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Editorial: Unnecessary insecurity
Much of the nation, not least the Dutch, were in shock Tuesday when at literally the last minute President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cancelled (or, as he said, “postponed”) his visit to the Netherlands
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M
uch of the nation, not least the Dutch, were in shock Tuesday when at literally the last minute President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cancelled (or, as he said, “postponed”) his visit to the Netherlands.
The official reason seems to be related to a legal suit initiated by the remnants of a half-century-old Maluku separatist movement who had taken exile in the Netherlands.
“I cannot accept that at a time when the President of Indonesia intends to depart at the invitation of the Dutch government that there are legal proceedings [in the Netherlands] to arrest the Indonesian President,” Yudhoyono told journalists at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport before he was scheduled to leave.
This would have been the first state visit to the Netherlands by an Indonesian president in almost 40 years, since Soeharto’s state visit in the late 1970s.
Perhaps there are other more acceptable reasons for this move. If not, this is yet another questionable decision by Yudhoyono that we find regrettable. The President may think he was acting to defend the honor and pride of the Republic of Indonesia. However, we are curious to know if this may simply be a cover for his personal insecurity. There was no political crisis, national calamity or impending crisis at home that would necessitate a sudden cancellation.
We concede that legal proceedings against the Indonesian President could be inferred by some as an insult to national dignity, nevertheless we find the response by Yudhoyono to be very unprofessional.
Yudhoyono in various controversies here often maintains that he cannot intrude upon the legal process.
The same principle should be applied with the Dutch government. The best that the Dutch government can do, and has done, is to acknowledge Indonesia’s territorial integrity and declare that they do not recognize the RMS (South Maluku Republic) as a political entity.
The Netherlands is an advanced democracy where even the smallest voices and most radical views have a right to be respected and judged according before the law. It is an environment which in many ways Indonesia should emulate.
Canceling the visit is a victory for this small group of forgotten rebels and their decedents. It emboldens them with prestige they do not deserve. The President of the world’s fourth-largest nation ducking the public protests of a few has-beens?
This country needs a fearless leader, not a fearful politician.
