RI can still take leading ASEAN role

RI can still take leading ASEAN role

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia remains a key member of the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), despite its
mounting domestic problems, Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid
Albar said on Friday.

"I don't think Indonesia's domestic problems seriously affect
its role in ASEAN. Indonesia can still play a leading role,"
Hamid said after meeting President B.J. Habibie, Minister of
Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto.

Every ASEAN country, he said, has its own problems and "we
should let them, with their own capabilities, tackle them".

"I think Indonesia will solve its internal problems," he
added.

Hamid was referring to a statement made by Singapore's Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday. At a
dinner the prime minister said Indonesia's preoccupation with its
internal problems could weaken its capacity to take a leading
role in the regional grouping.

"Indonesia is a very important member of ASEAN, the largest
member. If Indonesia is preoccupied with its own domestic
problems, it means Indonesia is unable to lead ASEAN," Goh said.

Indonesia is one of the founding members of ASEAN. Other
members of the association are Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hamid acknowledged that ASEAN was facing a difficult time
because of the regional economic crisis. But he said the regional
organization would weather the turmoil to become stronger and
more united.

The crisis, he believed, would not weaken the ASEAN spirit,
which requires member countries to solve problems by consultation
and negotiation while not interfering in each other's domestic
affairs.

This is Hamid's first official overseas trip to ASEAN member
countries since he assumed his post in January, replacing
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, currently Malaysia's deputy prime
minister. (bnt)