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ASEAN ignored in presidential election?
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Catching up with the neighbors: The leaders of ASEAN member states, (from left) Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Laos’ Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, pose for a group photo at the opening ceremony of the 33rd ASEAN summit in Singapore. (AFP/Jewel Samad)
T
he eyes of other ASEAN member states will be increasingly focusing on Indonesia’s presidential election and its results, given Indonesia’s important role in the region. As one of the biggest democratic countries and one of the initiators of ASEAN, Indonesia indeed has a significant role, especially in the progress of ASEAN integration.
However, the candidates — Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno — have not mentioned ASEAN, let alone included ASEAN integration in their vision and mission statements.
Sooner or later, ASEAN integration could be the next “storm” of globalization for Indonesian citizens if the government is not well-prepared for the free mobility of professionals of other member states, to say nothing of its citizens.
Furthermore, Indonesia would just be a market for the other ASEAN member states and Indonesians would be mere consumers of products of neighboring countries, instead of penetrating their products to ASEAN markets. Therefore, it is vital that the candidates of the presidential election show more concern on this issue.
The main reason for ASEAN establishment in 1967 was to speed up economic growth and promote regional peace and stability. In addition, ASEAN member states agreed in 2007 to ratify the ASEAN Charter as a fundamental legal document of its integration. The ASEAN Charter is a crucial milestone for ASEAN to evolve from a politically based organization to a rule-based intergovernmental organization. One of the main consequences of this integration is economic integration.
Member states agreed that all goods, services, investment, capital and skilled workers within member states should be free (or at least given access) to move among the states. This transborder issue could be a time bomb for Indonesia if preparations are lacking, as many have noted. Therefore, the presidential candidates should pay much more attention to the issue as this integration policy will affect us sooner or later.
Although the incumbent Jokowi has more opportunities to contribute to ASEAN’s integration, unfortunately this issue does not seem to be among his foreign policy priorities. Indeed, early in his term, one of his then-advisers for foreign policy, Rizal Sukma, told a public forum in Washington, DC, that the Jokowi administration would focus more on domestic and bilateral issues.
