Indonesia may air domestic problems at summit
Indonesia may air domestic problems at summit
SINGAPORE (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said here on Thursday that Indonesia might bring up its mounting domestic problems during the annual ASEAN informal summit and called for "active support" of the regional grouping for the maintenance of country's territorial integrity.
"We will not discuss the problems explicitly, but they will always be there and recognized in the background ... it is not something that we will sweep under the rug," Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told journalists.
"In the case of Indonesia, we expect and have always received sympathy and support for our national integrity. We may (during the summit) want to carry it further to solicit the active support of our neighboring countries in making the concept of special autonomy for certain provinces work within the ASEAN context," he added.
Wimar's statement came as analysts believe that political problems in key members of the Association of Southast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could steal the limelight from the economic agenda during the two-day summit which begins Friday.
"Of course there are certain diplomatic and nationalistic parameters which do not allow formal discussion even though this is called an informal meeting ... but we do recognize that any problem for one ASEAN country is a problem for all," he said.
Commenting on the 45-minute meeting between Abdurrahman and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday evening, Wimar said that "President Wahid relies on SM (Senior Minister) Lee as he does on a number of people for raw inputs, raw data to formulate policies".
Wimar said, however, that what had been discussed during the meeting "is not explicitly available to the public".
"We will see what transpires out of this afterward in the form of policy and implementation," Wimar said.
President Abdurrahman arrived on the island state on Thursday.
Summit host Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has said the ASEAN leaders are expected to discuss measures to broaden and deepen economic integration within the grouping, which covers countries at different stages of economic development.
ASEAN leaders are also scheduled to sign a landmark e-ASEAN agreement aimed at linking the region electronically.(byg)