Gus Dur to make Australia visit later this month
Gus Dur to make Australia visit later this month
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Thursday
that his visit to Australia would go ahead at the end of this
month despite criticism from the House of Representatives.
"God willing, I will visit Australia at the end of this month
to explain everything about our relationship," he told a group of
provincial legislators during a meeting at the Bina Graha
presidential office.
Despite Abdurrahman's claims, it remains questionable whether
such a visit can be held by the end of the month as the
president's official schedule shows that he already has prior
engagements.
Meanwhile the start of the fasting month is set to begin on
Nov. 26 or 27. Abdurrahman previously said that he will not make
any overseas trips during the month long fasting period.
Ties between Jakarta and Canberra deteriorated sharply last
year after Australia led an international peacekeeping force to
East Timor following the UN-organized independence ballot.
Abdurrahman said he would raise several issues affecting
bilateral links, including the independence movement in Irian
Jaya.
"I have to go there to explain to the Australian parliament
about our position regarding Papua," Abdurrahman said.
"We can't just be cooped up in here forever ... we need to go
down there to explain things from our perspective," he added.
Several groups in Australia, including labor unions, have
expressed their support for the independence movement in Irian
Jaya, although the Australian government has repeatedly said it
wants Indonesia to remain intact.
Legislators called on the President last month to delay his
visit to Australia until after Australian Prime Minister John
Howard had first made a trip to Jakarta.
Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab had ruled out, however, the
possibility of a Howard visit saying that Australian leaders'
visits to Indonesia had been "too frequent".
Abdurrahman once said that his visit to Australia would depend
on an analysis as to "whether their attitude had changed or not".
"If there are no changes, we will do what has been suggested
by the House," Abdurrahman said.
The President's planned visit to Australia has already been
delayed several times due to strong opposition from the House and
other political opponents.
The President has been sharply criticized for making too many
overseas trips and putting global issues before mounting domestic
problems.
The president is already due to leave the country on Saturday
for at least six days to attend the Organization of Islamic
Conferences summit in Qatar and the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in Brunei.
He will then attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
informal summit in Singapore between Nov. 23 and 25.
The foreign ministry also confirmed on Thursday that South
Korean President Kim Dae-jung will be making a state visit to
Jakarta from Nov. 27 till Nov. 29.
The South Korean leader is scheduled to meet with Abdurrahman
and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
A Foreign Ministry statement said that Abdurrahman and Kim
Dae-jung will witness the signing of an extradition treaty
between the two countries.
The statement said that Kim Dae-jung's planned visit would be
the first state visit made by a foreign head of state during
Abdurrahman's 13 months in office.
The two leaders last met was in Seoul last month when
Abdurrahman attended the third ASEM Summit (Asia-Europe Meeting).
(byg)