Aussie ambassador presents credentials

Aussie ambassador presents credentials

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

On the eve of a visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard to
Indonesia, the country's new ambassador to Jakarta, David James
Ritchie, finally got to present his credentials to President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday after a three-month delay.

Ritchie now fills the vacant ambassadorial post in Jakarta
left empty since October last year when then ambassador Richard
W. Smith was appointed Australia's deputy secretary of defense.

Born in Papua New Guinea in 1953, Ritchie joined the
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1975. He has served
in many African and Pacific countries, his last posting being
that of deputy secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade in Canberra.

Ritchie arrived in Jakarta last November, but his fate was put
in the balance by the Indonesian House of Representatives, which
has long been hostile to Australia.

Pending his approval by the House, the Australian government
appointed him ad interim charge d'affairs here.

It was not only the Australian ambassadorial post here that
was left vacant. Indonesia also deliberately left its
ambassadorial post in Canberra empty for almost one year after
Jakarta appointed then ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat
secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2002.

These relatively long delays indicate that good relations
between the two countries have still not been fully restored.

Bilateral relations have been on a roller-coaster over the
past few years, especially after Australia helped East Timor
break away from Indonesia in August 1999. Australia even led an
international peacekeeping force in East Timor.

Ritchie came to Jakarta during a difficult time, especially
after the Oct. 12 Bali bombings, which killed more than 190
people, many of them Australians.

Indonesia's prompt response to the bombings, with the arrests
of key suspects coming within a relatively short space of time,
helped improve relations somewhat.

Another setback emerged, however, after the Howard
administration raided the homes of Indonesian citizens in the
Australia as part of the effort to crush terrorism there.

Worse followed when Prime Minister John Howard said that
Australia might conduct preemptive strikes against terrorist
bases in foreign countries before the terrorists could stage
attacks on Australia.

Megawati's acceptance of Australia's ambassador to Jakarta may
indicate that bilateral relations are improving once again.

Not only that, the government has now submitted to the House
its nominee for Indonesian ambassador to Australia -- Susanto
Pudjomartono, the former chief editor of The Jakarta Post.

The House is expected to hold selection hearings later this
month.

The improving relations should be further strengthened by
Howard's planned visit to Jakarta on Friday, which coincides with
Valentine's Day.

This will be his third visit to Indonesia since he was
reelected prime minister last year.

Howard is expected to discuss the ongoing investigation into
the Bali bombings as well as the Iraq issue with Megawati on
Saturday.

The Iraq issue is a major point of disagreement between the
two neighboring countries. Canberra fully supports Washington's
war plans for Iraq, while Jakarta opposes them all the way.

Australian embassy press attache Kirk Cunningham said: "The
prime minister will also hold several meetings with Indonesian
Muslim leaders."