Indonesia and ASEAN must move on together<\/p>\n
Philips J Vermonte
\nCSIS<\/p>\n
In the past three decades, ASEAN has been the corner stone of
\nIndonesia's foreign policy. But, things have changed rapidly,
\ntriggered by the economic crisis and its severe consequences
\nstarting from 1997. To a large extent, Indonesia has lost its
\ncredibility within ASEAN, shifting from \"a country that could
\nassert the leadership role\" into a country that is widely seen as
\n\"source of the problems\" in the region. The shift is partly
\ncaused by the political change started in 1998, following the
\nresignation of Soeharto from the presidency. Since then, the
\nIndonesian authoritarian system has been, to some extent, altered
\nwith a more democratic one. New political parties and interest
\ngroups have emerged. In addition, print and electronic media are
\nnow able to publish people's opinions, apart from the state's
\nview.<\/p>\n
After the financial crisis hit the region, several members of
\nASEAN have also experienced profound political change. In the
\nPhilippines, a country that is considered to be having the
\nstrongest people-power movement in the region, the demand for a
\nmore transparent government is apparently high. The
\ndemocratization process is also underway in Thailand. The new
\nConstitution enacted in 1997 introduces significant political
\nreform in that country. In Malaysia, the opposition movement has
\nalso become more discernible. Suffice it to say, some ASEAN
\nmembers are gradually becoming more open and democratic than
\nothers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, ASEAN now has a larger agenda as a consequence of
\nits decision to incorporate all ten countries in the region. The
\neconomic gap between the old and new members, the competing
\ninterests amongst the members, the emergence of non-traditional
\nsecurity issues and the desire to create \"One Southeast Asia\"
\nthrough economic and political integration must all be dealt with
\nat once.<\/p>\n
It must be noted that Indonesia has been known as the
\nstrongest proponent of the core ASEAN principle, the non-
\ninterference principle. It dates back to the early days of the
\nSoeharto administration in 1967. After putting an end to
\nSukarno's Confrontation policy towards Malaysia, Soeharto's New
\nOrder government actively took part in initial attempts to
\nestablish ASEAN. The reason for this, as Michael Leifer (1999)
\nputs it, was that Soeharto needed ASEAN to rebuild Indonesia's
\nreputation. Indonesia under Sukarno was widely known as an anti-
\nWestern country.<\/p>\n
For Indonesia at that time there was a need to achieve
\nregional stability for economic development as well as domestic
\npolitical stability. It was not surprising that the Bangkok
\nDeclaration in 1967, which serves as a fundamental treaty for
\nASEAN, emphasizes these two political and economic
\nconsiderations. In the first ASEAN summit in 1976, it was
\nSoeharto who made it clear that \"each member resolves to
\neliminate threats posed by subversion to its stability, thus
\nstrengthening national and ASEAN resilience.\" Since then, the
\nconcepts underpinning ASEAN's effort to attain its goal are
\nregional resilience together with economic growth, which was very
\nmuch the same as Soeharto's domestic political jargon. The point
\nthat needs to be highlighted here is that Indonesia played a very
\nsignificant role in shaping ASEAN's early political agenda.<\/p>\n
We could draw similarities between the period when Indonesia
\ndecided to support the establishment of ASEAN and now.
\nIndonesia's regional reputation has been seriously damaged. Among
\nthe famous four problems that have been faced by ASEAN since
\n1997, three originate or at least take place in Indonesia: The
\neconomic crisis, the environmental disaster of the haze and the
\nhumanitarian emergency of East Timor. The issue of illegal
\nworkers has also become a contentious diplomatic thorn between
\nIndonesia and Malaysia, which reached its peak with the expulsion
\nof illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia in August this year.
\nIn addition, before the Bali bombings a few months ago, Indonesia
\nreceived heavy criticism from the neighboring countries for we
\nwere seen as doing very little in the fight against terrorism.<\/p>\n
At this point, Indonesia could actually play an important role
\nin shaping ASEAN's determination again. Indonesia has an
\nopportunity to do so as we will host the ASEAN Summit in 2003.<\/p>\n
There are several broad issues that can be advocated by
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
First, it must be acknowledged that ASEAN is not unified over
\nsome important issues, managing its relations with external
\npowers for instance. Unlike in the past when ASEAN was always
\nseen as an entity and treated as equal, ASEAN's external partners
\nnow enjoy better leverage as ASEAN's new members have their own
\nagenda for harvesting development aid from the partners. These
\ntwo challenges, external powers' interference and growing
\ninternal differences, must be given particular attention.
\nIndonesia can play a role in unifying the competing interests of
\nASEAN member countries.<\/p>\n
Second, for ASEAN to move more progressively, the consensus
\nprinciple needs to be examined. Third, ASEAN must also address
\nthe issue of institutional building. More than just trying to
\nreach a consensus on one particular issue, ASEAN must strengthen
\nits institution so that they can be utilized for making a more
\nrational decision. It can be achieved, for example, by enhancing
\nthe role of the ASEAN Secretariat. Fourth, ASEAN needs to
\nincorporate participation of non-state actors from ASEAN member
\ncountries. ASEAN must find a way to give more room to the people
\nof ASEAN to participate in the regional cooperation process. By
\ndoing so, we will not only nurture the idea of an \"ASEAN-ness\",
\nbut also we protect our own democratization process by creating a
\nregional environment conducive for democracy.<\/p>",
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