Todays News Jakarta Globe 21112013_SBY Suspends Cooperation With Australia Indonesia will be imposing a temporary suspension of intelligence and military cooperation with Australia including efforts to combat people smuggling as officials continue to investigate and wait for an official explanation on claims that Australia spied on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his inner circle. I have asked for cooperation in intelligence and information exchange between the two countries to be temporarily suspended. I have also asked that joint military exercises between Indonesian and Australian soldiers be suspended,” the president said in a speech on Wednesday. Yudhoyono added that suspension measures would also be taken on the people smuggling issue, an important cooperation between Indonesian and Australia. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was elected amid a wave of anti-asylum seeker sentiment on a platform promising a hard-line stance on Australias so-called “boat people problem,” including claims that the countrys navy would turnasylum seeker boats around once they entered national waters. “You know that in tackling our common issue, people smuggling, which hits become an issue both for Indonesia and Australia, we have something called a coordinated military operation out on the sea. I have asked that this [too] be suspended until everything is clear,” he said. Additionally, the president said Indonesia will be proposing a protocol, code of conduct and guiding principle for future cooperation and partnership with the neighboring country. “Forme personally, and for Indonesia, the wiretapping conducted by Australia toward some officials, including me, is really hard to comprehend, Yudhoyono said. “Its not the Cold War-era anymore.” The president delivered the firm warning to Australian officials in the televised speech on Wednesday afternoon, demanding an explanation one day after Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to apologize for the incident. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the suspension will be effective immediately: “[It will start] now, the president has spoken, if he has called for a suspension, then it will be done now.” Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto noted that the suspension would not be a huge issue as the nations ongoing joint military exercise in Darwin is drawing to a close. “It is almost over, so automatically this training will be accelerated so they can soon come back,” he said. Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, typically a vocal opponent of the central government, applauded Yudhoyono for taking firm action on the spying issue. “I highly appreciate the government this time,” Priyo told the state-run Antara news agency, “[They] acted firm and strong by recalling our ambassador to Australia. This action is clear and shows that Australia has made us uncomfortable and unhappy with the wiretapping.” Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency (BIN), said their Australian counterparts had reached out and promised to no longer wiretap Indonesian officials. “In communication with us they said the most important thing is now and in the future there won’t be any more wiretapping,” Marciano Norman, the head of the BIN, said. “There should be a commitment from [our] intelligence partner in Australia to evaluate and improve the condition in the future.” But for some Indonesian politicians, assurances from Australia are not enough. The Golkar partys Poempida Hidayatulloh urged the Indonesian government to invest in advanced spying technology of its own. The nation needs to take retaliatory measures against Australia, including diplomatic sanctions, as a show of force, he said. “In solving this problem, just getting angry is not enough. Poempida said,. “This is the time we should leave this loser mentality behind, especially concerning foreign countries. This is the time for Indonesia to remain tough and show the world that we cannot be humiliated. On Tuesday, international relations analyst Hikmalianto Juwana said the government had not been decisive enough in reacting to the intelligence activities, and should have reacted much faster when news of the tapping broke earlier this month. “The question is, why is the government only targeting Australia? What about the United States? Are they not the intellectual actor behind the tapping?” he said, adding that the government should move to expel the Australian and United States ambassadors to Indonesia. “Why is it that now when Yudhoyono and Ibu Ani’s name came up, the government immediately became reactive? Doesn’t Indonesia also belong to the people and not merely SBY and Ani?” he said. Fahri Hamzah, of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said Indonesia needed harsher laws against wiretapping, a controversial view that could both provide legal action for those caught spying but also defang the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which can currently wiretap phones without a warrant. “How Is the president’s handphone unprotected? Fahri told Okezone. “If [Yudhoyono] and his intelligence advisors are not aware that the whole world is now wiretapping [each other], they’re naive. “The question is, how ready are we?”
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:00:35 +0000