Parliamentary Diplomacy in Supporting Palestinian Independence: Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract

The literature on parliamentary diplomacy has been dominated by the Western context, with very limited exception discusses Asian or Muslim majority countries. This article aims to fill the gap by examining how the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), through its Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (BKSAP), maximising parliamentary diplomacy to support Palestinian independence. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, the authors created a dataset consisting of news articles and official reports published between 2017 and 2021. To complement this approach, an elite interview was conducted with the Vice Chairperson of BKSAP. The findings suggest that Indonesia’s staunch support for Palestine is mandated by its 1945 Constitution, hence BKSAP acts in accordance with the executive branch in advocating for Palestine’s sovereignty rights. However, the decision-making structure in international politics is limiting the success of Indonesia in pursuing this advocacy.