Yudhoyono Asks Asian-African Nations to Aid Palestine

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appealed to Asian-African countries to assist Palestine in securing its independence.

“We can help Palestinians make their countries independent. They’ve fought for so long,” he told the Asian-African Parliamentary Conference at the Nusantara Building in Senayan, Jakarta on Thursday, April 23, 2015.

Yudhoyono, one of the keynote speakers in the conference, delivered his speech titled “Working together for peace and prosperity: parliamentary cooperation in promoting post-2015 development agenda.” The sixth Indonesian president received a huge round of applause from the conference's participants after his speech.

Yudhoyono asserted that development and progress must come from within—from the executors. “No amount of aggression can do it unless it comes from within by its own people,” he said.

He added the Asian-African Conference (AAC) must not only promote solidarity, but also create opportunities that grew from the solidarity itself.

The parliamentary conference, which was part of the 60^th commemoration of the AAC anniversary, was opened with speeches by House speaker Setya Novanto and President Joko Widodo. 

INDRI MAULIDAR