Megawati lashes out at foreign trip critics
Megawati lashes out at foreign trip critics
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, now in Algeria, defended her
much-criticized foreign visit to several countries, saying that
she would go ahead with the trip despite the controversy at home.
"It is my job to reintroduce Indonesia, which has been out of
the international political spotlight due to the prolonged crisis
in the country over the last four years," the President said at a
meeting with some 60 Indonesian citizens in Algiers, the capital
of Algeria, late on Friday.
Megawati said that Indonesia needs to be active to resume its
role in the international forum because its foreign policy was
based on freedom and independence.
"The House of Representatives has been so outspoken that the
foreign trip has raised pros and cons among its members. Some
have said I should not have made the trip as it is a waste of
money and that it would be a picnic," she added.
Megawati and her entourage, including her husband Taufik
Kiemas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hasan Wirayudha and several
other ministers, are on an unprecedented four-day visit following
her attendance at the Johannesburg Summit in South Africa.
Many sides, including a number of legislators, criticized the
foreign visit because she was leaving behind a number of problems
at home, mainly the plight of tens of thousands of Indonesian
illegal workers stranded in Nunukan, East Kalimantan. So far, the
death toll has reached 70. Poor living conditions and the
outbreak of diarrhea in town are to blame for the high number of
deaths.
The President argued that she embarked on the foreign visit to
fulfill invitations from several countries having good bilateral
ties with Indonesia.
"The invitations should not be turned down. Upon my arrival
home, I will share the results of the foreign visit," she said.
It is estimated that her annual foreign trips over the last
two years have cost about US$22.8 million (Rp 205 billion).
From Algiers, Megawati and her entourage are scheduled to
continue on to Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia and Egypt. The President
is slated to arrive home on Sept. 14.