Legislators regret Mega's remark

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.