'Claims against Howard unproven'
'Claims against Howard unproven'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An expert on Indonesia dismissed on Thursday claims of legislators here who have condemned Australian Prime Minister John Howard for remaining supportive of separatist elements in Papua.
Harold Crouch of Monash University said that, rather than maintain their aversion to Howard's visit to Indonesia, members of the House of Representatives's Commission I on international relations who had made the claims against Howard, should instead invite him to the House.
"Get him to come to Commission I, and then show evidence or some kind of proof that Howard is indeed a supporter of Papua Merdeka (Independent Papua)," Howard told reporters during a seminar on the Maluku conflict here on Thursday.
"I am sure that the legislators have no such proof," he added.
It was impossible for Howard to be supportive of Papuan separatist elements after he had already pledged his support for Indonesia's integrity, Crouch said, as quoted by Antara.
Australian government officials, Crouch said, have repeatedly denied these allegations, and added that the Australian prime minister was only visiting Indonesia as a guest of the Indonesian government.
Crouch noted that he did not understand why the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) was critical of Howard's visit to Indonesia, too, when its party chair, President Megawati Soekarnoputri, was the very official who invited Howard to visit Indonesia in the first place.
Despite being one of the first to recognize East Timor's integration with Indonesia, Australian government officials, and Howard in particular, made a sudden about-face after two decades, and became the first to formally recommend and support a referendum in the former province.
Earlier, the legislators had proclaimed anger at Howard's visit to Indonesia, and refused meet Howard on Thursday.
Crouch admitted that the East Timor issue would remain a problem for both countries and, in time, needed to be resolved.
Growing animosity toward Australia resurfaced in Indonesia after charges that Howard and members of the Labour Party exploited some of Indonesia's problems for the sake of its own domestic agenda.
At issue was the thorny problem of illegal immigration, which reportedly won Howard -- a champion of hard-line policies toward asylum seekers attempting to enter the country via Indonesia -- widespread popularity that culminated in his success in the November elections.
On Wednesday, Howard and Megawati avoided the sensitive issue, and said that the subject would be discussed during a regional meeting in Bali later this month.