Breakthrough imminent in Indonesia: O’Neill’s plan to defuse standoff over West Papua

By Rowan Callick === A breakthrough may be on the way for one of the most intractable conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region. Relations between Indonesia and the Melanesian nations, led by Papua New Guinea, have remained awkward ever since the Dutch withdrew from “Netherlands New Guinea,” and the Pacific islands became independent states.

The plight of “West Papua” as it is often called, has prevented Indonesia, the biggest and closest country in South-East Asia, from building the links that might otherwise have been expected, with the island countries to its east—even since it became a liberal democracy 15 years ago.

But, the PNG government, led by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, has recently launched an initiative aimed at defusing the stand-off over West Papua, building the economy of the centre of New Guinea island, and gaining diplomatic spin-offs.

The western half of New Guinea island comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua, whose capital is Jayapura, and West Papua, whose capital is Manokwari. It has a 750-km mostly mountainous and often in the past fraught and dangerous border with PNG.

In 2001, the area now covered by the two provinces was declared autonomous with 80 percent of its tax receipts to be retained for local use. But this process has remained only partially complete compared with the more successful governance situation in Aceh, at the other end of the Indonesian archipelago.

O’Neill, who led a delegation to Jakarta for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said: “West Papua has been a sticky issue for PNG and the western Pacific for quite some time. Our role is to open up discussions.

Genuine desire
“We feel the government of Indonesia has a genuine desire to ensure issues relating to West Papua are managed in a mutually beneficial manner. For the first time in our bilateral discussions, we were able to discuss this openly with the Indonesian government,” said PM O’Neill.

He said he is convinced that Yudhoyono now wishes to withdraw military presence from West Papua, and allow for more autonomy through economic empowerment of the people.

“We feel this is a good opening for us to engage with the Indonesian government so we can participate in the improvement of the lives of Melanesian people there and of our own people along the border. Our officials are now engaged meaningfully in establishing the cooperation we agreed,” he said.

PNG’s Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato elaborated on the deal that was informally struck: “The Indonesian president will adopt a softer approach to West Papuan issues, allowing them greater autonomy.”

As an indicator of this, official representatives will participate in the Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture to be hosted by PNG next year.

He said Indonesia would allow Papua New Guinea communities near the border to draw on its excess hydro power capacity with state-owned enterprise PNG Power buying electricity for its grid from Indonesia, and that the two countries would jointly explore for oil and gas in highly prospective targets that straddle the border.

Indonesia, Pato said, would fund an ambitious paved highway from Merauke on its side of the border in the south, to PNG’s Wewak on the northern coast.

The countries’ leaders signed a total of 11 MOUs during O’Neill’s visit, after which Pato and his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa began to chart an implementation course.

Extradition treaty
They agreed on an extradition treaty—which may ensure that Indonesian businessman fugitive Joko Chandra—wanted for corruption and who obtained PNG citizenship under a process that is being challenged legally—returns to face charges.

Another agreement under final negotiation, will permit planes to fly from Nadi, Fiji, through Honiara in Solomon Islands, then Port Moresby, and on to Bali.

One goal of the warming of relations, Pato said, was to prevent any resurgence of asylum-seekers from the Indonesian side of the border. About 8,000 refugees remain in PNG, living in camps in Western province run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees following earlier conflicts, many of them seeking refuge more than 25 years ago.

The discussions between PNG and Indonesia have led to the latter inviting the foreign ministers of the four Melanesian states — Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, as well as PNG, who form the “Melanesian Spearhead Group” (MSG) — to visit its Papua and West Papua provinces.

O’Neill flew for talks with Yudhoyono instead of attending an MSG leaders’ meeting held at the same time in New Caledonia.

While PNG is helping to usher its fellow Melanesians in towards better relations with Indonesia, Indonesia in return is backing Port Moresby’s membership of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN has 10 members at present — and PNG feels it is entitled to join it because it has such a long land border with the group’s largest state.

