RI congratulates Bush on his win
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia congratulated George W. Bush on Thursday on his tenuous victory in the United States presidential election and expressed confidence that the new administration would build on the diplomatic ties between the two countries.
"We congratulate Bush on the victory and are happy with the final decision. We believe that the new government will maintain good bilateral relationships with Indonesia," Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab told The Jakarta Post by telephone from Batam on Thursday.
Alwi expressed hope that the new U.S. government would ease pressure on Indonesia, especially relating to human rights and environmental issues.
"We hope Bush will give his support to developing countries and help Indonesia speed up the democratization process but more subtly than the Democrats," Alwi remarked.
Alwi admitted that Jakarta was often entangled in delicate issues with the outgoing U.S. administration as there was often only a thin line between the aid given by Washington and intervention.
"We often felt disturbed with their good intentions to help restore the country's condition. We hope such things won't occur under the new U.S. administration," he said.
Separately, noted scholar Juwono Sudarsono warned that Bush may pressure Jakarta on business issues as Republicans seem more absorbed in business than human rights or environmental issues.
"There will be more demands for us to sell our companies and assets to the Americans because most of Bush's people are interested in business," Juwono told the Post.
He noted that Indonesia should not place too much hope on the bilateral front as Washington's priority will remain on China and Japan.
Similar opinions were expressed by Makmur Keliat of the University of Indonesia who said that U.S. foreign policy is bipartisan and thus, apart from nuances and approaches, there will be no significant difference towards Indonesia.
"We have to realize that Indonesia won't get the same privileges as Vietnam or the Philippines, which historically and emotionally has had a closer relationship (to the U.S.)," Makmur, who teaches U.S. Global Policy, told the Post.
Like Juwono, Makmur believes American business interests here will gain attention. He specifically emphasized PT Freeport and American dealings with state-owned electricity company PLN.
Makmur also believes that more people are beginning to seriously look at questions of stability in Indonesia, not just democratization.
"If I'm not mistaken, there are beginning to be views that a stable Indonesia should also be weighed with a democratic Indonesia. Such views are arising from the unpredictable situation here," he said.
"But that doesn't mean the U.S. will abandon its push for democratization here!" (dja)