Indonesia seeks role as ASEAN 'big brother'<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Agencies): President Megawati Soekarnoputri, on a
\nwhirlwind tour of the capitals of the Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations (ASEAN), said on Saturday that Indonesia must live
\nup to its title as the \"big brother\" of the region.<\/p>\n
Megawati told a meeting with some 200 Indonesians here that
\nshe wished people would stop putting quotation marks between the
\nwords \"big brother\" whenever referring to the role that Indonesia
\nshould play in ASEAN.<\/p>\n
\"In the past, we were called ASEAN's `big brother`. This means
\nthat Indonesia is expected to take the ASEAN leadership in
\ninternational fora,\" she said at the meeting held at the
\nIndonesian Embassy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia should assume the region's leadership role not only
\nin international politics, but also in the economic and other
\nsectors, she said as quoted by the Antara news agency.<\/p>\n
Megawati, who held talks with Thai prime minister Thaksin
\nShinawatra, later flew to Bandar Sri Begawan for the seventh stop
\nof her tour of nine ASEAN capitals.<\/p>\n
She had already visited Manila, Hanoi, Vientiane, Phnom Penh
\nand Yangon. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur will be her last two stops
\nbefore she returns home on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Her choice to visit the ASEAN capitals as her first overseas
\ntour is not only in keeping with an ASEAN tradition for every
\nleader to quickly acquaint themselves with their counterparts,
\nbut is also a reaffirmation of her pledge to make ASEAN once
\nagain the cornerstone of Indonesia's foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid, in contrast, snubbed ASEAN
\nand launched an initiative to set up a new West Pacific Forum
\nwhich would include among others, Australia, New Zealand, Papua
\nNew Guinea and the newly independent East Timor.<\/p>\n
There has been a consensus within ASEAN that Indonesia takes
\nmost of the initiatives and leadership within the organization
\nsimply because it is the largest member.<\/p>\n
But with the country in almost perpetual economic and
\npolitical crisis since 1997, Indonesia has not been able to play
\nthat role effectively the way that it did previously.<\/p>\n
Megawati said on Saturday that she hoped to rectify that. For
\nthat to happen, she conceded that Indonesia must put its own
\nhouse in order first and that this was something that she hoped
\nto achieve in the remaining two-and-a-half years of her
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
The administration must start by tackling the problems of law
\nenforcement and corruption, she said, adding that should she
\nfail, the dream of leading ASEAN would never materialize.<\/p>\n
In her speech, the first in which she publicly addressed
\ndomestic issues during her present tour, Megawati called on her
\ncompatriots everywhere to build their sense of self confidence.<\/p>\n
For Indonesia to be able to take a leadership position, \"the
\nrecipe is to build a strong national identity, self respect and
\nself confidence,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Indonesians abroad, in particular, must never shy away from
\npublicly identifying their nationality no matter how appalling
\nconditions in their home country are and no matter what other
\npeople think of Indonesia, she said.<\/p>\n
\"I have met many people who said they were ashamed to be
\nIndonesians,\" said Megawati, who is also the chairperson of the
\nnationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan). (emb\/dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-seeks-role-as-asean-big-brother-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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