Indonesia is also backing PNG’s bid to host the 2018 summit of the APEC forum — which would bring the American and Russian presidents, among other leaders, to Port Moresby — which will be decided at the next summit in Bali in October.

“It’s important for us to have such a relationship with Indonesia,” said Pato — who points out that in previous years, tensions not only unresolved but not even fully discussed about West Papua had prevented the full development of positive, mutually beneficial arrangements between the countries.

Now a joint committee of ministers from the countries has been formed to tackle the details and ensure the MOUs are implemented, he said — starting with the joint economic projects.

Source: Islands Business

Abbott’s task with Indonesia not as easy as it looks

Analysis by: Michael Bachelard === Tony Abbott has backed away from his pledge to visit Indonesia in his first week in office but the promise stands to make it his first overseas destination as prime minister.

The meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, early next month, so if he also travels to Jakarta before that, he’ll be going twice to the country in his first month in office. His visit, or visits, will be watched closely.

But without Abbott having lifted a finger, economic circumstances have done him one big favour. In response to a current account scare and the plunge of the rupiah, Indonesia’s new finance manager has removed the quota on beef imports in the name of economic stimulus.

The short-lived Australian ban on live exports in 2011, followed by the nationalistic assertion in Indonesia that it could be self-sufficient in beef by 2014, conspired both to damage the Northern Territory cattle industry and send Indonesian beef prices soaring. Abbott used it ruthlessly to hurt Labor.

Indonesia’s quiet abandonment of that policy during Australia’s election campaign has cleared one issue off the bilateral table but Abbott cannot expect the rest of his demands of Indonesia to be settled so easily.

On asylum seekers particularly, he has raised hackles. His boat-buying policy has been labelled “crazy”, with senior MP Mahfudz Siddiq saying this week that it was clear Abbott “doesn’t understand diplomacy or bilateral co-operation”.

His “turn back the boats” policy is also deeply unpopular right up to the presidential office.

This is a question of sovereignty and national pride on both sides of the ocean.

When Australia’s navy turns the first boat around under Operation Sovereign Borders – and it becomes the responsibility of Indonesia’s anaemic search and rescue capability – or limps back to an already bursting immigration detention system, expect Indonesian civil society and politics to object loudly about Australian chauvinism.

At Abbott’s back, though, are the expectations he himself has raised.

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, for example, has argued that Australia should earn respect in Jakarta by muscling up.

“If John Howard had rung me and asked if he should sign a joint communique with Indonesia saying we would never act unilaterally to protect our borders, I would have told him it would be a sell-out of our national interest,” Downer wrote in July. “It would be weak and fawning. You don’t win respect signing documents like that. But that’s hypothetical. Howard, a patriot if ever there were one, wouldn’t have countenanced signing such a document.”

Abbott is known in Indonesia as Howard’s political offspring. That is not an unalloyed positive. Castigated first as George Bush’s “deputy sheriff,” Howard did develop a good relationship with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono personally, and Indonesia generally, after the first Bali bombing in 2002, sealing it with a billion-dollar donation after the Aceh disaster in 2004. But he is still widely blamed for “masterminding” the separation of East Timor.

Meanwhile, Abbott will turn up in Indonesia promising, for the sake of domestic politics, a huge cut to foreign aid – $4.5 billion out over the next four years. The fact that this is likely to hit Indonesia hardest – it is our biggest aid recipient – has already been noted in Jakarta. A Jakarta Post opinion story on Monday said of aid: “The future looks bleak.”

A wild card in the diplomatic mix is one tiny boat with six people aboard. The Pog, the last vessel of the so-called Freedom Flotilla, set off on Monday morning from far north Queensland en route to West Papua. The Pog carries Amos Wanggai, one of the indigenous Papuan men who deeply disturbed relations between Howard and Indonesia in 2006 by sailing in the opposite direction and successfully seeking asylum in Australia.

