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SBY leaves Hanoi to visit tsunami victims
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage touched down in Padang on Wednesday afternoon, cutting short his presence at the ASEAN Summit at a time when he wanted to show his leadership in the region on issues ranging from the Myanmar election and the South China Sea spat to the region’s economic integration
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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage touched down in Padang on Wednesday afternoon, cutting short his presence at the ASEAN Summit at a time when he wanted to show his leadership in the region on issues ranging from the Myanmar election and the South China Sea spat to the region’s economic integration.
Yudhoyono plans to visit tsunami victims in Mentawai Islands regency, depending on the weather on Thursday.
Prior to his visit, he is slated to hold a meeting on disaster management. “The weather at Mentawai Islands was not very good today,” said West Sumatra spokesman Zardi Zahri on Wednesday.
The administration set up teleconference equipment in advance of Thursday so that the President can communicate with West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno, who is currently at Mentawai Islands, in case Yudhoyono fails to reach the disaster area.
Vice President Boediono arrived in Padang on Wednesday morning and updated Yudhoyono on the latest situation.
Yudhoyono had planned to join nine leaders of ASEAN on Thursday before meeting with their three East Asian partners — China, Japan and South Korea — on Friday,
and convene an East Asia Summit (EAS) summit with the leaders of Australia, India and New Zealand on Saturday.
With Indonesia taking over the ASEAN chairmanship next year, the summit will be the last chance for Indonesia to show a glimpse of leadership that it can offer with expectations running high for Southeast Asian’s largest country to handle the most pressing issues.
The Mentawai Islands and Merapi volcano eruption in Yogyakarta forced Yudhoyono to cancel his bilateral meetings in Hanoi with China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand.
“This is a dilemma, but we have to prioritize the victims of the disasters back home,” presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.
However, Yudhoyono told his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet and journalists after a bilateral meeting Wednesday morning that he would return for the summit’s closing.
“I will go back home to make sure emergency relief efforts have been conducted well there. Then after that, God willing, I will return for the East Asia Summit and accept the ASEAN chairmanship from Vietnam,” he said.
Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa is staying in Hanoi to lead a number of minis-ters, including Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Defense Minsiter Purnomo Yusgiantoro,
plus scores of diplomats for the summit.
Due to the absence of Yudhoyono, the Philippines took the lead on the Myanmar issue Wednesday with Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo calling the Myanmar election “a farce”.
SBY leaves Hanoi to visit tsunami victims
