Mon, 13 Aug 2001

PM John Howard's visit

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is currently in town for a two-day visit to Indonesia. It is noteworthy that as the head of government of a neighboring western country he is the first to make the special effort of coming over and having a meeting with Indonesia's new President. It happens that last week President Megawati installed her new Cabinet, which -- to judge by the various press commentaries, national and international -- has enjoyed high praise.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Washington Post's correspondent in Jakarta, for instance, reported on the surprise of many observers that "the taciturn and largely untested Mrs. Megawati" has stacked her Cabinet with specialists instead of politicians. Prime Minister Howard, during this visit, will easily find the right wavelength in establishing a productive dialog with Mrs. Megawati's stable of technocrats.

He might perhaps detect differing accentuations as he listens to the Berkeley-trained Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, the Rotterdam graduate Kwik Kian Gie, or former corporate executives such as Rini M.S. Soewandi and Laksamana Sukardi, but there should be no doubt about their common resolve to put this country's economy back on its feet. Fortunately, he might find in Prof. Boediono, the new minister of finance, a person who is familiar with the Australian way of thinking, having enjoyed his education in Australian universities.

President Megawati's speech last Friday as she officiated the new Cabinet ministers should make it crystal clear that her government is seized with a sense of urgency. Surely, any assistance offered by Indonesia's friends in order to overcome the multidimensional crisis this country is facing will be most welcome.

Prime Minister John Howard, in a brief statement to the press in Canberra, used the interesting phrase "positive realism" in viewing his country's relations with Indonesia. What he meant, perhaps, was that although differences exist in views and interests between the two widely dissimilar countries and nations, geographical proximity simply dictates that the two sides should always work out their differences in a civilized manner.

Actually, we would like to place the Indonesian-Australian relationship in a much wider geopolitical context. Indonesia's challenge as a large non-western country with the fourth largest population in the world is how to cope with its modernization process in as short a time as possible, without causing serious upheavals. Australia as a western country that has the basic ingredients of a modern civilization -- e.g. science and technology, sophisticated communications networks with database connections in Europe and North America and advanced management skills -- is indeed in a position to help Indonesia.

On the other hand it is in Australia's geopolitical interest that Indonesia develops into a modern, stable country with a growing economy that would offer promising markets and ample opportunities for investment. Such an Indonesia should of course conduct a responsible foreign policy in order to ensure stability in Southeast Asia and the West Pacific region. That is why a visit by an Australian prime minister such as Mr. John Howard has a special significance since this unique bilateral relationship would push Indonesia further along the treacherous path of its modernization efforts.

Mr. Howard's firsthand impressions of President Megawati and her new government will of course be scrutinized in the capitals of the important countries in the world which are following with keen interest Indonesia's immediate future. Considering some upcoming important international events -- such as the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting in Washington, the meeting of Indonesia's creditors in Paris and the APEC meeting in Shanghai -- Jakarta would surely appreciate Prime Minister John Howard's sympathetic evaluation of the Indonesian situation.