Mega's absence from ASEM summit questioned

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Staff Writer, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com

President Megawati Soekarnoputri decided not to attend a key multilateral summit this week, following her much-criticized frequent overseas trips. But she also plans to attend three different multilateral summits next month. Perhaps only the President can explain the logic of this decision.

The President skipped the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) this week in Copenhagen, Denmark, apparently because she is irritated at the criticism of her recent trip to Africa and Europe. Was she sulking?

She asked her daughter, Puan Maharani, to attend a six-hour meeting at the palace on Tuesday, held to evaluate her previous visit to Africa and Europe. The meeting was attended by Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and top palace officials, such as presidential secretary Kemal Munawar and military secretary Maj. Gen. Tb. Hasanuddin.

"We want to make improvements to the President's future trips," one of Megawati's aides told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, when asked about the meeting.

The President sent Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-jakti as her personal envoy, against diplomatic tradition that the President is better represented by the Vice President at such a high-level multilateral summit if the former cannot be present.

Megawati should realize that by attending the Copenhagen summit, she could also have met bilaterally with European and Asian leaders, thereby saving both money and time on visits to EU capitals. The EU is too important to be ignored, and the EU summit is much more important than her recent bilateral visits to Algeria, Hungary, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia and Egypt.

Despite her refusal to go to Denmark, the President plans to attend next month's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Mexico and the summit of the Group of 15 developing nations (G-15) in Venezuela. She is also slated to be present later at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formal summit in Cambodia.

How can the government explain that these three summits, especially the Venezuela meeting, are of more strategic importance to Indonesia than the ASEM summit? Her presence in Cambodia should be regarded as mandatory, but the Vice President could have represented her at the two other summits. APEC has, in practical terms, lost its influence after the economic crisis hit several Asian countries in 1997. Essentially, G-15 is no better than APEC.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda defended his boss's decision at a hearing with Commission I of the House of Representatives on Monday.

"I appreciate the dilemma faced by the President: If she travels abroad she is criticized and if she does not travel she is also criticized," said Hassan, adding, without elaboration, that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was also absent from the Copenhagen summit.

According to the minister, the President "is sensitive in listening to various comments about her foreign trip, including those from Commission I."

It would have been much more productive if Hassan could have explained the concrete results of the President's recent trip. It seemed appropriate for the President to attend the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa: Indonesia hosted the pre-summit meeting in Bali. But what concrete results were obtained from her visits to Algeria, Croatia, Hungary and even Egypt?

Explanations that the above trips are beneficial in the long run are no longer acceptable. In her first year in office the President visited 27 countries, bringing to mind another frequent traveler, her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid. The President can travel across the world in an attempt to attract investment, but it is doubtful that anyone will wish to invest as long as Indonesia's image abroad remains offputting to the international community.

In her six-point working program for the Cabinet last year, Megawati cited "restoration of Indonesia's international credibility and regaining international confidence" as her chief diplomatic goals.

Chief diplomat Hassan Wirayuda is, no doubt, excellent in his job. His mentor, former foreign minister Ali Alatas, is very confident of Hassan's diplomatic skills. But nowadays, the foreign ministry can no longer hide behind the President and the country's image abroad is totally different to what it was during the country's economic boom in the 1980s and early 1990s. At that time Indonesia often acted as a mediator to resolve other countries' problems, as in the Philippines and Cambodia. But now, it is our turn to cry for international support.

Now the ministry is closely, if not overzealously, watched by the House of Representatives. Last week, citing its poor performance, members of Commission I even threatened to cut the ministry's budget. The minister may expect more difficult times ahead, with the House in the crucial role of trying to maintain harmonious cooperation with legislators.

Dabbling in foreign affairs is tempting to leaders of many countries, not just Indonesian presidents: Diplomatic achievements can often compensate for failures in the economy or domestic politics. I've sharpened up the remainder of this paragraph: Two much-cited examples are the current antics of U.S. president George W. Bush with regard to Iraq, and the electoral defeat of Bush Sr. in his attempt to remain in the White House for a second term, despite his 1991 victory in the Gulf war, due to perceived failures in the U.S. economy.

Megawati's absence from the ASEM summit is a big mistake, especially if it is only an emotional reaction to her critics. If she were serious, might she consider skipping the APEC and G-15 summits?

Her foreign trips would be very beneficial for the country if she could demonstrate concrete and useful results in the short term, not just the long term. But it is hard to convince people, as visits to tourist attractions filled much of her itinerary. And how should people interpret the need for her frequent stopovers in Singapore?

Minister Hassan cannot act alone without the help of other Cabinet members -- and better awareness from the President herself.