KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — Jeremy Corbyn, the popular former UK Labour Party prime ministerial candidate, today praised Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, describing him as a visionary leader of the Global South.
The Islington MP said Anwar‘s call to deepen collaboration between poor and developing countries is part of an “awakening” that is needed to create a more equitable and just international new order, amid growing disenchantment with a Western-led multilateral system.
“Across the global south we hear the same message: Enough. Enough of debt imposed by foreign banks; enough of economic dictates from Washington or Brussels.; enough of sovereignty as a privilege reserved for the few,” Corbyn said in a special address at the Kuala Lumpur Conference on a New Just and Humane International Order 2025, here.
“The awakening is not only about states but about people. True sovereignty means people’s sovereignty, over resources, food, water and knowledge. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar‘s call for a new order from the South speaks directly and powerfully to this great awakening,” he added.
“It’s not a nostalgia of the past. It is a renewal of the promise to build a world where every nation and every person can live in dignity.”
Organisers of the two-day conference said the meeting is meant to reimagine the international system from the perspective of justice, equality, solidarity, especially for the Global South.
It is co-organised by Polity, Progressive International, and Third World Network, supported by Malaysia’s Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Polity is currently led by Anwar’s first daughter and former MP, Nurul Izzah. Speaking to reporters, Nurul Izzah said she hopes the Kuala Lumpur Conference could shape a movement to strengthen collaboration between countries of the Global South.
“We came together culminating in this conference for a just, humane international order and wanted Kuala Lumpur to be witnessing the voices of not only in the South, but also those in the Global North guided to a moral compass,” she said.
Among foreign dignitaries attending the conference are South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Boates, and Namibia’s former minister of Justice, Yvonne Desuab.
