The President is back

The President is back

There were some very serious concerns on the eve of President
Megawati Soekarnoputri's trip to the United States and Japan.
What if the U.S. launched a military strike against the country
that is supposedly harboring Osama bin Laden, who, according to
senior U.S. officials, was the mastermind behind the horrendous
September 11 attacks, while President Megawati was in Washington?
How would she cope with the aggressive American media when she
emerged from her meeting with President George W. Bush?

Even though she has a charming and disarming smile, that alone
would not be enough to satisfy the inquisitive American media,
which would certainly like to know whether she was for or against
military action.

Needless to say, as President of the fourth most populous
country in the world with a majority that embraces Islam, her
answer, either way, would have most likely caused repercussions
that would be detrimental to Indonesia's interests. Fortunately,
the worst case scenario did not materialize. As a matter of fact,
the meeting between the two presidents obtained significance
beyond that which many had hoped for.

One could gather from the excellent television coverage that
President George W. Bush appreciated Megawati's visit, as if it
conveyed the message that even under the difficult circumstances
a female president from a vast archipelagic state with a
population of more than 200 million made the effort to visit the
White House.

In as much as this psychological breakthrough is important as
far as Indonesia's national interests go, it is of even greater
importance for us to know exactly what we can expect from the
U.S. in the way of assisting Indonesia to overcome its myriad of
economic and financial problems. It also reflects our President's
farsighted thinking in that she took the time to officiate and
attend the energy conference in Houston. The oil and gas sector
in Indonesia is one of the main pillars of the national economy.
However, the sizable investments it continuously requires to
maintain the exploration and exploitation activities also means
that it is essential for foreign oil and gas companies to operate
in secure and predictable conditions.

President Megawati's statement before the participants of that
energy conference in Houston was, of course, welcomed. However,
upon her return in Jakarta a pile of problems are awaiting a
clear decision. That, apparently, was also the message conveyed
to her during her stopover in Tokyo. Japan's big companies are
waiting for a clear decision regarding the status of a number of
huge projects in which Japanese investments are involved.

That the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington would create repercussions domestically could be
foreseen. But that certain groups should whip up religious
emotions as if the U.S. was waging a war against the Islamic
community of the world, that should not be tolerated.

President Megawati should be clear on this point, based on her
direct conversation with President George W. Bush and other
senior U.S. officials. She should convey to the people that the
U.S. is not waging a war against Islam and the Islamic community.
She should tell Indonesians clearly that if practices such as
what has been referred to as "sweepings" and threats against
Americans and other foreigners are tolerated, it is the
Indonesian economy that will suffer. Consequently, the number of
unemployed would increase and social stability would deteriorate.

That is why it is of utmost importance that President Megawati
call on Indonesians in these difficult times to maintain national
unity at all costs and uphold respect for law and order. This
also means to remind Vice President Hamzah Haz that as the No. 2
person in this country, his job is to strengthen unity and not
make ambiguous statements for the purpose of getting a head start
on outflanking Amien Rais, as if the presidential race of 2004
was already on. Amien Rais, the chairman of the National Mandate
Party (PAN) and current chairman of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR), said a while ago that if his party succeeds in
winning 20 percent of the popular vote in the 2004 elections, he
would put himself up as a presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, even as the U.S. economy is faced with problems,
which given its dominant role is certain to have global
consequences, it is fair to say that President Megawati's visit
to the U.S. and Japan achieved some meaningful results in
Indonesia's national interest. However, her administration should
work very hard, as she also stated in her August 16 Independence
Day speech, to follow up on those achievements. She should
unceasingly remind the nation that internal conflict and the
tendency to use violence will only push Indonesia further into
the abyss.