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Jokowi’s likely absence from UN assembly is just ridiculous
The President has at least four capacities to speak in the yearly UN Assembly, while he can seize opportunities to hold bilateral talks with other leaders.
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Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo remotely addresses the 76th UN General Assembly on Sep. 22, 2021, in New York. (AFP/Eduardo Munoz)
It will be an irresponsible decision and even a cowardly act for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, if he opts to skip the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the eighth time. There are no more acceptable excuses for him to shun the annual global forum, unless he has a serious health problem, which is unlikely.
Or is it because he has increased fuel prices, an unpopular decision Indonesian presidents avoid? If that is the case, his absence does not make any sense.
Although the UNGA is only one week away, there is no confirmation from the President on whether he will fly to New York.
The 77th session of the UNGA opens on Sep. 13 under the theme “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges”. The UN says the theme stems from the recognition that “the world is at a critical moment in the history of the UN due to complex and interconnected crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, a tipping point in climate change, as well as growing concerns about threats to the global economy”.
Jokowi told Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi a few months ago that he will attend the UNGA for the first time but reportedly changed his mind because he wanted to focus on domestic affairs. Initially, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin would speak on his behalf at the Assembly but for health reasons, doctors did not recommend the 79-year-old Muslim cleric to go.
A senior economic minister told a group of journalists recently that the President was reluctant to leave the country apparently because the government planned to increase fuel prices. But now that new fuel prices have come into effect and major protests are nowhere to be seen, it should be safe for Jokowi to make his first appearance at the UNGA.
Jokowi’s attendance is important especially if he can come up with a breakthrough to mitigate the devastating impacts of the war in Ukraine, not only on the millions of people in Ukraine, but also the many people who face imminent starvation because the war has denied their access to food.
