Labor or Liberal, no difference to Indonesia
Labor or Liberal, no difference to Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): While Australian party leaders continue to jeer
at one another over the other's foreign policy approaches,
analysts here believe the outcome of the Australian election will
have little bearing on relations with Indonesia.
Though both parties have expressed diametrically opposite
views, many here see it as an electioneering ploy to drum up
support from the electorate and nothing else.
"It is part of the posturing in Australian domestic politics
to differentiate themselves from Keating's policies whom they
consider to be close to Pak Harto," Juwono Sudarsono told The
Jakarta Post when asked to assess the position of the coalition
Liberal and National Parties lead by John Howard.
"There probably won't be too much of a difference whoever is
elected in the end," said Juwono, who is deputy governor of the
National Resilience Institute, the military's think tank.
Juwono disagreed with the notion that a new government in
Australia would weaken the improving ties carefully built between
Jakarta and Canberra over the past few years.
Prime Minister Paul Keating has set March 2 as the date for
the general election in Australia. He is currently hard at work
on the campaign trail to try and earn another victory for his
Labor Party which has been in power for the past 13 years.
While the election is expected to hinge on domestic issues,
the course of future Australian foreign policy towards its
neighbors has surfaced as part of the heated debate to woo
voters.
Liberal party officials have said that, if elected, they will
take a firmer stand with regard to relations with Indonesia.
Keating has lashed back at them, saying President Soeharto
"would not seriously negotiate with Howard" and that Jakarta
would not have agreed to the security agreement signed in
December if it had been proposed by the coalition government.
Juwono strongly believes that despite the criticisms, the
Liberals will likely emulate a similar policy towards Indonesia.
"If the Liberals are elected, they will be just as close," he
said, stressing that in such a fierce campaign they have to
display a counter position to the incumbent.
"It is just a campaign tactic so that they sound different,"
he remarked.
Keating has adopted a highly complaisant relationship with
President Soeharto and these have allowed ties in many fields to
flourish. This relationship reached a new apex in December when
the two countries signed a security agreement.
Keating's attention lies in his realization of the tremendous
commercial potential that lies in attuning with Indonesia in
particular and Southeast Asia in general.
He has however has often been reproached for what many
Australians believe is compromising human rights principles for
the sake of business.
Juwono maintains that even the Liberals will be practical in
their approach and see the rewards of cordial ties. "The reasons
are pragmatic. (In the end)...they all agree with what is being
pursued by Keating thus far," he argued.
Two-way trade between 1989-1994 grew at about 50 percent per
year.
Political scientist Nur Imam Subono from the University of
Indonesia and Kusnanto Anggoro from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, while noting the possible tendencies for
closer scrutiny on human rights, contended that Canberra could
not afford to slight Jakarta.
They maintained that Australia's material vested interests in
Indonesia would outweigh any other "symbolic" concerns that a new
administration have might have.
Subono contended that Indonesia will be of only limited
concern when voters enter the voting booth next month.
Similarly Kusnanto pointed out that it was a common strategy
in elections to grasp at any potential issue at hand which might
boost a party's popularity. During the past five years, one of
Keating's successes has been in bringing Australia closer to
Southeast Asia, he added. (mds)