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Indonesian envoy to skip Nobel ceremony
Indonesia, the world’s third largest democracy, will likely skip the Dec
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ndonesia, the world’s third largest democracy, will likely skip the Dec. 10 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo and instead summon its envoy back to the country, a minister says.
“She has to return home for the Bali Democracy Forum,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Friday in reference to Indonesian Ambassador to Norway Esti Andayani, when asked about whether the ambassador would be present at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
Marty gave no further elaboration.
The third Bali Democracy Forum, first held in 2008 to promote democracy, will be held in Bali from Dec. 9 to 10. It is expected to host delegates from 52 participating countries from the Asia-Pacific region and 39 observer countries.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize went to jailed Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.
China has sent letters to foreign ministries and embassies urging diplomats to stay away from the ceremony in Oslo and warning of “consequences” for those who support the pro-democracy activist. China also has barred Liu’s wife from attending.
Foreign Ministry director general for American and European affairs Retno LP Marsudi did not respond to The Jakarta Post’s inquiries on whether Indonesia’s decision not to send the ambassador to the ceremony was based on China’s direct request.
Experts are split over whether Indonesia has bowed to China by not sending its envoy.
University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said China’s pressure was possibly behind Indonesia’s decision to abstain because there was no absolute condition that required an Indonesian ambassador to be present at the Bali Democracy Forum.
“As a democratic country, Indonesia is supposed to and should send an envoy to be there [at the Nobel Peace Prize presentation ceremony], to support democracy and its symbols, including the Nobel Peace Prize,” Hariyadi said.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, chair-woman of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the Habibie Center, said she did not believe that Indonesia, as a sovereign country, would bow to pressure from another sovereign country such as China.
She also said that the Nobel Peace Prize had always involved high political interests, which made the ceremony controversial.
Reuters reported that an Asian diplomat said in addition to the Indonesian ambassador, the Vietnamese and Philippines envoys to Norway would also not attend.
Hanoi’s ambassador would not attend because dissident Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Do was nominated for the 2010 prize, while the Philippine and Indonesian ambassadors will be travelling at the time, the diplomat said.
The Nobel Committee sent in-vitations to 58 countries with embassies in Norway, and 36 have accepted.
Six nations, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Morocco, Iraq and China itself, have declined the invitations, Reuters reported.
They gave no reason for declining, said Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the accolade, Reuters reported.
Lundestad said China had mounted a campaign to persuade diplomats to avoid the awards ceremony in Oslo, and had returned all mail sent by the Committee unopened.
