Erwida Maulia and Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 03/20/2010 9:19 AM
The delay of a state visit by US President Barack Obama, now set for June, is more to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s liking, presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal claimed Friday.
Dino said Yudhoyono had previously suggested the visit be pushed back to June, before Obama first postponed the start of his Indonesian visit from March 20 to March 23.
“We understand that this is based on political necessity,” he said at a press conference at the Presidential Palace.
“The statement made by the White House was that President Obama himself was very disappointed and regretted that he couldn’t make the visit.
“We know this visit is important to President Obama, that Indonesia is an important country and that there’s a strong commitment to launch a comprehensive partnership,” Dino went on.
“Anyway, we’re glad it turned out this way because President Yudhoyono had from the beginning preferred [that the visit be made in June] and not be rushed. We want it to be 100 percent successful,
and for President Obama to fully focus on the Indonesia-US bilateral relations.”
Dino added the visit was now scheduled for the middle of June, claiming this was actually the first option discussed by the two leaders during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh last year.
“President Yudhoyono said June would’ve been better because it’d be the summer holidays and President Obama could bring his family to Indonesia,” he said.
The White House announced Thursday night [Jakarta time] that Obama’s visit to Indonesia and Australia, initially set for next week, would come in June.
The White House says the delay was needed to allow Obama to focus on pushing through healthcare reform in Congress.
A vote is likely this weekend, for which Obama decided to re-main in Washington, the White House says.
Dino said preparations for the initial visit had progressed well, with several memorandums of understanding and a declaration for the two countries’ comprehensive partnership ready to be signed.
The delay will likely lead to changes in the visit’s agenda but will not affect fixed items, including a visit to the heroes’ cemetery in Kalibata, East Jakarta, bilateral talks with Yudhoyono, press conferences and a state dinner.
“Perhaps it’ll be the same in Australia,” Dino said. “We have to renegotiate some aspects of the agenda.”
Regional Representatives Council Deputy Speaker Laode Ida agreed the delay was a good thing, saying it would allow the Council more time to lobby Yudhoyono on key regional issues.
He added the Council’s main interest was to have Obama discuss issues related to the exploitation of natural resources in parts of Indonesia.
“Some contract issues, such as with Freeport, need to be discussed,” he said.
“The share of profits for Indonesia and the regional administrations is small compared to the environmental damage caused.”
Laode urged Yudhoyono to use the delay to consult with the Council on these issues.
