Gus Dur set for historic visit

Gus Dur set for historic visit

By Meydiatama Suryodiningrat

CANBERRA (JP): The Australian capital was its usual quiet self
over the weekend, no sign that it was to witness probably one of
the most important events in ties with its northern neighbor --
the first visit of an Indonesian President in 26 years.

Barring a last minute cancellation on Sunday -- which has
already happened five times before -- President Abdurrahman Wahid
is due to arrive here on Monday morning.

The trip is significant for two reasons: it will mark a very
rare visit by an Indonesian top official to Australia, and could
signify a historic step in the often rocky ties between the two
countries.

Despite over a dozen visits to Indonesia by an Australian
prime minister since the mid-1970s, no Indonesian leader has
visited Australia since that time.

Former vice president Try Sutrisno was the most senior
official to visit here in 1995.

Former president Soeharto always ducked a visit to Australia
under the specter of mass demonstrations against his rule.

Abdurrahman's visit to Australia will encompass three cities
-- Canberra, Sydney and Darwin.

The high point of the visit will be his meeting with
Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra. But his visit
to the latter two cities could be more colorful as it would focus
on business affairs and be prone to public protests.

Abdurrahman and his entourage are due to leave Jakarta on
Sunday evening on an Air Force Boeing-707. He will arrive in
Sydney on Monday morning where he will then take another flight
for the quick half-hour hop to Canberra.

A select group of top officials -- including Indonesian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab, Minister of Industry and
Trade Luhut Pandjaitan and Minister of Agriculture Bungaran
Saragih -- will accompany the President on the small plane from
Sydney while the rest of the entourage will take the two-hour
drive down to Canberra.

At about 11:30 a.m., Abdurrahman will meet with Howard,
followed by lunch.

Australian and Indonesian officials have said the topic would
cover a wide spectrum of issues ranging from bilateral economic
and political matters with of course East Timor likely to be
touched upon.

However the officials from both countries have also indicated
that they did not wish East Timor to be the crux of the visit as
it was time to "take the pebble out of the shoe" and out of the
way of the bilateral ties.

Abdurrahman and Howard would like to come out of the meeting
here on Monday with a clear sign that it was high tide in
Indonesia-Australia relations, after the ebb of the past two
years, due in large part to the East Timor debacle.

It has been no secret that relations between Jakarta and
Canberra slowly withered after the administration of former prime
minister Paul Keating, who described Indonesia as "Australia's
most important neighbor" in the mid-1990s.

Relations were so bad at one point that in 1999 a security
arrangement between the two countries were scrapped.

A most recent thorny issue which officials believe may come up
to color the discussions, or at least the public's attention
here, is an Indonesian police raid on a conference in Bogor in
which dozens of Australians were detained for no clear reason.

Howard may have no choice but to bring up the East Timor issue
given the large Australian contingent deployed there, and the
large domestic constituency still concerned with the question of
past human rights violations in the former Indonesian province.

For Abdurrahman himself, going to Australia is a gamble given
the persistent opposition in some domestic corners.

Showing that he has fully mended ties with Canberra and
obtaining significant economic pledges from Australia will be a
political feather in his cap.

Generally reactions in Indonesia have been camped on the
extremes -- praise at its importance, or just plain aloofness
that it is a visit by a president on the ropes.

During his stay in Australia, Abdurrahman will be given the
full red-carpet treatment, meeting the full array of Australian
government and business officials.

On Monday afternoon, after meeting with Howard, he will meet
with opposition party leader Kim Beazeley and later in the
evening, dinner with the Australian governor general.

On Tuesday, he will fly to Sydney for a one-day stay, which
will include a meeting with the business community and a courtesy
call from New South Wales Governor Mary Roslyn Bashir and Premier
Bob Carr.

On Wednesday, Abdurrahman will fly off to Wellington before
returning to Darwin.

Abdurrahman will fly to Manila for a one-day stop to meet with
the new Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo, before returning to
Jakarta.