West Papua is the poison apple in the bilateral relationship. After that refugee incident, Howard tried to find an antidote with the Lombok treaty of 2006, which guarantees Australian support for Indonesian control over Papua.

However, many Indonesians simply do not believe the words, and think Australia still agitates for the province’s independence, just as it did East Timor’s.

The landing of the Pog, its interception by the Indonesian military, and the possible imprisonment of its sailors may pose an early challenge for Abbott and his likely foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.

Indonesia’s economy is growing fast. Its military is gearing up. It is flexing its diplomatic muscles as the largest economy in the Association of South East Asian Nations. It is becoming more assertive about its place in the world.

It is also at the end of an electoral cycle. SBY’s term ends next year and he already looks like yesterday’s man. His replacement may not be as sympathetic or measured towards Australia’s needs, and the relationship remains full of potential misunderstandings on both sides.

As prime minister, Abbott cannot any longer pretend that his boats policy is unpopular in Indonesia because Labor spoilt the relationship. He must take responsibility for his own policies and set his own tone with a changing, increasingly confident Indonesia, while projecting an image that allows him to work with whoever replaces SBY.

It’s not an easy task, and it begins soon.

=> Michael Bachelard is Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax Media

Source: The Age

Indonesia qualified to answer human rights challenges: Norwegian crown prince

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway said that Indonesia is qualified to answer human rights challenges as the country has implemented better democracy in the region.

“Some issues such as how we can work to share experience and work together to make our democratic system even stronger and how we can build relations between nations, cultures, and religions in order to enhance protection of human rights for everybody perhaps can be answered by Indonesia,” Haakon said when inaugurating the Eleventh Human Rights Dialogue between Indonesia and Norway here on Monday (26/11).

He added that Indonesia can address the issues in view of the fact that more than 300 different ethnic groups have shared one country and various religions had lived in the country in contiguity.

The Crown Prince added that Indonesia has been committed to enhancing human rights as the backbone of valuable partnership in the human rights bilateral dialogue.

“Human right is that all persons shares the same values and should be treated as equal,” he said.

According to him, some principles for enhancing bilateral cooperation between Norway and Indonesia are respect, openness and implementation which are valuable aspects for both governments.

Those, he added, can guarantee that both countries can continue to make a success and mutual cooperation to progress.

During the visit to Indonesia, Prince Haakon was accompanied by Princess Mette-Marit and a number of ministers and businessmen.

While in Jakarta, Prince Haakon will also meet with ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and inaugurate a business forum themed `Indonesia-Norway: Strategic Partnership in Business” to be held by Innovation Norway.

He will also visit Yogyakarta to meet Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and give a general lecture at Gadjah Mada University about “Nurturing Tolerance and The Need for Dialogue”.

Source: ANTARA News

Indonesia increasingly contributing to human rights cause: the UN

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay has stated that Indonesia has been making an increasingly significant contribution to the cause of human rights regionally as well as globally.

“Through its constructive role in the regional human rights mechanisms of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and at the Human Rights Council, Indonesia has made an important contribution to the advancement of human rights,” she said during a press conference at the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) here on Tuesday.

Pillay noted that Indonesia has earned much praise for its ratification of many international human rights treaties.

She pointed out that the country took part in eight core human rights conventions and committed itself to the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) and the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

“Indonesia has also recently ratified the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers, which encourages neighbouring countries to embrace international human rights standards in order to protect the rights of migrants,” Pillay said.

She stated that, during her visit to Indonesia, she “encouraged the government to accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol”.

Based on UN data, Indonesia has accepted 150 of the 180 recommendations made during the Universal Periodic Review under the Human Rights Council.

“I was also pleased to learn that the Indonesian government recently agreed to a visit by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, which I hope will encourage other governments in the region to follow suit,” Pillay said.

