RI congratulates Bush on his win
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)