RI should not rush into taking stance on UN reforms

Primastuti Handayani The Jakarta Post/Beijing

Indonesia should not rush into taking its stance in the increasingly heated debate on the United Nations (UN) reforms, as voting would only be taking place later next month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said here on Thursday.

Speaking before a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People, Hassan said that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Indonesia, were very disappointed with the ongoing debate on UN reform.

"The real point of the extension of the UN security council has now become the main topic of discussion, and thus is likely holding up other problems within the context of UN reform," said Hassan, who just returned from attending the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane early this week.

"ASEAN has demanded a comprehensive process (of reform)."

"We (ASEAN) really hope that we will not be pushed to take sides either with Japan or China in the debate."

The proposal on UN reforms came from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has served for over eight years, following corruption allegations within the body, including the US$20 billion UN-Iraq Oil for Food Program and cases involving UN peacekeepers trading food for sex with young girls in several missions around the world.

He had said that the UN was in desperate need of cleaning up to improve its cumbersome bureaucracy and to resolve its outstanding problems.

To promote the UN reforms prior to the General Assembly summit in September in New York from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16, Annan appointed noted Indonesian diplomat and former foreign minister Ali Alatas, along with other envoys including Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, Mozambique's former president Joaquin Chissano and former president of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo, to help advance his reforms.

The scheduled voting on UN reform this week was rescheduled as the Group of Four (G-4) of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil still had to consult with the African Union and the European Union on Aug. 4 or Aug. 5.

"I don't yet know whether there will be a concession, as the meeting in London on July 25 did not reach a conclusion," Hassan said.

Also, he said, the UN Secretary-General's office would be on holiday next month, forcing the voting process to be scheduled for late August.

"Therefore, we don't want the decision-making process on the UN security council issue to be made in a rush."

Separately, presidential spokesman on international affairs Dino P. Djalal briefed reporters saying that during Susilo and Hu's meetings, both countries also discussed each other's stance on the UN reforms.

China, Dino said, also supported Indonesia's candidacy in gaining a non-permanent seat on the reformed UN Security Council for the 2007-2008 period.

Hassan also said that the East Asian Summit in Kuala Lumpur would also involve Australia, New Zealand and India, apart from China, Japan and South Korea.