KEDUTAAN BESAR REPUBLIK INDONESIA
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
8 Darwin Avenue, Yarralumla, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600
AUSTRALIA
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
PRESS
RELEASE
No. 63/PR/IX/2004
Indonesia Claims a Permanent Seat
on the Security Council
Amid the debate on the enlargement
of membership of the UN Security Council, Indonesia
claims a permanent seat on the Council. "As the
world's third largest pluralistic democracy, the fourth
most populous country, the world's largest Muslim nation,
a country of tremendous cultural diversity and a member
with a track record of serving in various peace initiatives
of the UN, Indonesia has an important global constituency
on the Council," said Dr. Hassan Wirajuda, the
Indonesian Foreign Minister, before the 59th session
of the UN General Assembly in New York, Monday morning,
27 September 2004.
Dr. Wirajuda continued by adding the
reasons why Indonesia deserves a seat on the Council.
Indonesia has served in more than 30 peacekeeping missions,
starting in 1957 in the Middle East. And today, Indonesian
troops and military observers are deployed in peacekeeping
missions in Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Georgia.
Indonesia is well known as a founding member and active
player of the Non-aligned Movement, G-77, G-15, D-8
and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In the
Southeast Asian region, Indonesia has made key contributions
to the peaceful solution of conflicts-notably in Cambodia
and southern Philippines. It continues to build peace
and stability in the region, with its ASEAN partners
and beyond.
Reform of the United Nations including
the Security Council must be done comprehensively, by
making it more democratic in terms of procedure and
representation in order to reflect today's geopolitical
realities. Indonesia would represent the voice of a
developing world striving not only for economic development
but also for democratization. Indonesia would also represent
the voice of moderate Islam.
Indonesia's claim was made only one
week after the country held its first ever direct presidential
election on 20 September, involving some 125 million
voters and 575,000 polling stations spreading across
some 6,000 inhabited islands. It was the third national
political exercise that Indonesia carried out in a period
of six months, the previous two being the parliamentary
election and the first round of the presidential election.
International observers hailed them as peaceful, fair,
and democratic.
Indonesia's success in holding those
elections is the climax of a transition from authoritarian
rule to a full-fledged democracy. And it put to rest
the debate on whether Islam and democracy can ever mix.
On terrorism, despite the latest attack
in Jakarta on 9 September, Indonesia remains firm in
its commitment to fight against it. Indonesia also remains
firm in its faith that the fight against terror can
be won. "But the global coalition to defeat terrorism
must be inclusive; it must be multilateral and democratic;
it must empower the moderates of the world; and it must
address the root causes of terrorism," said the
Indonesian Foreign Minister.
Dr. Wirajuda also maintained that no
democracy is safe without assurance of a democratic
environment at the global level. That environment cannot
be created by unilateral action. On the contrary, democracy
at the global level can only be promoted by democratic
means-through multilateral institutions like the United
Nations. Hence, there is an urgent need to empower the
United Nations to serve as the effective tool of multilateralism.
