Yogyakarta-educated priest becomes E. Timor's first ambassador to RI
Yogyakarta-educated priest becomes E. Timor's first ambassador to RI
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
East Timor's first ambassador to Indonesia, Protestant minister
Arlindo Marcal, presented his credentials to President Megawati
Soekarnoputri on Friday.
Arlindo, who earned his master's in theology from Duta Wacana
University in Yogyakarta in 1987, presented his credentials to
the President during a simple ceremony at the Merdeka Palace.
Accompanying the President was Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda.
"The government appreciates his (Arlindo) appointment as he is
close to many Indonesian government officials," Hassan said after
the ceremony.
Hassan also noted that Arlindo's appointment as ambassador
could be seen as "a sign of pluralism in the predominantly
Catholic country".
The foreign minister said he was confident Arlindo would have
good relations with Indonesian officials, because after studying
for years in Java he spoke fluent Bahasa Indonesia and "maybe he
speaks Javanese as well".
East Timor separated from Indonesia in 1999 when a wide
majority of East Timorese cast their vote for independence during
a UN-sponsored ballot. In the presence of a number of world
leaders, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton and
Megawati, East Timor declared its independence as a republic
state on May. 20, 2002, with Dili as its capital.
The East Timor Embassy is located in the Surya Building on Jl.
Thamrin in Central Jakarta.
Jakarta and Dili have set up a team to deal with the question
of Indonesian assets in East Timor, and to seek possible
bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all fields.
"We are planning to hold a second consultation meeting
immediately with Dili and Canberra to solve the remaining
problems between East Timor and Indonesia and Australia. A number
of the problems were solved in the previous meeting," Hassan
said.
When asked about how soon it would be before Indonesia sent an
ambassador to East Timor, Hassan said the government was waiting
for political support from the House of Representatives.
The Indonesian government has responded positively to Dili's
stated intention to invite Indonesian businesspeople to invest in
East Timor.