Mega's absence from ASEM summit questioned

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.