O

n the eve of Indonesia’s 72nd Independence Day, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo delivered his annual State of the Nation Address before the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council.

The President’s speech made it clear that when it comes to Jakarta’s relations with its neighbors, the ASEAN region and the wider international community, foreign policy has never ranked lower than it does now in the government’s priorities. Make no mistake; the President’s state address should worry all those concerned about Indonesia’s role in the international community. While foreign affairs have always received small mention in previous state addresses, the omission of key issues was surprising.

Gone was the commitment to ASEAN as “a”/“the” cornerstone of Indonesia’s foreign policy, though ASEAN had just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Indeed, the President had just attended an event the week before at the ASEAN Secretariat to mark the special occasion, declaring: “Together with ASEAN, Indonesia progresses. Together with Indonesia, ASEAN is strong.”

During the state address, however, the regional organization was mentioned only in the context of Jakarta’s support for the Palestinian cause, with Jokowi stating, “We also continue to encourage ASEAN and the United Nations to support the independence of Palestine.”

ASEAN observers will likely see this as a missed opportunity to raise awareness about the regional organization and its ambitious ASEAN Community initiative among the Indonesian public, but as well to reassure our neighbors of Jakarta’s continued desire to play a leadership role in Southeast Asia.

Admittedly, Indonesia’s efforts in Myanmar’s Rakhine State did merit special mention in the state address. The President noted that Indonesia had accommodated over 1,800 refugees from the conflict, sent humanitarian aid and built a number of schools in Myanmar. However, in many cases these were the efforts of civil society groups rather than the government. It is also questionable as to what extent are Indonesian efforts known in Myanmar.

Missing, too, was any reassertion of Jakarta’s sovereignty over the waters surrounding the Natuna islands, although the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs had announced only a few weeks ago the renaming of those waters as the North Natuna Sea. Beijing predictably dismissed Indonesia’s move and attempted to downplay any significance to it. By not including it in his state address, the President has arguably played into China’s hand, allowing officials in Beijing to continue to ignore the significance of the renaming.

And what of the so-called framework for a Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, which the ten ASEAN member states, along with China, finally agreed on earlier this month? Here, the President missed an opportunity to put pressure on China to commit to the speedy conclusion of the CoC, which had seen little progress for over 15 years.

At a time when the international community continues to be concerned with events on the Korean Peninsula and the growing threat of Islamic State (IS) movement in the region, Jokowi’s address spoke very little on Indonesia’s position.

Absent was the usual call for all sides to avoid the use of or the threat to use military means and to resolve disputes through diplomacy. Previous years saw Indonesia offer itself as an honest broker making use of its good relationship with Seoul and Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, in the case of the growing threat of IS in the region, the state address did hear of the government’s effort to “free most of the Indonesian citizens abducted by terrorist groups in Mindanao and evacuated Indonesians trapped in the IS conflict in Marawi.” However, this only demonstrates that Indonesia remains reactive to such threats and underlines that more proactive initiatives are yet to be taken.

In this era of growing international uncertainty, a bold, constructive, and inclusive foreign policy by Indonesia is very much needed. This year’s state address would appear to have failed in setting this out. One can only hope that the President does better next year.
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The writer is the head of the ASEAN Studies Program, The Habibie Center, Jakarta.