SBY ‘ill-advised’ on canceling Dutch trip

The President recently declared that legal action by the movement called Republic of South Maluku (RMS) against him at the Dutch court had hurt “national dignity”; but Maluku descendants in the Netherlands said it was a joke.

“Most of us laughed when we heard RMS president [John] Wattilete had filed that lawsuit, as we consider he and his [shadow] cabinet a joke,” Sam Pormes, a former Dutch senator from Groenlinks Party told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

“They are only a very small and insignificant group of people. That’s why we were very surprised that Yudhoyono took them seriously,” added Pormes, who was on a visit to Ambon and Seram Island in his ancestral land in the Maluku province.

He said Maluku descendants in the Netherlands have become increasingly apathetic about RMS, a movement set up in 1950 to fight for independence from Indonesia. Only a few people now contribute money regularly to the organization,he said.

“So, it’s just a matter of time that people forget them entirely. But RMS now has the media attention and probably more sympathy.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was scheduled to leave for the Netherlands for a state visit at the invitation of the Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix last Tuesday, but canceled it at the last minute, over news that a Dutch district court was to hold a trial on the same day in response to a lawsuit filed by RMS activists.

The activists had demanded the Dutch government revoke diplomatic immunity for Yudhoyono, and have him arrested on charges of human rights violations. The court rejected both requests subsequently. The government has banned RMS as a separatist movement and outlawed its flag throughout the archipelago.

Yudhoyono has accused the state of the Netherlands for doing nothing to stop the hearing, saying that the trial breached the “ethics and conduct of nation-to-nation relationships”.

Pormes said he wondered who was advising the President that led him to such statements and the
decision to postpone the trip, until the Dutch court reaches a “conclusive decision”.

“Those who understand the Dutch legal system and politics know that the lawsuit only sought media attention,” Pormes added.

He said any Dutch citizen could request a quick ruling for their case.

A high-ranking official has admitted that the President was ill-advised in the case.

Yudhoyono has said that he based his decision on a letter from Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and direct talks with Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands J.E. Habibie, but many have doubted that both of them really advised the President to cancel his trip.