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.