ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker (NA) Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has warned that the credibility of the United Nations system is under threat, according to an official statement on Wednesday, as he called for a return to multilateralism to address long-standing conflicts in places like Palestine and Kashmir.
Speaking at the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, Sadiq said the international system was being undermined by populism, unilateralism and the politicization of humanitarian principles.
He stressed the need for diplomacy and institutional reform to restore global trust in the system.
“The world has witnessed enough bloodshed,” Sadiq told parliamentary leaders from around the globe. “It is time for new thinking, time to embrace pluralism, time to respect diversity and time for a new beginning.”
Citing the UN Security Council’s failure to resolve protracted disputes around the world, he said peaceful conflict resolution must now be treated not only as a legal obligation, but a strategic imperative.
Coercion and unilateral action, he added, cannot deliver sustainable peace.
Sadiq evoked Geneva’s historic role as the heart of diplomacy, recalling that the city had been the birthplace and graveyard of the League of Nations.
He maintained today’s multilateral institutions risk a similar fate if they continue to be undermined by narrow nationalism and hegemonic politics.
The NA speaker praised the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2788, led by Pakistan during its recent presidency, which calls for strengthening global mechanisms for peaceful dispute settlement through mediation, arbitration, judicial action and diplomatic engagement.
Turning to the global economy, he said over 100 developing countries are facing debt distress or liquidity crises, highlighting what he described as systemic shortcomings in the international financial and trade architecture.
Sadiq called for urgent reforms to build a fairer, development-oriented global financial system that supports the Global South, enhances economic resilience and reduces inequality.
He also reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding call to reform and democratize the UN Security Council, making it more representative, accountable and transparent.
Only such reform, he added, can help restore trust in multilateralism and enable the global system to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
