Centrist Democrat International endorses Indonesian initiative to promote Humanitarian Islam worldwide
CDI “welcom[es] the efforts of PKB, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the Government of Indonesia ‘to unite Islamic principles with an inclusive and humanist national spirit,’ as part of the Republic of Indonesia’s historic ‘commitment to promote solidarity, independence, and world peace,’ both regionally and globally”
~ CDI Resolution quoting His Excellency Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia
Members of the CDI Executive Committee attending a gala dinner held at Thammanon, a 12th-century Hindu temple within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, 17 – 19 November 2024 — At its biannual meeting, the Executive Committee of the world’s largest network of political parties, Centrist Democrat International, unanimously endorsed a Resolution on the outcome of the 2024 general elections in Indonesia, and CDI Member Party PKB joining the government of H.E. Prabowo Subianto.
Hosted by the Cambodian People’s Party and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the three-day meeting addressed a number of critical issues, including global threats to democracy and the erosion of a rules-based international order.
Participants in the CDI Executive Committee Meeting included representatives of some of the world’s leading political parties and major powers, including Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the largest political group in the European Union, the European People’s Party (EPP), whose member parties govern 14 EU Member States and dominate both the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Antonio López-Istúriz White (above, center left) — Secretary General of CDI, former Secretary General of the European People’s Party (2002 – 2022), and Secretary-Treasurer of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the EPP think-tank — addressed a forum on “Galvanizing Political Synergies for Peacebuilding.” He was accompanied by H.E. Elmar Brok (above, center right) of Germany’s CDU, longtime chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (1999 – 2007 and 2012 – 2017), who is widely credited with having made a vital contribution to the Constitution of the European Union.
In its Resolution on the outcome of the 2024 general elections in Indonesia, CDI hailed the fact “that on 14 February 2024 the Republic of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and democracy, held free and fair elections in an atmosphere of national unity and civic concord.” After “[n]oting that over 164 million Indonesians, or 82% of all eligible voters, participated in the 2024 general elections,” and “[a]ppreciating the significance of this achievement, in a global environment characterized by widespread democratic decline,” the Resolution went on to state:
- Acknowledging the vital role of the National Awakening Party (PKB) in having established and maintained democracy in Indonesia since the party’s founding in 1998;
- Recognizing that PKB has deep roots within Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim organization, and was founded by senior Nahdlatul Ulama leaders, including KH. Abdurrahman Wahid and KH. A. Mustofa Bisri;
- Lauding the steadfast commitment of the Republic of Indonesia, PKB, and Nahdlatul Ulama to international peace and security, and to the principles that lie at the heart of the post-WWII international order, including the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
- Commending PKB and Nahdlatul Ulama for safeguarding the Republic of Indonesia as a multireligious and pluralistic nation state founded on the principle of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (“Unity Amid Diversity”), which closely parallels the motto of the European Union, “In varietate concordia,” or “Harmony amid diversity”;
- Considering that Nahdlatul Ulama established the Humanitarian Islam movement in 2017, in response to religious extremism and other threats to a rules-based international order founded upon universal ethics and humanitarian values;
- Recalling that since joining CDI in November 2019, PKB has consistently worked to promote cooperation between Centrist Democrat member parties on the basis of shared values, including the premise that Humanitarian Islam, Western humanism, and Christian Democracy are kindred traditions, imbued with respect for the equal rights and dignity of every human being…
- Noting that on 5 November 2024, at the opening session of an International Conference on Humanitarian Islam held at the University of Indonesia, President Prabowo Subianto emphatically endorsed “the values of Humanitarian Islam,” which he described as “the anchor that has steadied Indonesia, weaving its diversity into a beautiful, harmonious whole”;
- Further noting that in his address, President Subianto described how Pancasila — the ideological foundation of the Republic of Indonesia as a multi-religious and pluralistic nation state — “combines deep spirituality with a just, civilized, and refined humanitarianism… providing us with a real-world example of how Islam can develop and spread a message of peace within the framework of human diversity. Therefore, it is appropriate and right for Indonesia to introduce Pancasila to the world as a manifestation of Humanitarian Islam”;
- Welcoming the efforts of PKB, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the Government of Indonesia “to unite Islamic principles with an inclusive and humanist national spirit,” as part of the Republic of Indonesia’s historic “commitment to promote solidarity, independence, and world peace,” both regionally and globally (H.E. Prabowo Subianto in his address to the International Conference on Humanitarian Islam);
The CDI:
- Wishes PKB every success in contributing to Indonesia’s — and the world’s — prosperity, wellbeing, and sense of “unity amid diversity,” through its participation in the Prabowo administration’s newly formed Merah-Putih (“Red and White”) cabinet, and its role as the largest Islamic political party in Indonesia’s House of Representatives; and
- Welcomes the opportunity to continue and expand the close cooperation that exists between PKB, the Humanitarian Islam movement, and the large network of centrist political parties that belong to CDI.
Siem Reap, Cambodia, 18 November 2024
CDI President, H.E. Andrés Pastrana Arango, the former President of Colombia (center left), listening to a keynote address delivered at the CDI Executive Committee meeting by H.E. Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet (center right), Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. H.E. Muhaimin Iskandar, the Chairman of Indonesia’s National Awakening Party (PKB), is seated at the far left. H.E. Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez, Speaker of the Philippines House of Representatives, is seated to the right of the Cambodian Prime Minister.
Bilateral meeting between H.E. Muhaimin Iskandar (center left) — PKB Chairman and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Social Empowerment — and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Hun Manet (center right). PKB Advisor C. Holland Taylor and PKB Vice President H. Faisol Riza (left) and ministers in the Government of Cambodia (right) also participated in the bilateral meeting.
CDI Executive Committee members and their respective delegations pose for a group photo on the grounds of the meeting venue, the Grand Hotel D’Angkor. Opened in 1932, the hotel has hosted a diverse array of statesmen and other historic figures, including archeologists, historians, politicians, and diverse members of the French colonial administration; the Japanese military occupation during WWII; King Norodom Sihanouk; the genocidal Khmer Rouge; and the Hun Sen/Hun Manet government for the past 30 years.
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