RI diplomats lack initiative, says scholar
RI diplomats lack initiative, says scholar
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian diplomats are often criticized for
lacking initiative, a character which makes them the target of
ridicule by foreign countries, a prominent scholar has said.
Mohammad Budyatna, dean of the University of Indonesia's
School of Social and Political Sciences, said yesterday
Indonesian diplomats tended to work only to rebut attacks by
other countries.
"They (the diplomats) serve like fire brigade employees who
work only after a fire occurs," Antara quoted Budyatna as saying.
"They dance only after somebody else beat the drums," he said.
Budyatna was commenting on criticisms first raised by Dewi
Fortuna Anwar, an international relations expert from the Center
for Information and Development Studies. Dewi told a seminar last
week Indonesian diplomacy did not have enough personnel who had
both mastered languages and were able to quickly identify current
international issues.
Budyatna said Indonesia's defensive style of diplomacy had
been most clearly seen in the East Timor case.
"We are not ready to counter political maneuvers launched by
Portugal and other international bodies," he said.
East Timor had become the center of dispute between Indonesia
and Portugal after the former Portuguese colony's integration to
Indonesia in 1976.
Budyatna said Indonesian diplomacy had resorted to the old
saying "right or wrong my country" when it encountered disputes.
"Instead of solving problems, this stubborn behavior will keep
us under the constant pressure of the international community,"
he said.
Budyatna said such attitudes to international relations were
no longer relevant, in a world where sophisticated technology
left everything visible.
Citing the case of an Indonesian pilot, Mohammad Said, charged
in the Netherlands with Ecstasy trafficking, Budyatna said
Indonesia should not protect diplomats it was alleged had been
involved in the case.
"We should not have denied (the involvement) so abruptly, (a
stance) inspired by the 'right or wrong my country' principle,"
he said.
"It would have been wiser to tell everybody we were
investigating this possibility and would take stern punitive
measure against any diplomats involved," he said.
The Indonesian Ambassador to The Hague, J.B. Sudarmanto
Kadarisman, last week reiterated that none of his staff were
involved in the Ecstasy case.
Budyatna suggested a revision of the diplomat recruitment
procedures, which encouraged the development of a diplomatic
career from the lowest rank of the department.
"Diplomatic posts now look like ancestors' heritage," he said.
"Many ambassadors are appointed without regard to whether they
have (the proper) diplomatic background." (amd)