Bali (Indonesia), 2 September 2024 (SPS)  – Speaker of the Algerian Council of the Nation (Parliament’s upper house) Salah Goudjil noted on Sunday the Security Council’s responsibility to protect the Palestinian people, calling for speeding up decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa.

During the 1st Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum in Bali, themed “Establishing a parliamentary partnership between Indonesia and Africa for development,” Mohamed Amroune, the President of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and the National Community Abroad of the upper house, delivered a speech on behalf of the Speaker of the upper house, Salah Goudjil.

Goudjil highlighted the importance of this valuable platform, which is designed to advance parliamentary diplomacy and enhance cooperation between the two parties for their mutual benefit and development.

On this occasion, he applauded Afro-Indonesian relations, which, he said, are based on a common historical heritage marked by strong friendship, mutual trust, and solidarity, mirroring the considerable support that Indonesia readily provided to liberation movements, including the Algerian Revolution.

“Given the unpredictable and tense global situation, this 1st Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum presents a timely opportunity to discuss ways to develop cooperation between the two parties and find solutions to address the shortcomings of the collective security system and the powerlessness of multilateralism faced with the prevailing reliance on the use of force and military interventions, rather than peaceful and diplomatic solutions,” the Speaker of the upper house said.

“As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, my country, Algeria, has affirmed time and again that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Gaza cannot be overlooked,” he said.

Goudjil added that it is crucial to “underscore the responsibility of the Security Council to protect the Palestinian people” and to “advocate for holding the Zionist occupation accountable for its crimes and violations of international law.”

“Amidst our discussions of liberation movements and the Bandung Conference, we cannot overlook the persistence of the colonial fact in the occupied Western Sahara,” he noted.

The Speaker of the upper house further called for “speeding up decolonization in the last colony in Africa.”