Indonesia is
disappointed at
Philippines
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas dispensed with diplomatic formality yesterday during a meeting with a special envoy from Philippine President Fidel Ramos, expressing anger that a conference on East Timor will be held in his country.
"Let's not use diplomatic language here ... Indonesia is disappointed at the Philippine government's inability to stop the seminar," Alatas told reporters after meeting with the envoy, former foreign minister Raul Manglapus.
The minister said the "Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor," planned to be held in Manila between May 31 and June 4, is nothing but a platform for East Timorese who remain opposed to the integration of the territory with Indonesia.
Manglapus was sent to Jakarta yesterday to defuse the potentially explosive row between the two neighbors. Yesterday he pointed out that the Philippine government does not have the constitutional power to stop the meeting.
Alatas however refused to accept this reason and did not rule out the possibility that this would affect relations between the two countries.
"Although we can fully understand their constitutional constraints about freedom of assembly and so on, there is also something else in the relations between two countries, and that is national interest," Alatas said after seeing off Manglapus.
"It is very difficult for us to see how national interest does not play a role at all," he added.
Asked whether bilateral ties between the two countries would be affected if the seminar went ahead, he said "it's a possibility."
Alatas disclosed that Indonesia had asked the Philippines to ban the seminar when it was first announced to the public in October. "We had even been given their word that the Philippine government would take strict action to ban it."
But in March, the Philippines informed Indonesia that it could not prevent a non-governmental organization from organizing the seminar, he said.
Alatas said Indonesia appreciated President Ramos' initiative to send a special mission to explain its stance on the issue, but also asked it to understand Indonesia's position.
He said he asked the Philippine's three-man delegation, accompanied by Ambassador Eusebio A. Abaquin, to ask the Ramos administration to reconsider its stand on account of Indonesia's strong feelings on the issue.
He warned that the Philippines should not underestimate the sensitivity of the East Timor issue.
Indonesia is opposed to the seminar because it is part of a political campaign launched by exiled East Timorese leader Ramos Horta in cooperation with local Philippine organizers.
"The seminar is not an academic exercise nor a human rights conference but it is part of a political campaign launched by Ramos Horta in collaboration with Renata Constantia and Cecilia Ximenes, East Timorese students living in the Philippines."
Manglapus told reporters earlier that his government had tried to stop the conference, that it is just not possible under their law.
"According to our constitution, the government has no authority to bar social organizations from organizing such a meeting," he said.
He stressed that the Philippine administration has nothing to do with the seminar and would not support it.
Manglapus also gave assurances that Manila's support for East Timor's inclusion in the Republic of Indonesia has not changed.
He said his government hoped the seminar would not damage the good bilateral relationship between the two countries.
It is not immediately clear whether Indonesia will still host the next meeting between the Philippine government and the Moro seccesionist organization, as has been planned for some time.
Indonesia has acted as a mediator between the Philippines and the minority Moro ethnic group, which wants autonomy in the southern Philippines. (rms)