Indonesia wants the recently canceled East Asia Summit (EAS) to be reorganized in "due course", expressing concern over a number of pressing regional issues, including the financial crisis, which need the forum's immediate attention.
"The government expects the summit can be reconvened in due time and that the cancellation will not put on hold solving problems," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said on Monday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage were forced to leave Thailand after arriving there last Saturday as protesters loyal to ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party went on the rampage and took over the venue at a hotel in Pattaya, 150 kilometers south of the capital Bangkok.
Dino said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and President Yudhoyono met at the airport before the latter flew back to Jakarta, but their conversation did not touch on substantive matters, such as how long the summit would be suspended or the possibility of a new venue.
Senior Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) researcher Dewi Fortuna Anwar said the canceled summit of the 10 ASEAN members plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand could be organized after an Asian Development Bank meeting in May in Bali. Indonesia will be holding the ADB meeting, during when Asian leaders are expected to attend to discuss matters related to the financial crisis.
At the same time, Indonesia will also host the inaugural World Ocean Conference 2009 and the Coral Triangle Initiative Summit, where the heads of state of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste will participate, in Manado.
"Indonesia is capable of holding the summit, although we are also busy with elections this year," she said. "Thailand forced itself to hold the summit at the wrong time. I don't think Thailand is capable of becoming the host again after what happened there."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Jakarta had yet to take any action in regard to the cancellation, amid the possibility of proposing to host the summit.
"We are still waiting for *plans* by the Thai government as the current ASEAN chair. We might propose to host, on the grounds that Jakarta is the location of the ASEAN Secretariat. But we have to wait further due to its sensitivity," he said.
A source in the government said Indonesia was ready to host the EAS meeting if it was supported by other ASEAN members.
