. Sok An of the Cambodian People’s Party.

Kalla, former chairman of the Golkar Party and Indonesian Red Cross, successfully negotiated the peace process in Aceh while Sok, he said, worked on reconciling warring armed groups in his country.

“All political parties – opposition and ruling – in Asia are now under one roof and so we have a powerful mechanism for dialogue,” he said. “But we’re complementary.”

De Venecia said this early, the ICAPP was invited by both the Indian and Pakistan governments to seek ways of easing the territorial, ethnic and religious disputes between the two countries, particularly in Kashmir.

He said the Indian-Pakistan party-to-party talks would take place either in Manila or in Cambodia early next year.

He also said the three leading Nepalese political parties have also asked the ICAPP’s Standing Committee to advise them on their efforts to form a government of national unity in the Himalayan state.

He said the ICAPP also endorsed the efforts of the High Council of the Kabul government headed by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to initiate talks with the Taliban.