Democratic forum expands its mission to Indonesia
Democratic forum expands its mission to Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): The Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia
Pacific, a loose organization of thinkers and democracy
campaigners in the region, is expanding its mission to Indonesia.
Kim Sang-woo, a representative of the Seoul-based forum as
well as assistant to the prominent democracy advocate Kim Dae
Jung, is in Jakarta for a four-day visit to meet a number of
prominent community leaders.
Among figures that Kim was to meet were political commentators
Jusuf Wanandi and Dewi Fortuna Anwar, human rights officials and
activists Miriam Budiardjo, Marzuki Darusman and Adnan Buyung
Nasution.
Kim was also to meet chief of the minority Indonesian
Democratic Party Megawati Soekarnoputri and chairman of the
Nahdlatul Ulama organization Abdurrahman Wahid.
The forum wishes to open a liaison office here in order to
gather supporters of its cause and exchange views, Kim said.
In the forum's campaign to promote democracy, its most
important mission here is to "bring like-minded fellow democracy
activists here to join those from the other countries".
Kim insisted that the forum does not wish to alienate the
government of any country that it targets for expansion, nor does
it want to side with the government.
"We want to balance, to have an equal participation of all
elements," he told The Jakarta Post Thursday. "We want to have
both sides of the story of democracy development in individual
country."
Kim said he had met a number of community leaders in other
Asian countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Malaysia's former deputy premier Datuk Musa Hitam is interested
heading the Malaysian chapter of the forum, Kim said.
"These meetings aim to see whether those leaders think the
establishment of such a loose cooperation is a good idea, and
whether they are interested in it," he said.
Kim said he is here to absorb and obtain input from the people
he meets as to the development of democracy, the implementation
of human rights and civil rights in Indonesia.
"These people know Indonesia well and will hopefully be able
to present me a better picture of the country," he said,
"The purpose of this forum is not to make trouble for the
government of any country. But we wish to raise fundamental
issues in line with the idea to establish a new vision for a new
Asia," he said.
He pointed out that it is important for Asia to tackle
problems specific to the region and to find suitable solutions.
"We will not be dictated by the West on how to approach our
problems, because we have our particular ways of dealing (with
the problems)," he said.
This stance, however, does not mean that Asian countries do
not recognize the universality of some principles such as human
rights and democracy, he said.
Kim declined to comment on the state of democracy in
Indonesia, saying he did not know enough to make an educated
appraisal of the actual condition.
"That's why I need to talk to more people," he said. He
believes that Indonesia would benefit from the establishment of a
chapter of the forum.
"I think the government should not be too concerned, because
the focus of the forum is Pan-Asia, rather than on (the state of
democracy in) any individual country," he said.
The forum itself was established last December in Seoul,
Korea. Kim Dae-jung, founder and chairman of the Kim Dae-jung
Peace Foundation for the Asia-Pacific region, initiated the move
together with former President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines.
Aquino and Kim were named co-presidents of the forum, along
with Oscar Arias Sanchez, former president of Costa Rica and
Nobel Peace laureate.
It was during this Seoul meeting that the hundreds of
activists signed a resolution of democracy in the Asia-Pacific
region. Among the resolutions are: the forum shall not interfere
in a nation's internal affairs, and shall promote goals through
dialog, debate and legal procedures.
The forum also vows that it shall reject all acts of violence
and seek democratization through peaceful means only, and that it
shall support all efforts of Asian peoples to achieve democracy
through free expression of ideas and fair and just electoral
processes.
Another goal of the forum is to provide support and
cooperation to worthwhile efforts for democratization of Asian
countries.
A number of world leaders have expressed support for the
forum, including United Nations Secretary General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, President of the Republic of Korea Kim Young Sam,
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of
Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister of Britain John Major.
(swe)