GENEVA, April 25, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Young Swiss Muslims are currently championing a campaign to set up a self-styled youth parliament.

The creative idea was tabled for discussions and agreed upon during the 10th annual Muslim Youths Conference which wrapped up on Saturday, April 24, in the western city of La Chaux de Fonds.

The Organization for Kids and Youths and the Organization for Muslim Women have been tasked with putting into effect the pilot idea.

Swiss Muslim youths between the age groups 14-27 are invited to join the nascent project.

Switzerland is home to some 380,000 Muslims representing a sizable 4.7 percent of the country’s some eight million people.

Islam is the second religion in the country after Christianity.

The parliament idea appealed to young Muslims, who have started filling membership applications.

“The reality of Muslim minority in the West, particularly in a country like Switzerland, makes it incumbent upon us to deal with our problems in a pragmatic way,” 17-year-old Hafsa told IslamOnline.net.

Her colleague Abeer hoped the proposed parliament would serve as a melting pot for Muslim youths in the central European country.

“Muslim youths have many common problems,” she said. “We can exchange our expertise and streamline our efforts through this parliament to resolve these problems not only at the district level but at the federal as well.”

For Marwan, 20, the new parliament will make the Muslim minority speak one voice.

“We will make use of the experience of the first generation in thrashing out problems we will come across,” he told IOL, commending the democratic atmosphere in Switzerland.

The young second and third generations will make up the MPs, who are expected to play an effective and harmonious role in Swiss society, IOL’s correspondent says.

Some, especially parents, fear that ethnic diversity among the Muslim minority would be a stumbling bloc for the nascent project.

They said past experiences were not encouraging as joint efforts by Muslims of different backgrounds bogged down.

But 16-year-old Taysir, echoing the prevailing mode among others who participated in the annual conference, said Muslim youths are resolved to go beyond their ethnic differences.

“I myself see no difference between me and my Turkish and Bosnian colleagues since we speak the same language, share common interests and fully understand each other,” said the Albanian-born teen.

Abdel Razik, 18, contended that the second and third generations have more than one reason to be united.

“We speak the same language, were born in the same society and face common future, which are all a major driving force for cooperation and unity,” he told IOL.

Mohammad Karmous, the head of the League of Muslims in Switzerland (LMS), said the youths have become increasingly aware of the importance of unity and dialogue.

“They feel that Islam is their common denominator irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds, which are ebbing away,” he said.

Last June, Swiss Muslims launched a ten-day campaign to reach out to non-Muslims in the capital Geneva, stand up to malicious media onslaughts and clear stereotypes on Islam.