Takes two to tango<\/p>\n
Abdillah Toha's article in The Jakarta Post, March 1, titled
\nExtradition talks and Singapore's lectures reflects an Indonesian
\ncitizen's impatience regarding the signing of the extradition
\ntreaty that has been discussed over the past three decades. In
\nfact, the majority of Indonesians, in my opinion, share his
\nviews.<\/p>\n
Since the first request for Singapore to sign an extradition
\ntreaty in 1975 was submitted, there has been no progress so far,
\neven though the United Nations Convention Against Corruption was
\nsigned two years ago, and the ASEAN Agreement on Reciprocal Legal
\nAid against Criminal Acts was approved last November. It was only
\nafter the Indonesian House of Representatives put pressure on the
\ngovernment to set the end of 2005 as the deadline for signing the
\ntreaty that the Singaporean government agreed to resume talks on
\nit.<\/p>\n
Indonesians -- who have not had an \"explosive-style\" leader
\nlike first president Sukarno for the past three decades or so --
\nshould learn from former Malaysian prime minister, Dr. Mahathir
\nMohammad, and the current Thai prime minister, Thaksin Sinawatra,
\nabout how to talk tough when it comes to critical issues.<\/p>\n
As we are all aware, Indonesia is currently the fifth most
\ncorrupt country in the world. Being a good neighbor, the
\nSingaporean authorities should have, in the first place, known
\nabout and helped Indonesia in its fight against corruption by,
\nfor instance, preventing corruptors from hiding, and their graft
\nmoney from being hidden, in their country.<\/p>\n
Abdillah Toha's remarks have been \"categorically\" corrected by
\nthe Singaporean Embassy here (the Post, March 5), and they even
\nasked for proof as to the amount of illicit money stashed in
\ntheir country's banks. Well, according to reports there is
\npresently about US$70 billion in Indonesian corruptors' money
\ndeposited in Singapore's banks (Kompas, Dec. 17).<\/p>\n
From the business perspective, such huge deposits obviously
\nhave the potential to make the host country, which is already
\nrich, even richer. But from the perspective of neighborliness, it
\nmeans they are enjoying themselves while we are suffering.<\/p>\n
The House pressure on the government has encouraged the
\nSingaporeans to start talks on the treaty again, even though the
\nlatest round of talks does not offer too much hope as a result of
\nSingapore's tactic of buying time. In order to add to the
\npressure and Indonesia's bargaining power during the next round
\nof talks, it is worth considering the suggestion by former Garuda
\nIndonesia president M. Suparno: that Indonesia revoke the right
\nof Singapore Airlines to traverse Indonesian airspace, given that
\nthey earn $900 million in profit from their flights to Australia
\nalone (Business Indonesia, March 1).<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/takes-two-to-tango-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }