ISLAMABAD, July 28: Participants at a roundtable discussion on United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s reform proposals “In Larger Freedom” termed the recommendations deficient and impracticable.

The speakers were of the opinion that the reforms proposed by the secretary-general were nothing more than good words of a gentleman based on his noble intentions.

Pakistan Muslim League General Secretary Senator Mushahid Hussain, taking part in the discussion organized jointly by the United Nations Information Centre and OIC Citizen’s Forum, said the secretary-general in his proposals package failed to address certain key issues vital to the world peace.

“The secretary-general did not refer to the longstanding disputes that have been part of the UN agenda and there have been UN resolutions on them. Moreover, these issues have been a threat to regional and world peace.”

The secretary-general, he contended, did not denounce the linking of terrorism with religion while discussing the issue and deliberating on its causes. He said Mr Annan should have categorically rejected any link between terrorism and religion as terrorism was a global phenomenon.

Mr Hussain said he was not pessimistic about the UN as it had shown during the Iraq war that it could take a principled stand.

He also defended the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), saying there should be a cohesive and coherent response to the issues confronting the Muslim world and this could be possible only through the OIC. Efforts, he said, were underway to rejuvenate the OIC and change its charter and name.

On the issue of expansion of the UN Security Council, he said instead of rewarding a country that had been a violator of basic charter of the UN with a permanent seat, the expansion should be linked with resolution of disputes.

Mr Hussain said the purpose of the Security Council expansion should not be to increase the number of seats, but to make it more representative.

He supported the idea of giving representation to Muslims by making a Muslim country member of the Security Council in consonance with the geo-political realities.

Dr Ijaz Hussain questioned the haste being shown by Mr Annan and said the best way to go ahead with UN reforms, including UNSC expansion, was through achieving consensus. Opting for a voting on the resolutions for UNSC expansion, he said, would divide the world.

Senator Akram Zaki said the ideas expressed in the secretary-general’s proposals were not new and most of them were already present in the UN preamble. “These were not implemented then and are unlikely to be implemented now.”

He called for an increase in non-permanent members of the UNSC, saying it would make the UN body more democratic and representative.

Dr S M Rehman said the proposals appeared to have been expressed in poetry, while their execution was in prose. Criticizing the UN as an extension of the superpowers, he said, the world body’s credibility had eroded. He said before going for the reforms, UN should restore its credibility.

Dr Najma Najam, vice-chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, said the UN system was outdated and needed to be revamped. But realistically looking, the secretary-general’s proposals are practically difficult to be implemented.