She also praised three human rights institutions — the National Human Rights Institutions (Komnas HAM), the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), and the National Committee for Child Protection — for their efforts in promoting human rights across the country.

“These institutions are vital for the protection of human rights in Indonesia and I commend the government for supporting them. I hope the government will also provide them with increased financial support,” Pillay stated.

“The central and local governments should be proud of the work that these institutions do, see them as partners, and ensure their protection throughout the country,” she added.

Earlier, on November 7, Pillay arrived in Bali to attend the 5th Bali Democracy Forum. After taking part in the forum, she visited Jakarta at the invitation of the Indonesian government.

During her stay in Jakarta, Pillay held meetings with Indonesian ministers and officials, UN organizations and the diplomatic community, as well as national human rights institutions.

Source: ANTARA News

Indonesia and Britain sign defense agreement

Indonesia’s Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and his British counterpart Philip Hammond have signed a memorandum of understanding on defense.

The ceremony taking place at the Downing Street no 10, London, on Thursday was witnessed by Prime Minister David Cameron and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A release issued after the ceremony said the MoU serves as an umbrella for the promotion of defense cooperation between the two countries.

“The memo of understanding is a signal of the spirit of both side to expand cooperation between Britain and Indonesia in the future,” the statement said.

Cooperation between Indonesia and Britain began in 1997 when the two countries pledged to create a closer cooperation.

The visit to Indonesia of Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2006 strengthened the cooperation.

In 2007, Britain placed Indonesia in top priority in its foreign policy especially in defense cooperation with ASEAN.

Source: ANTARA News

Indonesian president in Britain for state visit

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono begins a three-day state visit to Britain on Wednesday, with officials keen to impress the emerging Asian power with a display of pomp and pageantry.

Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to formally welcome Yudhoyono and his wife Ani on Wednesday afternoon with a guard of honour on Horse Guards Parade, before accompanying them to Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn carriage.

The Indonesian leader and his wife will stay at the palace, where the 86-year-old monarch is hosting a lavish state banquet in their honour on Wednesday evening.

“As well having one of the world’s most thriving economies, Indonesia is in the vanguard of the political change shaping Asia,” Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament on Tuesday.

“This visit will be an opportunity for us to build on the strong partnership established over the last decade.”

The president will hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday and attend a meeting of the high-level United Nations panel that is drawing up a strategy on how to build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Yudhoyono, who is the world’s only head of state to have served as a UN peacekeeper, will also give a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies.

The 15th-century Guildhall, in London’s financial district, will host a second banquet on Thursday night.

Several trade announcements are expected during the three-day trip, with Britain keen to gain access to Indonesia’s fast-growing economy and 240 million consumers.

The state visit is part of Britain’s drive to boost its diplomatic presence in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia regarded by officials as the most influential player in the region.

As the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, it is also seen as a strategic ally in the Islamic world.

“Indonesia is far and away the most important country in ASEAN,” said a Foreign Office source.

Officials also see Indonesia as a potential future host for foreign campuses of its universities, similar to Malaysia where several British universities including Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle have outposts.

Britain usually hosts two state visits each year, but Yudhoyono is the only foreign head of state to receive the formal hospitality in 2012 following months of diamond jubilee celebrations marking the queen’s 60th year on the throne.

The last state visit was by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in November last year.

Source: MSN News

Statement by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in US – Indonesia joint press conference

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Well, let me begin by thanking the Foreign Minister for his very warm welcome and let me express how pleased I am to be back in Indonesia. As the Minister said, we had a long, comprehensive, very constructive conversation on a full range of issues. That is what I have come to expect from the Minister. Minister Natalegawa is highly respected in representing his nation on behalf of the President, the government, and the people.

Before I address the issues that Marty raised, let me just very clearly condemn the attack on our consulate personal in Peshawar, Pakistan. We pray for the safe recovery of both American and Pakistani victims and once again we deplore the cowardly act of suicide bombing and terrorism that has affected so many people around the world, and which we all must stand against.

