Breaking with Indonesia's past

Breaking with Indonesia's past

The clear victory of a former general, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, in Indonesia's presidential election is good for
Australia. In more than three decades, Indonesian presidents have
made just two brief official visits to Australia, despite scores
of prime ministerial trips the other way. The vanquished
president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, had little enthusiasm for the
bilateral relationship and, at one stage, went as far as refusing
to take telephone calls from the Prime Minister, John Howard.

Mr Susilo was in Melbourne last year when he prefaced his
vision for political reform in Indonesia with anecdotes of his
son's university studies in Australia. He is likely to move
swiftly to redress the historic imbalance in high-level contacts
and make an early goodwill visit. This is not to suggest the
differences that so often mar Australia's relationship with its
closest, and most strategically important neighbour, will not
persist. But better communication could go a long way to
improving management of future tensions.

Whether Mr Susilo will be good for Indonesia is a more
important question. Canberra is understandably keen to push
security co-operation with Jakarta because of the clear threat
posed by the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network.
The concerns of ordinary Indonesians - poverty, health, education
- are far more basic but not necessarily unconnected with
terrorism's roots. Instability and extremism are fanned by under-
employment which has left far too many young Indonesian men, in
particular, idle, resentful and unable to support their families.
This is especially so while the political elite and bureaucracy
continue to use public office for personal enrichment.

Mr Susilo's rapid rise broke traditional patterns of political
loyalty in Indonesia. Ms Megawati was deserted by voters who had
revered her father, Sukarno, the nation's founding president. Mr
Susilo must now demonstrate his resolve to break entrenched
patterns of political behaviour. That means reviving Indonesia's
stalled reform movement, which began with such promise and hope
when Soeharto, the authoritarian president, was toppled six years
ago.

-- The Sydney Morning Herald