Hassan claims there is progress in Myanmar

Hassan claims there is progress in Myanmar

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda talked to The
Jakarta Post's Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba about
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual
ministerial meeting (AMM), the Post Ministerial Conference (PMC)
and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which will be held from June
29 to July 2 in Jakarta.

Despite the repeated warnings made by ASEAN leaders against
Myanmar during their summit in Bali last year, opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. Why has ASEAN let
itself be made a 'hostage' by Myanmar's leaders and does not
issue punitive sanctions against the military junta?

Myanmar is still as important as any other member of ASEAN. On
the situation in Myanmar, in particular, its's implementation of
the self-declared road-map to democracy, we continue to engage
with them. Applying sanctions is not the issue here because it is
not our approach to apply sanctions in order to get results, but
to continue to talk with them as part of the ASEAN family.

It is a fact that the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi in May
2003 was a setback for Myanmar. But it was no less than the
foreign minister of Myanmar himself who admitted that it was also
a setback for ASEAN. We will continue to discuss the issue at
ASEAN meetings, in particular these upcoming meetings.

Even when there is no progress from Myanmar?

It can't be dismissed that there has been some progress, that
they have been able to convene a national convention. That is
progress, although it has not been enough to match our
expectations. But it is progress.

As the current chairman of ASEAN, what progress has Indonesia
achieved so far?

We have been in charge for nine months. I think we have
achieved quite a lot. It was in Bali that we achieved a
historical summit, after 38 years of ASEAN, under our leadership
we have been able to move our level of cooperation to a higher
place, from ASEAN as an association to an ASEAN community.

That matches our expectation because when we assumed our
chairmanship it has to be remembered what has happened in ASEAN
since the first Bali summit in 1976, which issued the Bali
Concord I and adopted the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC).

That's why we concluded that there was a need to develop a
balance of cooperation, in political, economic and socio-cultural
sectors. We issued the Bali Concord II. In the course of nine
months we have been able to agree on the plan of action of the
ASEAN Economic Community. We are about to conclude with a long
list of activities. We will speak about what we are going to do
in the course of the next 16 years from now until 2020.

We have already drafted the plan of action on the ASEAN socio-
cultural community for us to finalize between now and November.
We are optimistic that during the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane later
this year, our leaders will endorse the plan of action of the
ASEAN Community.

We are happy that during our leadership that China and India
have acceded to the TAC. We are expecting in this AMM, Pakistan
to accede to the treaty along with Japan, It was also during our
chairmanship that Pakistan was received as a partner in the ARF.

Why is Indonesia's draft concept of the ASEAN Security
Community (ASC) meeting resistance from some ASEAN members like
Singapore? Is it because there is a different level of
democratization?

We are now talking about what we do agree on -- in full, by
all members -- regarding our ASC draft, not about the
differences. The six components of the plan of action remain:
political development, shaping and sharing of norms, conflict
prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peace-building.

It's quite common for countries to have different points of
view, we have nuances in our discussion. It is understandable
because of the diversity within ASEAN in terms of political
development, economic development and other things. In
negotiations it's not unusual. And of course there is give and
take, but we are about to conclude.

Is the revised version of the ASC concept less than Indonesia
expected?

No, because the six components are still there. Also, in terms
of organization, questions of principles and the space for
activities remain. What has been changed from the original idea
is the time line. In our original draft we put the specific
timeframe in our discussion. We should not have a time limit. And
so we are talking about short, medium, long-term.

Malaysia reportedly has threatened to raise the issue of haze
in this meeting. Why does the haze issue remain unresolved after
so many years?

I do not think that they are threatening us. In fact, ASEAN
has concluded an agreement in how to deal with the haze
phenomenon, meaning that the issue has been on the agenda of
ASEAN. What is important to be realized by our neighbors is that
not only our neighbors are suffering, but also our own people are
suffering. I personally welcome the police arrest of (one of) the
perpetrators of the forest fires.

Will it be discussed in this meeting?

We have a standard paragraph on haze, but so far none of our
colleagues from ASEAN have raised the issue.

There are allegations that the current administration wants to
steal the ASEAN limelight for its own interests in the July 5
presidential election campaign. How do you react to such
accusations?

It is a privilege for this Cabinet to have the opportunity, as
ASEAN now has 10 members, meaning that this is a rare
opportunity. There is no intention at all to steal the show. It's
a matter of regularity in the process.