RI told to be prepared for court decision on disputed islands
RI told to be prepared for court decision on disputed islands
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although the Sipadan-Ligitan issue is not expected to be a
constant agitation in bilateral relations with Malaysia,
Indonesia should be prepared to accept the International Court of
Justice's decision on the matter later this year, observers said
on Thursday.
They also warned that the issue concerned matters of
sovereignty and national integrity, which may spark some
nationalist sentiment that could snowball if it was not dealt
with immediately.
"When this happens, then bilateral relations of the two
countries could be strained," Andi Widjajanto, an international
relations observer at the University of Indonesia, said here on
Thursday.
"What is important is to find a legal solution to Sipadan and
Ligitan. Then, the foreign affairs ministry should be able to
announce (the court's verdict) to the public," Andi told The
Jakarta Post.
The Netherlands-based International Court of Justice is
currently holding hearings on the Sipadan and Ligitan case to
determine once and for all who has ownership of the two islets,
located some 30 kilometers south of Samporna, East Sabah.
A news release issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said that the decision was expected to be finalized in
November or December of this year.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia claimed sovereignty of Sipadan and
Ligitan when the two countries met to discuss the demarcation
line on Sept. 22, 1969.
In the same year, both countries signed a memorandum of
understanding, agreeing that the two islets were in status quo,
pending further negotiations.
After more than 30 years of fruitless discussions, both
countries decided to hand the matter over to the International
Court of Justice to reach a settlement, in which both countries
agreed that any decision made by the International Court would be
final and binding.
Bantarto Bandoro from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) said that Indonesia had agreed to
reach a settlement through the court and would abide by the
court's verdict.
"Of course the sovereignty issue is at stake, but there won't
be much we can do other than to accept the international court's
verdict wholeheartedly even if it's not in favor of Indonesia,"
he told the Post.
Disappointment on the part of the losing party was expected,
but it should not pose as a barrier to future bilateral relations
between Indonesia and Malaysia, he said.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who led
72 prominent Malaysian businesspeople to Indonesia, said on
Wednesday that Malaysia fully entrusted the case to the
international court.
Since 1979 Malaysia has included Sipadan and Ligitan on its
national map, and used the islets as points to draw its
territorial baseline.