Ladies and gentlemen,

I feel indeed honored to speak before this distinguished forum attended by some of the finest officials and high-ranking military officers from around the world, who I believe will become key leaders of their respective countries as soon as they finish their program. I wish, therefore, to use this opportunity to sincerely thank Mr. Paul Varsanyi, the Principal of the Center for Defense and Strategic Studies, at the Australian Defense College, for inviting me to address this forum.

As requested, today I shall share with you my opinion on how Indonesia views its place in the world. Since the participants of this forum come from various countries, it is only appropriate for me to firstly explain the Indonesia's current state of affairs in order to give you a proper perspective of our struggle to become a prosperous, stable, and democratically governed nation-state.

Indonesia is one of the most pluralistic nations on earth. It is built on racial, ethnic, religious and cultural pluralities and its population is scattered over an area of approximately 1,950,000km2 containing more than over 17,500 islands. Indonesia hosts more than 220 million people from over 350 ethnic groups in which all major religions are present. In the past, its strategic location and abundant resources had attracted outside powers to colonize the country, and currently Indonesia remains strategically significant in terms of economic, defense and security in the region, if not the world.

Being so diverse, Indonesia has always been prone to political, social, and economic changes. That includes the fundamental changes triggered by the economic crisis that hit the region in 1997. Not only did the crisis harm the economy, but it also had a great impact upon almost every aspect of the nation's livelihood.
Many experts claimed that it was the beginning of Indonesia's disintegration as a nation-state. Apart from a few trouble spots emerging immediately after the crisis in Poso and the Moluccas as well as the continuation of the armed rebellions in Aceh and - to a lesser extent in Papua - Indonesia nonetheless remains intact thanks to its people strong commitment to remain united as a nation.

The crisis has actually provided the Indonesian people with a rare and precious opportunity to reshape and rebuild their country.

I am proud to advise you that Aceh, after the revocation of martial law which was in place for a year, is now beginning to return to normalcy. The civilian administration has resumed charge of the situation after President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed a presidential decree authorizing such a move (Jakarta, May 18, 2004).

Similarly, the situation in West Papua is beginning to ameliorate, especially after the joint investigation conducted by the Indonesian and US governments uncovered that the abhorrent attacks that killed two Americans and one Indonesian while injuring some others were actually committed by rebels operating in the region. The results of this investigation have frustrated some who have long harbored ill-intention towards Indonesia. They wish to see our armed forces to be blamed for the crime they did not commit.

Recently, the Indonesian government has also brought to justice two of its high-ranking police officers in West Papua for their alleged involvement in human rights violations in the region.

Ladies and gentlemen,

After replacing the authoritarian regime of President Soeharto, Indonesia started to build a democratic political system by holding the freest general elections ever organised in the country, thereby empowering its democratic institutions.

As you may be aware, Indonesia recently organized parliamentary elections (5 April 2004) in which more than a hundred million voters have exercised their rights, casting their votes in an attempt to elect candidates from 24 political parties contesting for 550 seats in the parliament. The National Election Commission (KPU) has announced the elections' final results which the Golkar Party managing to secure 21.58% of the votes whereas the political party led by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the Indonesian Democratic Struggle Party (PDIP) trailed behind with 18.53%. It is indeed interesting to note that two relatively new political parties namely the Democratic Party (PD) led by the former Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Islamic Justice and Welfare Party (PKS) led by Mr. Hidayat Nur Wahid have surpassed the electoral threshold (5%) by respectively gaining 7.45% and 7.34% of the votes, leaving behind the National Mandate Party (PAN) chaired by Mr. Amien Rais, the current speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly which only secured 6.43% of the votes. The National Awakening Party (PKB) led by former President Abdurrahman Wahid and the United Development Party (PPP) chaired by Vice President Hamzah Haz respectively gained 10.57% and 8.15%. The elections have been considered to be organized fairly as attested by many independent observers from various nations, including Australia.

After successfully organizing the parliamentary elections, Indonesia will hold its first direct presidential election on July 5, 2004. If we are unable to produce a simple majority candidate or candidates, a run-off will be organized on September 20, 2004 with only the top two contesting. Previously the president and vice president were elected by the People's Consultative Assembly, hence making them vulnerable to impeachment by the parliamentarians.

In the future, it will only be possible to vote the national leaders out of office through ballot papers.

There are currently five pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates contesting in the upcoming elections, namely: Megawati Sukarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi nominated by PDI-P; Wiranto and Sholahuddin Wahid nominated by the Golkar Party; Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla nominated by the Democratic Party; Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo nominated by the National Mandate Party and, Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar nominated by the United Development Party.

