Minister: RI ready to accept decision on Sipadan-Ligitan<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Indonesia was preparing for
\nthe worst when the International Court of Justice makes its
\ndecision on the disputed islands of Sipadan and Ligitan on the
\nborder with Malaysia and East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The Court is to issue its verdict on the islets on Dec. 17.<\/p>\n
\"We are not pessimistic, but a 50 percent chance of winning
\nthe case is a conservative prediction ... Indonesia is ready to
\naccept the decision, whatever it is,\" Hassan said here on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The two islands have been the subject of a dispute between the
\ntwo countries since 1969, when Malaysia and Indonesia were
\nstriving to determine their territorial limits.<\/p>\n
In the past four years, the dispute was submitted to the court
\nin The Hague, but due to a lack of clarity in the evidence
\npresented by the two countries, it has been difficult to make a
\nprediction of the possible outcome.<\/p>\n
The Dec. 17 verdict will be final and binding, and the UN
\nSecurity Council had full authority to implement it, should
\neither Indonesia or Malaysia refuse to comply.<\/p>\n
Anticipating the worst, Hassan has informed several local
\ngroupings about ongoing progress and said that the government was
\ntrying to avoid further political rifts at home should Indonesia
\nlose the two islands.<\/p>\n
Losing the case could be a big blow to the Ministry of Foreign
\nAffairs, especially as the country is still traumatized by the
\nseparation of East Timor from Indonesia in 1999.<\/p>\n
Should Malaysia win the case, this could raise negative
\nsentiment towards Kuala Lumpur, as happened when Malaysia
\ndeported Indonesians who worked illegally in that country.<\/p>\n
\"We are trying to avoid a misperception that the current
\nadministration has failed to retain the islands. This is an old
\nproblem, the legacy from previous administrations,\" the minister
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
\"Once, former president Soeharto said that he would like to
\nend the dispute during his tenure, but it proved to be impossible
\nand the current administration must deal with the result,\" he
\nstressed.<\/p>\n
Both Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to take the case to the
\ncourt in an attempt to avoid friction between the two neighboring
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
Hassan further cited that there were currently four possible
\noutcomes: a decision totally in favor of Malaysia or of
\nIndonesia, shared ownership or both countries owning one island.<\/p>\n
Hassan underlined that the government had made maximum efforts
\nto win the dispute as it was a matter of Indonesia's sovereignty,
\nbut it had been difficult due to insufficient legal evidence of
\nthe islands' ownership.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia may have been wrong since the beginning, when it
\nexcluded the two islands in the first mapping done in 1960, but
\nso was Malaysia,\" the minister remarked.<\/p>\n
To assist Indonesia during the hearing, Jakarta hired four
\nreputable lawyers from France, the Netherlands, Britain and the
\nU.S., which cost the country some Rp 16 billion (US$1.7 million)
\nfor their three years of service.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/minister-ri-ready-to-accept-decision-on-sipadan-ligitan-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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