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.