The outcome is difficult to predict. But, amazingly, there have been some people who tried to pre-empt the results, fearing that a particular presidential candidate who has recently been alleged to have been involved in the East Timorese mayhem in 1999, would win the election. While he has yet to be proven guilty before the courts, one should accept the fact if he is indeed democratically elected by the Indonesian people. Likewise, we could only congratulate the Australian people if they democratically decided to elect the One Nation Party's candidate for their leader.

Former Australian Ambassador for Indonesia Richard Woolcott made an interesting point on the issue. He stated in his recently published article that: 'Having advocated the spread of democracy, as the Howard Government has done, it is unreasonable to criticize the outcome of a fair election, as Howard and Alexander Downer took it upon themselves to do after the recent election in Spain. It is unreasonable to promote the cause of democracy and then oppose its outcomes' (The Age, June 3, 2004).

Ladies and gentlemen,

Many have praised Indonesia for its successful endeavors towards democracy within a relatively short period of time. A few weeks ago, Australia's Ambassador for Indonesia, David Ritchie, praised the development of our home-grown democracy and noted that even Australia needed more than a hundred years to mature its democracy (Sydney, June 1, 2004). Indonesia only started to embark upon such an endeavor in 1997, with remarkable results.

In today's Indonesia, the armed forces (TNI) no longer play a political role. And better still, we managed to establish a non-partisan general election commission whose ultimate goal is to ensure a free and fair election. Of no less importance, the Indonesian people - albeit being the biggest Muslim country in the world - agreed not to embrace 'sharia law' requiring all Muslims to observe Islamic teachings. For us, religion is a matter for an individual to deal with, and the role of the government is simply limited to ensuring that the followers of any given religion are free to exercise their beliefs in harmony with the rest of the population.

At the same time, our commitment to a free market economy has been stronger than ever, allowing the current government to gradually exit the crisis in close cooperation with the world's monetary institutions. Subdued inflation, falling interest rates, and growing foreign exchange reserves have all contributed to an environment conducive to faster growth. The value of our national currency against the greenback has stabilized although it fluctuated slightly recently due to external factors and the fever of the up-coming presidential elections.

Moreover, Indonesia's GDP growth exceeded the government's and most analyst's expectations at 4.1% in 2003 and is expected to rise to 4.8% in 2004. Inflation fell substantially from over 10% in 2002 to 5.1% by the end of 2003 and was still at this level in the first quarter of 2004. The even more encouraging signal came from the stock market composite index which was recorded at 800 points during the first quarter of 2004, or up over 80% since the end of 2002. These positive outcomes improved international sentiments toward Indonesia, as shown by the positive response to the one billion US dollar sovereign bond issued in March 2004.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am now delighted to share my opinion on how Indonesia views its place and influence in the region, its national interests and the current trend of world affairs.

Although Indonesia is being confronted with many formidable internal challenges, it continues to advance its national interests and tries to contribute to the solving of various global and regional issues as mandated by its constitution. According to the constitution, our national interests are defined as follows: to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, to promote the well being of the people, and to actively participate in the maintenance of world order.

There is no doubt in my mind that as a developing country with the world's largest Muslim population the conduct of our foreign policy and the pursuing of our national interests 'will not always be compatible with those of developed countries', as Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda was once quoted as saying (Sydney, August 22, 2003).

The realities of the post-Cold War era which have been marred by the upsurge of non-traditional threats confronting all of us, such as, inter alia: ethnic conflicts, terrorism, money laundering, human and drug trafficking, have fundamentally altered global politics, whilst the traditional threats of weapons of mass-destruction continue to haunt mankind and its civilization.

As an active member of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva - the sole multilateral negotiating body entrusted to negotiate disarmament treaties - Indonesia has long tried to convince the nuclear-weapon-possessing states to agree to a mandate authorizing this multilateral forum to 'negotiate in good faith a nuclear disarmament treaty under strict and effective international control at the earliest possible date', as clearly stipulated by The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international treaty endorsed by the United Nations and entered into force on March 1970.

The non-nuclear states have waited in vain for almost forty years without any clear signs if the treaty finally becoming a reality. In sharp contrast, some countries only waited around seven years to demand Iraq to disarm its so-called weapons of mass-destruction before invading the country and toppling the Saddam Hussein's regime. The weapons remain elusive.

Being one of the Presidents of the Preparatory Committee of the upcoming NPT Review Conference in 2005, I know that Indonesia is extremely frustrated by the non-cooperating attitudes of the nuclear weapons countries, especially those with major arsenals, which have recently stalled the work of the Committee and therefore put the future of the Review Conference in limbo.

