Legislators regret Mega's remark
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of legislators claimed on Friday they regretted President Megawati Soekarnoputri's statement that Indonesia never had sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan islands, and vowed to press ahead with their plan to demand an explanation from the President.
"We will summon the President and ask her to clarify her statement," said legislator Yasril Ananta Baharuddin of Golkar on the sidelines of the House of Representatives plenary session on Friday.
Indonesia lost its claim to the two islands in December 2002 after the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled in favor of Malaysia, ending a decades-long border dispute with the neighboring country.
Fellow legislator Djoko Susilo of the Reform faction was also claimed he was upset with the President's statement.
"Had the President thought that Sipadan and Ligitan were not part of our territory," Djoko said, "she should not have sent a delegation to the negotiations".
Both Yasril and Djoko said they would urge the House to summon the President during the current session, which started on Friday.
House leaders are scheduled on Aug. 21 to hold a consultation meeting with faction leaders to determine when Megawati will be summoned.
At a plenary meeting on June 24, the House agreed to summon the President over the Sipadan and Ligitan islands case.
The decision to summon the President came after a vote during the plenary session, with 117 legislators in favor and 102 against. One legislator, Tunggul Sirait of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, abstained.
This outcome was somewhat surprising as some of the large factions had previously played down the motion to summon the President, which had been signed by a group of legislators from the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Reform and the Golkar factions.
Separately, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung also expressed his disappointment with the President's remarks.
"I don't understand why the government had to say that. Based on the historical records and evidence we possess, Sipadan and Ligitan belong to Indonesia," he said.
Akbar said he believed the government also considered Sipadan and Ligitan to be part of Indonesia until the International Court ruled that the islands actually belonged to Malaysia.
The fact that the government brought the matter to the International Court shows that the government had a similar understanding, he added.
"That means we had similar perceptions and hoped that we would win the legal battle," Akbar said.
In her speech, President Megawati criticized those who claimed that the government had failed to maintain Indonesian sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan.
Megawati said that this view was based on incorrect perceptions.
"We never lost one or both of the islands as we never actually had them. The Sipadan and Ligitan islands have legally never been part of our territory," Megawati said.
The dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the two islands emerged in 1969 when both countries opened their first talks to delineate their common borders.
In 1989, the leaders of the two countries started a diplomatic effort to settle the issue and in 1996 they agreed to turn the issue over to international arbitration.