Stop megaphone diplomacy, Indonesia tells PM Howard
Stop megaphone diplomacy, Indonesia tells PM Howard
Muhammad Nafik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government congratulated Australian Prime Minister John
Howard on Monday for his re-election, but also urged him to stop
his "megaphone diplomacy".
"We congratulate Prime Minister Howard for his reelection and
we look forward to working closely with the new administration in
Australia," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda told a
press conference.
"The important thing to do, which Indonesia has always
continued to do, is to avoid megaphone diplomacy... such as
trading accusations and blame" through publications, he said.
Hassan had previously criticized Australia for its tendency to
"communicate through public diplomacy rather than quiet
diplomacy".
However, Hassan said that as Howard was reelected as the
Australian prime minister, the two countries would seek to
rebuild bilateral ties.
"It is very important for the two countries to sit together
and discuss many issues. I expect that after the election process
is completed, Australian domestic affairs will no longer affect
bilateral relations," he said.
Australia and Indonesia have had rocky relations over the past
three years with top officials from the two countries continuing
to exchange harsh criticisms of each other on several issues.
The ties suffered further when Australia led a United Nations
peacekeeping force to the former Indonesian province of East
Timor after it broke away from Jakarta in August 1999.
Canberra has signaled its increasing frustration in recent
months over the rising tide of Middle Eastern asylum seekers
using Indonesia as a stepping stone to Australia.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri subsequently refused to
accept Howard's telephone calls and politely turned down his
request for a private meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shanghai last month.
Howard said on Monday he and his Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer would soon visit Indonesia to try to stem the
rising influx of asylum seekers sailing south in leaky boats.
"It's not easy because Indonesia's priorities in this area are
different from Australia's but we continue to be committed to
doing what we can to get that agreement," Howard was quoted by
Agence France-Presse as saying.
Political analysts here have given a cool response to Howard's
reelection and urged him to change his government's diplomatic
approach toward Indonesia in order to repair the strained ties
between the two countries.
They said Howard's reelection should be accepted as a
political reality even though Indonesia had wanted the Labor
Party's Kim Beazley to win the election.
"It's his (Howard's) ability to draw on the sentiments felt
keenly by his people," former Indonesian ambassador to Australia
Wiryono Sastrohandoyo told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"It's normal in electoral politics to use a sensitive issue to
get votes," he said, responding to criticisms of Howard for
exploiting racial issues to win the election.
Reni Winata, director of the Australian Studies Center at
Jakarta's University of Indonesia, said Howard's campaign against
the issue of Middle Eastern immigrants was an "effective way" for
him to sweep back to power.
"He's smart to read the public sentiment. He has managed to
manipulate public opinion," she told the Post.
Reni and Wiryono said that, historically, Jakarta had been
able to cooperate more easily with previous governments from the
Labor Party.
In an effort to mend ties between the two neighboring
countries, Wiryono said Howard should comprehensively clarify his
blatant criticisms of Indonesia.
"Howard should explain his strong words against Indonesia. He
must be able to explain that it was purely politics ahead of the
election," Wiryono said. "He should say something that pleases
Indonesia."
Reni concurred, saying Howard should convince Indonesia that
the issue of people-smuggling was only a "political commodity"
used to secure his electoral victory.
According to Reni, a third party is needed to bridge
communications between Howard and Megawati ahead of his planned
meeting with her, otherwise it will be difficult for the talks to
go ahead.
"I don't know how Howard would face Megawati after he has
strongly criticized her if there is no third party to mediate,"
she said.
Wiryono called on both countries to put aside any differences
and avoid emotional reactions in order to "get mutual benefits"
from their future bilateral relations.