Indeed, the Conference is apparently doomed to fail. The non-nuclear states are forced to live with the threat of these barbaric weapons for an unforeseeable future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Another source of great concern to us regarding our efforts to contribute to the maintenance the world's order is the re-emergence of unilateralism. What happened in Afghanistan and Iraq in which a handful of countries decided to go 'unilateral' has divided the world. Worse still, it has rendered the most authoritative multilateral forum, the United Nations, a limp force, prompting a call for its urgent reform. Indeed, in its present form, the United Nations Security Council, can no longer deal with serious threats to the international peace and security.

The fact that the voice of more than one billion Muslim population is not permanently represented in this body has long prevented them from fully and properly participating in the decision-making process in matters so dear to their hearts. The developed countries' domination of international monetary institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, has further frustrated the Muslim's world.

While strongly denouncing those who commit terrorist attacks under the pretext of Islamic teachings, we must also address the grievances of the Islamic world, if we genuinely wanted to achieve world peace.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri in her speech before the 2003 United Nations General Assembly underlined the urgency of addressing the issue. She stated: '…the perpetrators of those terrorist acts represent a branch of international terrorism. The motives and justifying arguments of their movement apparently arise from the prolonged unjust attitude exhibited by big powers towards countries whose inhabitants profess Islam, particularly in resolving the Middle East conflict' (New York, September 23, 2003).

To rub more salt into the wounds, 85% of the world's resources are consumed by only a few developed countries while the rest are being fiercely contested among and by developing countries. Under these circumstances, one should not dare hope to have a peaceful world. There is an urgent need to reverse this alarming trend and Indonesia firmly believes that combating poverty may well serve as an excellent starting point.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Indonesia has on a number of occasions made clear its opposition to unilateralism, for if it continues unchecked it may well justify the use of force by a country or a group of countries with ulterior motives.

After what transpired in Afghanistan and Iraq, I think it is only fair to ask: 'has the problem been solved or has it created new ones?' Certainly, problems still linger in these two countries, and, a series of new problems emerged in Iraq, in particular torture and terrorism, which have now become a fact of life in this conflict-ridden country.

Being an ardent supporter of regionalism and multilateralism in solving issues of common concern, Indonesia sincerely hopes that the Coalition of the Willing, which has recently returned to the United Nations to ask for help in solving the Iraqi crisis (UNSC Resolution 1546/2004), and the transfer of power from the occupying power to the Iraqi interim government (Baghdad, June 28, 2004) will finally bring peace to the country.

The developments in Iraq - and in Palestine for that matter - have vindicated Indonesia's long-held view that violence only begets violence. We are therefore eager to see the occupying forces leave Iraq and Palestine as soon as possible and to let their people exercise their rights to self-determination under the supervision of the United Nations.

The world has suffered enough from these conflicts, especially from the Israeli - Palestinians conflict, which have claimed the live of thousands innocent bystanders not only in the region, but also around the globe. Indeed, almost all recent terrorist attacks have links to the conflict in the Middle-east.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Whereas in the global context, Indonesia relies heavily on the United Nations as the sole multilateral body whose Charter has entrusted it to maintain and preserve international peace and stability, from a regional perspective, Indonesia continues to value ASEAN as a cornerstone of its foreign policy and at the same time, recognizes the strategic positions of other countries, such as, US, China, South Korea, Japan, and certainly Australia and New Zealand.

We are mindful of the fact that each country has its own national interests to promote, which will surely interpolate with the national interests of other countries in the region. There is a need therefore for all countries to carefully navigate these conflicting national interests to avoid the emergence of yet another conflict similar to those we are currently experiencing.

Since its formation 35 years ago, ASEAN has succeeded in strengthening the cooperation among its members and between ASEAN and other countries. ASEAN signed a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 1976 as a mechanism to peacefully solve conflicts in the region. It has also succeeded in creating the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (Kuala Lumpur, November 27, 1971), the ASEAN Free Trade Area (Singapore January, 1992) and, the South-east Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (Bangkok, December 15, 1995).

Within the context of intra-regional cooperation, ASEAN has developed cooperation with East Asian countries, namely China, South Korea and Japan (ASEAN+3) as well as with India. Recently, at the ASEAN Economic Ministers Retreat in Singapore on April 21, 2004, the ministers issued a recommendation to upgrade ASEAN economic relations with Australia and New Zealand to Close Economic Relations (CER). The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting - currently in session in Jakarta, Indonesia - has formally invited Australia to a commemorative summit marking the 30th anniversary of ASEAN - Australian relations, a move considered to be strategically important in further fostering the relations between the two.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In order to confront the new global security environment, at the Bali Summit in October 2003, ASEAN Leaders adopted the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II), which prescribes the establishment of an ASEAN Community that rests on three fundamental pillars, namely: an ASEAN Security Community, an ASEAN Economic Community, and an ASEAN Socio-cultural Community. In making this decision, they emphasized that all three pillars must be holistically developed in a parallel and balanced manner. The multitude of action plans, programs, projects and cooperative endeavors already in place will thus become integral components of the efforts to build an ASEAN Community.