Here in Indonesia, one of the very first countries I visited as Secretary of State, we have seen our relationship grow stronger and deeper. The U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership is a foundation for America’s renewed engagement in the Asia Pacific, and I’m looking forward to welcoming the Foreign Minister and the Indonesian delegation to Washington in just a few weeks.

One focus of America’s engagement here is promoting economic growth through trade and development. The Indonesian Government has announced more than half a trillion dollars in planned infrastructure improvement, and our government and our businesses strongly support this commitment by the Indonesian Government. We want to do even more in working to enhance jobs and economic growth for both our countries and the people of them. We think Indonesia’s growth, which continues to be so strong, is essential not only for Indonesia but regionally and globally.

We also believe that education remains the cornerstone of economic growth and individual advancement in the 21st century economy. To that end, I’m pleased to announce that USAID will invest $83 million during the next five years to support primary education in Indonesia, and we also providing a $20 million fund for graduate training for Indonesian students in the United States. These kinds of educational exchanges reflect the model of partnership that the United States is pursuing based on shared values, delivering concrete benefits for our people, and enhancing our partnership.

We support Indonesia’s security, including its defense, and we believe strongly that Indonesia has a right to enhance its security. We obviously work closely with Indonesia on a range of issues, particularly on counter-terrorism cooperation. And we commend the Indonesian Government for the law enforcement-led approach to counter-terrorism and believe that Indonesia has made great strides in protecting its citizens and citizens more generally who visit and travel for business or recreation to Indonesia, which is such a wonderful country to be able to see.

Regarding the very important question on the situation in Papua, we support the territorial integrity and that includes Papua and West Papua provinces. We believe strongly that dialogue between Papuan representatives in the Indonesian Government would help address concerns that the Papuans have and assist in resolving conflict peacefully, improving governance and development. We think there should be inclusive consultation with the Papuan people and implementation of the special autonomy law for Papua. And of course, we deplore violence of any sort in Papua, and when it does occur there should be full and transparent investigations under the rule of law and make sure that lessons are learned from that.

So we think that there’s been an enormous amount of good work done by the Indonesian Government, and we’re going to continue to work with them and raise issues as that becomes necessary.

On regional issues, I expressed to the Minister our gratitude to Indonesia for supporting stronger American engagement in the Asia Pacific. It was during Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN that President Obama became the first American president to attend the East Asia Summit. I’m confident that as Indonesia looks ahead to becoming the host of APEC next year, it will bring the same expertise and commitment to consensus building and results as the chair of that important group as well.

I thank the Minister for the efforts that Indonesia has undertaken following this year’s ASEAN Regional Forum. I expressed our appreciation for Indonesia’s and the Minister’s personal efforts to advance ASEAN unity. We believe that the U.S.-ASEAN relationship is one of our most important and we want to support ASEAN unity in this region. The recent U.S.-ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Cambodia and the largest ever U.S.-ASEAN Business Forum, which I hosted in July in Cambodia, are evidence of that. As we intensify our engagement with ASEAN, we look forward to working with our dialogue partners to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat.

We discussed developments in the South China Sea, and I commended, again, the Minister for his personal leadership under the President’s guidance. The United States has a national interest, as every country does, in the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law, freedom on navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea. As I have said many times, the United States does not take a position on competing territorial claim over land features, but we believe the nations of the region should work collaboratively together to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats, and certainly without the use of force.

That is why we encourage ASEAN and China to make meaningful progress towards finalizing a comprehensive code of conduct in order to establish rules of the road and clear procedures for peacefully addressing disagreements. And we endorse the recent ASEAN six-point principles on the South China Sea. We will continue to support the work that ASEAN is doing, and in particular the leadership of Indonesia, to clarify and pursue claims in accordance with international law, including the Law of the Sea Convention.

