Jokowi's vague ASEAN policy

Members of Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) listen as President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo delivers his State Address [Credit: The Jakarta Post]

On the eve of Indonesia’s 72nd Independence Day, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo delivered his annual State Address in front of the Joint Session of the House of Representatives (DPR-RI) and Regional Representative Council (DPD-RI). If there were any doubts before about this Government’s foreign policy disinterest, 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, these have never ranked lower than it does now in the Government’s priorities.

Make no mistakes; the President’s State Address should worry all those concerned with Indonesia’s role in the international community. While foreign affairs have always received a 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, despite the fact that ASEAN had only the previous week celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Indeed the President had just the week before attended an event 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 organisation was only mentioned 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 the regional organization and its ambitious ASEAN Community initiative amongst not only the Indonesian public, as well as 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 a special mention in the State Address. The President noted that Indonesia had accommodated 1,806 refugees from the conflict, sent humanitarian aid, and built a number of schools in Myanmar. However, in many cases these were the effort of civil society groups rather than the Government itself. It is also questionable, to what extent are Indonesia’s effort known in Myanmar itself.

Missing too was any reassertion of Jakarta’s sovereignty over the waters surrounding the Natuna islands, despite the fact that only a few weeks ago the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs had announced 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 together with China finally agreed upon earlier this month? Here the President missed an opportunity to put pressure on China to commit to the speedy conclusion of the COC which has 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 ISIS in the region, Jokowi’s Address spoke very little on the Government’s position. Absent was the usual call for all sides to avoid the use or threat to use military means and to resolve disputes through diplomacy. Previous years have seen 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 ISIS in the region, the State Address did hear the efforts of the Government to “free most of the Indonesian citizens abducted by terrorist groups in Mindanao and evacuated Indonesians trapped in the ISIS conflict in Marawi.” However this only demonstrates that Indonesia remains reactive to such threats and underlines that more proactive initiatives have 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 seem to have failed in setting this out. One can only hope that the President does better next year.

[This article was first published in The Jakarta Post on 24th August 2017 and can be found at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2017/08/24/jokowis-vague-asean-policy.html]