Due to their strategic position, the Southeast Asia and East Asia regions will continue to play an important role in the major powers' global strategy, especially the US, whose economic and military strengths have made it the most dominating power in the world. It is important to note that China has also emerged as an economic giant together with Japan and Australia. Indonesia considers that engaging these countries is extremely important to ensure the stability of the region, especially in tackling the regional flash points in the Korean Peninsula, Jammu - Kashmir, Taiwan - China, and the South China Sea.

To enhance cooperation among countries in the Southwest Pacific region, Indonesia launched an initiative to establish a Southwest Pacific Dialogue (SWPD) that includes Indonesia, Australia, East Timor, New Zealand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, and Papua New Guinea. The first ministerial meeting, held in Yogyakarta, on October 5, 2002 declared the formation of this forum with the aims of achieving peace, stability, and prosperity for the countries in the sub-region. It is also designed to encourage its members to adopt an incremental approach in developing areas of cooperation and to build the spirit of friendship, dialogue and consensus for their mutual benefits. At the Second Ministerial Meeting of the SWPD, which was held in New York on September 27, 2003, the ministers solemnly reaffirmed the importance of the forum as a mechanism for discussing issues of common concern.

In order to build a strategic partnership between Asia and Africa, Indonesia, as one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, also launched initiatives to organize the Asia - Africa Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC) in Bandung, 29 - 30 July 2003 and its second meeting was held in South Africa last March. Through these conferences, countries in Asia and Africa have started to chart a new course towards concrete collaborations among developing nations from the two continents.

This effort will culminate with the holding of an Asian - African Summit in Bandung, Indonesia, in 2005, which will coincide with the observance of the Golden Jubilee of the 1955 Asian - African Conference. It is important to bear in mind that it was at the 1955 Conference that a new ethos of international relations was laid down by the first generation of leaders of the two continents which chiefly underlined the principle of cooperation rather than confrontation in managing global affairs.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me stress that no matter who wins in the next presidential election, Indonesia will continue to actively pursue its national interests as enshrined in its constitution. The top priorities of the next government will remain the same: first, to solidify our home-grown democracy, secondly, to further stabilize the economy for the benefit of our people, and, thirdly, to continue to contribute to concerted international efforts to preserve and promote peace around the world, especially in combating terrorism and other international crimes.

It is against this backdrop that I am puzzled to recently read in the Australian media that by invoking its sovereign rights to terminate working visa of one or two the so-called 'Indonesianist', some have strongly speculated that Indonesia would return to those dark days during which our freedom of expression and other democratic rights were severely curtailed.

I am absolutely convinced that the Indonesian people, especially the youth and students, are capable of ensuring the reform movement remains on the right track, for it was them who pioneered Indonesia's democratization in sharp contrast to the cases of Haiti, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq whose democratizations have been forcefully imposed upon them by elements alien to their societies.

Let me also use this opportunity to remind those who claimed Indonesia would once again return to those dark days, that we have previously taken the same course of action against a British scholar - with whom I have a pending legal case - and against an Australian journalist - with whom I have recently established cordial contact - yet democracy in Indonesia has become stronger than ever. The British scholar's case was even more severe. She had been sent to jail for breaking our immigration regulations.

Certainly, when our national security interests are compromised we will be more than willing to take commensurate actions to redress the situation, as any responsible country would.

I therefore call on all of those who have built their reputation on Indonesia and hence, enjoyed some earthly benefits from it, to refrain from launching baseless accusations that may confuse those who are unfamiliar with the fabric of our complex society.

Tim Dodd, a noted Australian journalist, once publicly admitted that even though he has lived in Indonesia for so many years he still failed to fully understand Indonesia's internal dynamics. Therefore, if you happen to hear someone claiming to be more knowledgeable about Indonesia than those who were born, live, and will die in Indonesia, I encourage you not take him or her too seriously. Indeed, we are all still learning and will continue to learn, and I do hope that the today's exercise would contribute to our common efforts to learn more about Indonesia.

Thank you.

Canberra, 1 July 2004

Imron Cotan
Ambassador

Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Canberra - Australia