Gus Dur's Australia visit useless for Indonesia: Legislators
Gus Dur's Australia visit useless for Indonesia: Legislators
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators on Friday strongly reacted to
President Abdurrahman Wahid's intention to visit Australia this
month, saying the Indonesian leader should delay the visit which
was not urgent and likely be unproductive.
"The President should listen to the House's official call on
him to delay the visit because according to the legislative body,
it is not urgent and unfruitful," House Speaker Akbar Tandjung
said here on Friday.
He said the House has delivered an official letter from the
Commission I on foreign affairs, security and defense to the
President, asking the President to wait for a more conducive
climate before embarking on the visit.
The President in a meeting with the Association of Regional
Legislatures on Thursday revealed his plan to visit Australia by
the end of this month for talks that would include the sensitive
issue of Irian Jaya province.
Australian-Indonesian diplomatic ties have nose-dived since
Australia led a multinational force to East Timor following the
post-ballot rampage in the territory last year.
The calls to delay the trip were reinforced by Yasril Ananta
Baharudin, chairman of the House's Commission I which oversees
foreign affairs, who said Indonesia had nothing to gain from it
and that it would only benefit Australia.
"It is better for the President to delay his visit to that
country because we feel there's no urgency," Yarsil said pointing
out that Abdurrahman would be going there not in his personal
capacity but in his position as head of state.
He said his commission had sent an official letter to the
President calling on him to delay the visit.
"Australia has frequently taken actions humiliating Indonesia
as an independent nation. It is better if that country's leader
comes here first," he asserted.
But separately foreign minister Alwi Shihab asserted that
despite the House's call, the President would go ahead with his
plan to visit Australia because the visit was aimed at long-term
goals for the sake of bilateral ties.
"Gus Dur's planned Australian visit has been delayed several
times. We should make a separation between the long-term vision
and short-term objectives," he told journalists at his office on
Friday.
Alwi and several other Indonesian ministers are due to hold
talks with their counterparts on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 to pave the
way for the presidential visit.
However the likelihood of such a visit taking place in the
next few weeks remains questionable as the President already has
a full schedule this month which includes two overseas trips and
hosting a state visit by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung.
The most available time would be sometime during the fasting
month which starts either Nov. 26 or Nov. 27.
But this would mean the President having to go back on his
word not to travel during the fasting month. (rms/45)