Little to lift Indonesian pride in 2001

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A year of self-doubt. That would be the perfect way to describe Indonesia's role and actions in the international fora in 2001.

As the world's fourth most populous nation and once the most respected country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia continues to walk in limbo as it struggles to resolve a wide range of domestic economic and political problems.

The economic hardship which began to hit the country in late 1997 has shown only little sign of recovery even under three presidents in the span of three years.

Worse still, the reform movement which began in 1998, following the fall of the authoritarian government of president Soeharto, seems to be stagnating if not backsliding. Understandably, all this has damaged much of Indonesia's image as a strong nation and fledgling democracy.

The rise of Megawati Soekarnoputri to the country's presidency in July brought a ray of hope to the majority of 210 million Indonesian people that her government would quickly ease the damage done by her predecessors in various facets of the country's national life.

When appointing her Cabinet ministers, she underlined that Indonesia should pursue its free and active foreign policy in regaining its credibility in the international arena.

The first foreign policy test for her administration came after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

She sent a strong message that Indonesia unequivocally condemned terrorism and supported the U.S. policy to crush international terrorist networks.

But as the U.S. bombs began to fall on Afghanistan, a country Washington accuses of harboring Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, she deplored the air raids.

Megawati wavered after many local Muslim leaders and organizations criticized her for being too pro-American and not accommodative to Muslims in the country, leaving many observers puzzled with what they perceive as a measure of inconsistency from Indonesia.

As the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia could have played a more strategic role in mediating the ensuing tension between Washington and the global Muslim community.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once suggested that the government appoint special envoys to help find a comprehensive solution to the Afghanistan crisis.

The special envoys would be tasked with traveling across the Middle East, including the conflict-ridden and frontline states such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to the U.S. in a bid to find an acceptable solution that could satisfy all involved.

There was talk at the time of appointing former ministers of foreign affairs Ali Alatas and Alwi Shihab, political observer and former minister of defense Juwono Sudarsono, as the special envoys.

However nothing came of the idea.

Many still remember how Indonesia in its heyday was considered the leader of Southeast Asian countries and how it had put forth many international initiatives.

Indonesia, currently chair of the commission of eight of the Organization of Islamic Conference, continues to try and mediate peace between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) with the Philippine government, which is a strong U.S. ally in Asia.

These achievements are living proof of the important contribution Indonesia can play in the international fora.

Seen from this standpoint, Megawati should have started to brush aside her hesitation to have a greater say in the current changing political constellation.

The hesitation is understandable as State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo once said that Megawati fully realizes she will be unlikely to achieve much on the international stage while the country's political and economic situation remains chaotic.

"Who will listen to you if you can't even keep your own house in order?" Bambang said.