I can only echo and reinforce what the minister said, because he has led the diplomacy for the adoption of the six-point statement of principles by ASEAN on July 20th. That showed unity was very important, and the United States endorses those principles. We believe too, along with ASEAN, that it is critical for the work that has begun on the code of conduct to continue. The United States believes very strongly that no party should take any steps that would increase tensions or do anything that could be viewed as coercive or intimidating to advance their territorial claims. It’s important that there be, as the minister said, a mechanism for resolving the potential for the outbreak of conflict or miscalculation by any party. Because remember, there are many claimants. It’s not just ASEAN members claiming vis-a-vis China. There are claims within ASEAN members themselves.

So this is in everyone’s interest, and it is time for diplomacy. We have the East Asia Summit coming up in Phnom Penh in November. This should be the goal that diplomacy pursues to try to attain agreement, as the Minister is doing, on a robust code of conduct to begin to try to literally calm the waters and enable people to work together toward better outcomes.

And I will be discussing these matters in Beijing with Chinese leaders. I think we can make progress before the East Asia Summit, and it certainly is in everyone’s interest that we do so.

The world looks to Indonesia as the leading democracy in the region – as indeed the third largest democracy in the world – to promote democracy and human rights, and we will work together on behalf of those important principles. We both agree strongly that there should be no discrimination against minorities on any basis – religious or communal, sectarian, ethnic – and that we should promote freedom and tolerance for all.

In pursuit of our shared democratic values, we’re pursuing plans for our Triangular Cooperation program, which aims to strengthen democratic institutions in countries such as Burma. Once again, the United States will be sending a high-level delegation to the Bali Democracy Forum to strengthen democratic reform and civil society and to stand up for the human rights that democracies are pledged to protect.

And finally, the Foreign Minister and I exchanged views on Iran and Syria. On Iran, we believe – and we share this common position – that Iran has a right to the use of peaceful nuclear energy. But Iran must abide by its international obligations and cannot be permitted to get a nuclear weapons.

On Syria, both our countries remain committed to three priorities: putting an end to the violence, responding to humanitarian need, and helping to facilitate a political, democratic transition that will benefit the Syrian people.

So again, Minister, I thank you for these very substantive discussions. I thank you for yours and the President’s leadership on behalf of regional and global issues of great importance to us all. I look forward to seeing you in Vladivostok in a few days, and welcoming you to Washington in a few weeks.

Thank you.

Source: Embassy of the US in Jakarta

RI more respected abroad despite problems

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono trumpeted the success of his administration in lifting the country to become one of the world’s most respected nations, during his annual state address, delivered to commemorate the 67th anniversary of independence.

“Fourteen years ago, in the midst of a crisis, the International Monetary Fund [IMF] came and offered a loan with conditions that actually further compounded our economic situation. Now our country’s economy keeps growing, the IMF comes not to offer loans, but to have a consultation and exchange ideas with Indonesia on overcoming the global crisis that is currently taking place,” Yudhoyono said in his state address on Thursday (16/08).

Last month, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, paid Yudhoyono a visit.

While Lagarde was in town, the government announced that Indonesia would contribute US$1 billion to the IMF by purchasing the agency’s bonds. The decision, which sparked controversy, was aimed at helping the IMF deal with the European debt crisis.

In his state address, Yudhoyono also claimed that Indonesia had made great strides in international politics by engaging with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations, G20, East Asia Summit and Rio+20 Summit.

“From the various initiatives and ideas that we have proposed as a response to international dynamics, praise be to God our voice has increasingly been heard and taken into account. We are more often asked to provide our opinions — “What does Indonesia think?” — on a number of world issues. This proves that as an independent and sovereign nation, we can stand tall in the international arena,” Yudhoyono said.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently appointed Yudhoyono, along with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and UK Prime Minister David Cameron to co-chair the UN High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 MDGs Development Agenda.

The first meeting of this panel will be held in the US at the end of September.

