Nationalist response over East Timor 'misguided'
JAKARTA (JP): Observers said on Tuesday that protests against international criticism over the government's inability to suppress the mounting violence in East Timor were "clearly out of place".
Noted political observer Soedjati Djiwandono told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview that the protests could be seen as jingoism, referring to the advocacy of an aggressively nationalist foreign policy.
"To say that the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor is an external interference in our domestic affairs is wrong," Soedjati said.
"It is not something that can encroach on Indonesia's sovereignty... Foreign countries may have political interests, but their political interest is directly related to the protection of human rights, so what is wrong with that?"
Under mounting international pressure, the government decided on Sunday to invite an international peacekeeping force to East Timor to restore order in the troubled territory.
A number of political leaders and members of the House of Representatives, however, have openly expressed their reluctance to accept the international force in East Timor, saying that the move would be tantamount to interference.
"We have proof that our military is not capable of maintaining security and order in East Timor. In this kind of situation, we do need a UN peacekeeping force which is expected to be neutral," Soedjati said.
"To say that this is foreign interference in our sovereignty misses the issue because our sovereignty over the territory is exactly what is at issue in the international community... This has been the question from the beginning by the international community."
Soedjati also said that the recent protests against alleged foreign interference "do not represent all of the Indonesian public".
"We don't have to exaggerate their importance. They tend to be exploited for this kind of bellicose behavior when the government is facing criticism from other countries," he said.
Sociopolitical observer Mochtar Buchori was more direct by saying that the protesters were "just paid demonstrators" and the protests were only for "domestic consumption".
"They do not know what nationalism is. If we look at the situation carefully, is this really a matter of nationalism, or is this a matter of barbarism," Mochtar said, referring to a number of attacks on several foreign mission offices here and in the East Java capital of Surabaya recently.
"A true nationalist will not allow himself or herself to degenerate into doing a barbaric act," he added.
Meanwhile in Bali, political scientist AS Hikam also expressed disappointment at the unruly wave of nationalism.
"I'm worried and disappointed. The excessive expression of nationalism has clouded and deviated our perception of an historic event," he said.
"This is a tremendous distortion. The East Timor issue has nothing to do with nationalism. (East Timor) was an erroneous policy conducted by the New Order." (byg/50)