ISLAMABAD, May 30: The Commission of Eminent Persons (CEP) of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has proposed sweeping changes in the 57-member pan-Islamic body and recommended to change the name of the organization. The proposals, drawn up at the 2nd meeting of the CEP in Islamabad, were announced at a press conference here by Mr Ahmad Daud Oglo, a member of the Commission and special advisor of the Turkish prime minister on foreign affairs. Senator Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan’s representative to the CEP and chairman of Senate’s committee on foreign relations, also spoke on the occasion.

The two-day final meeting of the CEP opened here on May 28 to finalise recommendations for restructuring and revitalizing the OIC. The meeting was part of the OIC plan to implement a Pakistan-sponsored resolution entitled “Islam and the Muslim World in the 21st Century – The Path of Enlightened Moderation”.

“We have suggested that the name of OIC be changed because its objective is not to have just conferences and summits,” Mr Daud Oglo said as he summarized a host of recommendations made by the 16-member CEP. He said in view of the changed global realities a revision of the OIC Charter had also been proposed after 40 years.

Other proposals include strengthening of the position of the OIC secretary-general as well as the OIC secretariat in Jeddah. The creation of an education consortium to facilitate higher education and academic research has also been proposed.

Massive restructuring of the existing OIC departments, particularly the information department, and the establishing of new departments has also been recommended, Mr Daud Oglo disclosed.

“After the cold war and 9/11, the CEP believes there is need for new departments,” he said. These include departments of conflict resolution; strategic planning; NGOs and minorities; Islamophobia; and women’s development.

Proposals have also been made to address the question of financial support for restructuring the OIC. Asked how the financial aspect would be addressed effectively since half of the member countries did not pay their dues, Mr Daud said the Commission had suggested imposition of penalties to ensure that all member countries fulfilled their financial obligations.

“Penalties should be imposed on those member states who have defaulted,” he stated. Suspension of membership would be one of the penalties, he disclosed. Responding to a question he said during the meeting the need to evolve a mechanism for effective and timely implementation of decisions taken by the OIC was also stressed.

“One of the proposals is setting up a council of permanent representatives of the OIC to follow up on decisions taken by the Summit,” Mr. Oglo pointed out. The recommendations made by the CEP would be presented by the Chairman of the Summit Conference (Malaysia) to the Extraordinary OIC Summit to be held in December in Saudi Arabia, he said.

On the question of inclusion of non-Islamic countries with large Muslim populations in the OIC, Mr. Daud said: “That was discussed and it was decided that the membership criteria will continue to preserve the Muslim character of the OIC.” However, he said the question of attaining an observer status was a different matter. At this point Senator Mushahid Hussain also intervened to say: “Only countries with a Muslim majority will continue to be members of the OIC.” Both Mr. Oglo and Senator Hussain underscored the need for the OIC to take a unified stand on issues and work towards a collective response to the challenges facing the Muslim world.

“What has been missing in the past has been an organized response and the effort now is to focus on that,” Senator Hussain said. Referring to the challenge of democracy in the Muslim World he pointed to the gap between the ruler and the ruled. “Democratic path is the path forward,” he declared.

At the outset Senator Mushahid Hussain pointed out that it was the first serious initiative on reform and restructuring since the inception of OIC in 1969. Emphasising the need to transform OIC into an effective spokes body of the Islamic Ummah he said a major outcome of the meeting had been the proposal of establishment of a Think Tank to take up issues in a coordinated manner.

“What we do will have a larger resonance because of the impact and linkages of issues in this global, interdependent world,” he stated. Summing up the proceeding of the final CEP meeting he said it identified specific challenges facing the Muslim world.—Q.A