No foreign trips?<\/p>\n
When leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) meet in Laos in November for their annual summit
\nand hold dialogues with partners from China, Japan, South Korea,
\nand India, or get together during the Asian Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) later this year in Santiago, Chile, they will
\nnot likely be able to greet their new colleague, president-in-
\nwaiting Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
Why? Because Susilo, who is affectionately called SBY, has
\nrepeatedly pledged in his election campaign, that he would not
\ntravel abroad for at least 100 days starting from his official
\nswearing-in as the country's sixth president on Oct. 20. He has
\npromised to stay at home until January next year to enable him to
\nset a clear agenda for the direction of this government until
\n2009. He also wants to prove to the country that he has a strong
\nsense of crisis.<\/p>\n
Many Indonesians welcome his decision, because for many
\nIndonesians, overseas travel by a president is often perceived
\nmore as an opportunity to holiday abroad with expenses paid by
\nstate coffers rather than to promote the country's national
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
For SBY, one of the most crucial reasons behind his reason not
\nto tour friendly countries in near future, is likely the lesson
\nhe learned from his two predecessors, Megawati Soekarnoputri and
\nAbdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid. During his two-year tenure until
\nJuly 2001, Gus Dur traveled to at least 35 countries, while his
\nsuccessor Megawati obediently followed her predecessor's penchant
\nfor 'picnics'. The two leaders were widely criticized for their
\nintensive traveling, although there was no convincing evidence to
\nsupport their claims their trips were aimed at promoting
\nIndonesia to foreign investors.<\/p>\n
We do agree that our new president should prioritize his
\ndomestic agenda before taking a higher profile on the
\ninternational stage, because success in improving our
\ninternational standing much depends on our success solving the
\ncountry's prolonged economic and political crisis at home.
\nForeign affairs policy is the mirror of our domestic situation.
\nInvestors will not come even if the president knocks on their
\ndoors repeatedly, as long as domestic conditions are far from
\nbeing conducive for investment.<\/p>\n
However, we must also remind our new president he should not
\nignore the diplomatic tradition in the region. There is a custom
\namong ASEAN members that new leaders are expected to introduce
\nthemselves to other colleagues by visiting ASEAN's other nine
\nstate capitals. If Susilo does not want to spend too much time
\nvisiting the nine neighboring countries for bilateral talks, then
\nhis attendance at ASEAN summits would help him get acquinted with
\nthe other leaders. It would be embarrassing for Indonesia, the
\nlargest member of the regional grouping, if its president failed
\nto show up at such important summits.<\/p>\n
SBY should not repeat the 'hobby' of his two predecessors of
\ntraveling abroad, but at the same time Indonesia should not
\nbecome inward-looking through its absence from international
\nfora; the country must continue to play its role in the
\ninternational community, especially as member of ASEAN.<\/p>\n
A selective number of foreign tours is a must for the
\npresident. It is not necessary for him to retract his promise to
\nstay at home for 100 days. What he needs to do is explain
\ndirectly to the people that he at least must introduce himself to
\nthe leaders of our immediate neighbors.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-foreign-trips-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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