Prime CS Mudavadi defends citizens’ rights to call for leadership that meets their demands

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has defended the citizens’ right to ask the leadership of the day to meet their demands.

In a statement shared by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mudavadi made the remarks during a virtual meeting with Foreign Ministers of the Global South during the third Voice of the Global South Summit chaired by Dr. Laishankar, who is the Minister of External Affairs of India.

The former Sabatia Member of Parliament also thanked his Indian counterpart for holding the ministerial-level meeting at a critical moment in the global multilateral systems.

“Nonetheless, he argued that the citizenry remained knowledgeable and engaged in demanding leadership that advocates for their rights to meet their demands. In an evolving, unforeseeable and uncertain world, he observed that in the Global South must consistently make their voices heard at the global level,” the statement read in part.

Global conflicts

Mudavadi also touched on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and stressed such wars will have far-reaching impacts globally.

“The Prime Cabinet Secretary argued that the global south must remain seized of the geopolitical challenges facing it, particularly in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ongoing crisis in West Asia.

“He believed that the conflicts have had far-reaching impacts, including soaring prices of fuel, food, and fertilizers, which disproportionately affect developing nations, and averred that deliberations at this Summit must focus on mitigating these impacts, and exploring avenues for collective action and resilience-building among Global South countries,” it added.

Mudavadi noted that the conflicts in the global south are easily forgotten in the global discourse, giving an example of how the crisis in Sudan had been relegated to the back banner despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

He added that there is a need for the global south to closely focus on the emerging threat of the weaponisation of cyber technology to foment violence and upheaval as recently experienced in a number of countries globally.

“He hoped that the outcomes of this summit would provide action points to address these challenges and translate the discussions to practical objectives, leading to sustainable solutions to enhance inclusive and equitable global political and financial governance.

“He believed that although the majority of these peace and development challenges do not stem from the Global South, they were, however, more adversely affected given that we mainly depend on an integrated global economy,” the statement continued to say.

While applauding India, he vouched for common goals for countries in the global south.

“To accomplish the Global South’s common goal of an inclusive, equitable, and fair international order, he exudes confidence the Global South will maintain its momentum and speak as one voice,” it added.

Foreign Ministers from, Antigua and Barbuda’s, Kingdom of Bahrain, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria, Comoros, Granada, Guyana, Jamaica, Guatemala, Peru, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, TOrkiye, Egypt, North Macedonia, South Africa, and Equatorial Guinea were in the meeting.