The Economist recently wrote in a piece entitled “Sitting Duck” that Yudhoyono had been looking beyond 2014 and that he has coveted an elder statesman’s role. “Not long ago some of his staffers even wondered if he might succeed Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general of the United Nations,” the London-based newspaper wrote, which also referred Yudhoyono as a globocrat.

Later in his speech, Yudhoyono however admitted that at the domestic level, his administration is dealing with many challenges including in the fight against corruption, bureaucratic reform and infrastructural problems.

Yudhoyono said that misappropriation of state budget had hampered efforts to improve the country’s education, health service, and infrastructure.

“There should no longer be any conspiracy between the government, the lawmakers, law enforcement agencies, and the business community in draining the state coffers, both in the state budget and the regional budgets. I have to admit there remain a large number individuals involved in graft, whether from the government, local administrations, lawmakers and local politicians or law enforcement officers,” he said.

On the issue of social conflict, Yudhoyono partly blamed the police for not taking action quickly enough. “When violent events occur, the police must immediately take quick, firm and appropriate action,” he said.

On the issue human rights, Yudhoyono claimed that the situation was vastly improved in spite of violence in Papua.

“Our brothers and sisters in Papua are always close to our hearts. The government realizes the complexity of the issues that require specific, fundamental and comprehensive measures,” Yudhoyono said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Garuda considering Papua – China flights

National airline company Garuda Indonesia has been exploring possibilities of Papua – China flights to support the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Economic Development (MP3EI).

General Manager of Garuda Timika Office Nano Setiawan said in Beijing Wednesday (06/06) that besides the MP3EI plan for the Papua-China flights, there is also a plan to accelerate the development of Papua and West Papua as the East is an important hub.

“Garuda will facilitate the traffic movements between the two countries in the development of the economy and tourism,” Setiawan said. Garuda Timika and Biak offices and several travel agents are making trips to Beijing and Guangzhou.

With regard to Garuda’s strategy for increasing the comfort of Chinese tourists to Papua in the long trip, he said the long hauls to Papua will be combined with other destinations, such as the package from Jakarta, Jogya, Denpasar and then Papua.

The flights to China by Garuda Indonesia have always been via Jakarta.

Beijing General Manager of Garuda Asa Perkasa said the Jakarta-Beijing flights will be five times a week, Jakarta-Guangzhou and Jakarta-Shanghai flights every day.

On the flights to Papua he said Garuda flies on the Jayapura-Biak-Makassar-Jakarta or Jayapura-Timika-Denpasar-Jakarta routes. “With the route from Papua there will be a connection to Australia, Korea and Japan via Denpasar,” he said.

He added that with the route, flights from Papua can also reach Europe, China and Asean via Jakarta,”.

Source: ANTARA News

Obama respects Yudhoyono`s policies on Papua

US President Barack Obama and Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The US President Barack Obama has assured President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that Washington respects the policies the latter is pursuing in handling the problems in Papua, a spokesman for the Indonesian leader said.

The security situation in Papua that had been heating up recently was one of the topics of a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the 19h ASEAN Summit here on Friday (18/11).

Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah who was present at the meeting said Obama listened carefully to President Yudhoyono`s explanations on the Indonesian central government`s policies on Papua.

He said Obama on the occasion also reiterated the US government`s support for the territorial integrity of the Unitary State of Indonesia.

“The US fully believed Indonesia knows what to do in cases of state apparatuses acting in violation of human rights. Surely, the law will be enforced and President Yudhoyono underlined that six months after he assumed office he had already instructed all state apparatuses in the field to respect human rights,” he said.

Obama had also said he understood Indonesia`s efforts in upholding democracy and human rights more comprehensively through among others pursuing a welfare approach in Papua although violence and human rights violations by state apparatuses continued to disrupt security and stability in the region.

The meeting which lasted about one hour however did not touch on the various incidents that happened recently in PT Freeport Indonesia`s concession area in Timika.

Source: ANTARA News