Its president, Tan Sri Aziz Abdul Rahman, said that since taking over the helm of the country five years ago, Najib had pursued a friendly, non-partisan but principled foreign policy which had won him many friends.
He said that under Najib’s stewardship, Malaysia had also introduced the Global Movement of the Moderates to instill the importance of moderation in approaching and solving conflicts.
In addition, Malaysia had also been playing a mediatory role in regional conflicts such as those in the southern Philippines and southern Thailand, he added.
All these efforts and other international gestures pursued relentlessly by Malaysia over the past five years or so without having to compromise the country’s own national interest must have been noticed by the UN member countries, he said.
As such, he added, they had no hesitation to vote Malaysia into the Security Council with a comfortable majority.
Aziz congratulated Najib and thanked Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and members of his team for their tireless work in securing support for Malaysia. They should take pride that their efforts more than paid off, he said.
Malaysia was voted in as one of the five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council in New York earlier today. Malaysia polled 187 votes from 192 member states. One member state abstained.
This is the fourth time that Malaysia has secured a non-permanent seat on the council. It held a seat in 1965, 1989-1990 and 1999-2000.
— BERNAMA
