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The G20 and ASEAN leadership crowns Jokowi's presidency
Under Indonesia's chairmanship, ASEAN upgraded the status of the ASEAN Secretariat into the ASEAN Headquarters and Jakarta as the regional grouping's capital.
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Working group: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (second right) and United States President Joe Biden (left) attend the Group of 20 Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 9, 2023. (Press Bureau/of Presidential Secretariat)
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fter officially closing the ASEAN Summit and the leaders' conference with dialogue partners in Jakarta last week, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo handed over the gavel of the regional grouping's chair to Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, capping his foreign policy trajectory as Indonesia's seventh president.
Jokowi had previously been widely known for his reluctance to manage foreign affairs, despite his status as the leader of an emerging power. He simply entrusted Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi to handle international diplomacy, which has been marked by multilateralism. Only when Indonesia received its turn to lead the Group of 20 in 2022 did he begin to enjoy the international exposure. It was indeed a tremendous personal achievement.
While it is true that Indonesia could not do much to bring peace back to Myanmar, Jokowi succeeded in preventing the military junta from chairing ASEAN and maintaining the bloc’s isolation of the brutal regime. Had the junta not toppled the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, Myanmar would have chaired ASEAN in 2026, after Laos in 2024 and Malaysia in 2025.
Myanmar became independent on Jan. 4, 1948, led by its national hero, Aung San, the father of Suu Kyi, who is now imprisoned by the junta. The military junta had secluded the country for decades, therefore an ASEAN boycott would by no means be effective.
"We must keep fighting, and ASEAN will not be held hostage by the Myanmar issue. ASEAN will continue to create peace, stability and prosperity," Jokowi told a press conference after closing the ASEAN summit on Thursday last week.
Retno said ASEAN leaders agreed to set up an informal "troika" approach, which would see the current chair supported by the former and future chairs handle the Myanmar crisis together and continuously. This means the troika members next year will be Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia as the next chair.
In place of Myanmar, the Philippines is set to take its turn. “It is my pleasure to announce that the Philippines is ready to take the helm and chair ASEAN in 2026," Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told his colleagues.
