Jakarta needs 'flexible' figure in Canberra<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia must appoint someone \"flexible\" as its
\nnext ambassador to Australia, Harold Crouch, a senior Australian
\nscholar on Indonesia, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Crouch, the author of the 1978 book The Army and Politics in
\nIndonesia, said it is not a question of whether Indonesia sends a
\nperson with a military or civilian background to fill the post in
\nCanberra.<\/p>\n
\"Australians need a more open, flexible figure like August
\nMarpaung and Sabam Siagian,\" he said, referring of two former
\nIndonesian ambassadors to Australia who were considered
\nsuccessful in their posts despite the often strenuous relations
\nbetween the two countries.<\/p>\n
\"Siagian loved to invite reporters over for a beer ... the
\n(media) reports remained critical, but never personally attacking
\nSiagian,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Crouch, a senior fellow at the Research School of Pacific and
\nAsian Studies at the Australian National University, is in
\nJakarta to attend a seminar on the history of the Indonesian
\nrevolution organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI).<\/p>\n
The late Marpaung was a senior Army officer when he assumed
\nhis ambassadorial post in the 1980s. Sabam Siagian was a senior
\njournalist before he was assigned to the post in 1991; he is
\nscheduled to end his term this month.<\/p>\n
Indonesia last week withdrew the nomination of Lt. Gen. (ret.)
\nH.B.L. Mantiri to replace Sabam in Canberra after an outcry in
\nAustralia, fanned by remarks he made in 1992 regarding tragic
\nevents in East Timor the previous year.<\/p>\n
Mantiri, who was not personally involved in the incidents in
\nEast Timor which claimed the lives of more than 50 civilians,
\ntold the Indonesian Editor magazine in 1992 that the military had
\nacted properly in handling the situation.<\/p>\n
An internal military investigation later found errors in
\njudgment and procedures by the military.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has said that it will leave the Canberra post vacant
\nuntil further notice, a move widely seen as downgrading the
\ndiplomatic relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n
Indonesian officials point out that Mantiri's nomination had
\nalready been accepted by Canberra before the public outcry began.<\/p>\n
Crouch explained that the anger over Mantiri's nomination was
\nnot so much a result of his attachment to the military, but more
\nbecause the Australian media uncovered the Editor interview.<\/p>\n
\"Mantiri himself wasn't helpful at all in his following
\ncomments,\" Crouch said. \"But nothing could have been done anyway.
\nIt would have been really disastrous (if he had been appointed).\"<\/p>\n
Crouch described Rear Marshall Roesman, who served as
\nambassador before Sabam, as \"quite hopeless, (because) he would
\nsay things which were quite untrue.\"<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday there
\nwere no new developments since his announcement that Indonesia
\nwould leave the Canberra post vacant.<\/p>\n
\"The mission will be led by the charge d'affaires,\" he told
\nreporters at the State Palace.<\/p>\n
Asked if he felt the latest affair would disrupt relations
\nbetween the two countries, he said that he hoped relations were
\nstrong enough to withstand the current setback.<\/p>\n
\"The relations are quite strong being supported by already
\nsubstantive ties so they will be able continue without being
\naffected by this new development.<\/p>\n
\"This condition is the result of the efforts we have put forth
\nin the last several years, to give weight to our cooperation so
\nthat if some tremors or incidents like this occurred, relations
\nin general would not be affected.\" (anr\/emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakarta-needs-flexible-figure-in-canberra-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}