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     Thank you Hon. Chair, Prof. Furio Honsell, distinguished speakers, excellencies, and everyone who have joined us here today.

     It has been a wonderful journey so far. Sometimes it has been challenging, but the patience, harmony and commitment many of you have shown is remarkable. Please receive my admiration and continue the journey.

     Last year, we had several MPs in our inaugural conference in London. This year, we have a few parliament speakers with us. Next year, we may have a few Presidents and Prime Ministers. But the point is: I sense that the awareness we have been generating in the political community across the world might have ignited the inner purpose of someone in somewhere to do things a little bit better. This is our ultimate mission. If I can inspire myself to be a little bit better and serve you and the world a little bit more, I would consider our effort a success. From a material perspective, it may take many years for the tangible outcomes to be more visible to many of us. Imagine, in our life cycle, an average life span of approx. 70 years, we need a few years to even speak properly. We should give the due time and effort to every stages of our journey.

     We have been building the global organization for many years to come, with a very limited resources. We have been steering our journey slowly and carefully in this critically important stage. Setbacks, struggle, and sacrifice are the essential elements of a worthy human creation. So, please continue to be patient with us, specially when the time is tough.

     Our journey began a few years ago with a series of research projects. The idea has evolved - from local to national and from national to global. But the purpose and intention have always been the same – cooperation, ethics, justice and peace. We have faced our fair share of challenges over the years and will continue to do so in the future. But your leadership with wisdom should help us overcome the challenges and make us better and stronger.

     I believe there will be many more politicians who will join us in the future, but I hope you will remain as special.

     We are not here to compete with anyone, any organization or nation. We shall strive to compete with ourselves and co-operate with others whenever possible.

     Historically, friends have become foes and foes have become friends primarily due to the changing nature of the self-interest. So, let’s not distract ourselves by the short-term cyclical challenges. Let’s focus on our long-term mission. Our support and prayer will always be for the oppressed and we will speak up for those who do not have a voice, but we need some time to come together, build a strong foundation, then grow and act wisely.

     Our priority for now is to bring together political leaders from across the world.

     We are not focusing on raising money or press publicity at this early stage. For now, let’s stay together, focus on what we can give and what sacrifice we can make. We have spent nearly as much as we have raised from you for the conference. We will gradually become more organized, increase our capacity and build our strengths.

     In just two years, political leaders such as MPs from more than 70 countries have joined us. But not everyone is able to or should travel due to time, financial, geographic, and other constraints. The President of GCPR Hon. Bridget Masango MP is not able to join us this year because of the general election in South Africa. We plan to organize our next conference in Brussels and then we will move to Africa, Asia and other continents gradually. We have been cautious at this critically important stage. But our ultimate mission or philosophy is clear: Change starts within, change begins inside. Our purpose and plan may evolve over time at the strategic or operational level, but our vision of better politics and a brighter world will always remain the same.

     We will reform our councils next year as current councils will end their 3 years term in March 2025. I hope that some of you with the required level of competency, integrity and commitment will lead us from the next term. We will continue to invite a diverse range of political leaders, but the outcome is not always in our control. I will continue to serve you and make sacrifices until we pass through the most critical stage of our journey.

     Humans are created equal in a perfectly imperfect world, which provides us with the challenges of our lives. The fundamental nature of this world is that if we solve one problem, we will face another problem. The cycle continues. The challenge for us is how we deal with the challenges. Our experience suggest that whenever we have tried to do something with a pure intention and worked very hard the outcomes have almost always been good although sometimes it looks like our expectation do not match our perceived reality. We will seek forgiveness and strive to do better if we falter. We will continue to work hard with a good intention, integrity and commitment, make sacrifice and seek blessings.

     The world is not always meant to be peaceful for the same reason. One challenge for us is to find a fine balance between peace and justice. Justice is needed, but seeking justice excessively or disproportionately may cause further injustice partly due to our weaknesses and the choice we make. So, the deeper challenge for us is to forgive those who commit injustice and reconcile between people, bringing people together. If we can, then the question is why? Is it for the material reason or for the higher purpose. Individuals must discover the truth and make the choice.

     One fundamental weakness of mankind is that we are hasty – we want more and more, we want things fast, we want things now. Human excesses create many imbalances in the society, economy and environment. But we also have the capacity of making corrections, and if we don’t then the universe uses its own mechanism to rebalance things at human cost, sometimes disproportionately. Yet the question is: How do we balance the interests of the often-contradictory forces? How do we weigh the economic and social need of the present against the protection for the future? When a difficult choice needs to be made between equally significant alternatives leaders should put the needs of the society first, focusing primarily on the well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. But that does not necessarily mean that leaders should ignore the global concern for social and environmental welfare and justice. I would highlight the importance of the leaders’ long-term views on achievement.

     Politics is about people. People are naturally social beings who possess a cooperative spirit and have innate social preferences for justice, fairness and reciprocity. The raising awareness of this should urge us to shift away from the current dominant culture of self-interest to one that is motivated by services in commons. Social incentives alongside or instead of financial incentives can be used to induce desired social behaviors. The challenge for the leaders is to gain the trust and commitment of the wider community to achieve the long-term bjectives.

     Historically, mankind has been engaged in conflicts of ideas, rights and material interests leading to the wars in cycles, primarily because of the choices of individuals. But we have also proved that we can choose a better way and make a better history. So, again let’s remind ourselves to be more tolerant, emphatic and compassionate. Let’s define ourselves by the believe in equality, justice and peace. Let’s strive to love and serve a
little bit more to change ourselves and the world. Let’s work together for peace and justice. Let’s share our optimism for better politics and a
brighter world.

     

     May God bless us!