The article’s main thrust (that scrapping local elections won’t have a major impact on everyday Indonesians) is hard to argue with, but only in the short-term.
In the long-term, though, people will suffer: democratization takes a generation and Indonesia’s process is still in its infancy. The direct election system had the potential to become more representative and responsive over time as the process of democratization unfolded and as decentralization became more refined. The direct election mechanism should have been improved, not scrapped.
I’m with Ed and Ken about Ryamizard – it’s a truly terrible appointment. Did Hendropriyono have anything to do with it, I wonder?
Possibly more likely is that this involves a little quiet revenge-taking by Megawati. At the end of her presidency in 2004, she tried to appoint Ryamizard as KSAB (I think it was), but SBY averted this.
Anyway, having defeated one of the most anti-democratic New Order ex-generals in an election, we have the prospect of Jokowi, the arch-democrat, appointing a different anti-democrat to an important position.
Yes, give the new government a fair chance to work, but we already know a bit too much about some of them, and that bit is none too favourable.
A key question in my mind is whether Jokowi will – or will be able to – exert a unifying and team-building influence on the cabinet, or whether he will let ministers do their own thing with limited and/or inadequate central direction, as SBY too often did. In itself, it looks more like a collection of spare parts, rather than a smooth-running machine.
Exactly, Dazed and Confused. Those on the list were legitimate targets, any analyst worth his/her dolphins would have wanted to know if Bank Century had the potential to bring down the SBY Gov and if SBY intended to use his Party to force more of his dribbling family members into office. That humint wasn’t up to the task is the worst possible condemnation. That so many on the list had Australian connections, and our diplomats still couldn’t get the information, is all the more embarrassing. The only possible conclusion is that Australia can’t do humint any more and has surrendered to signals. The laziness is astounding and won’t be fixed in a generation.
Focusing on the appointment of Puan Maharani, as much as it seemed as a ‘thank you’ gesture from Jokowi to his party, giving her the coordinating ministry position is a brilliant move. Not only she won’t have direct role to the policy making process, she also won’t be the decisive factor of a ministry affairs.
Her position is higher, hierarchically, but not necessarily means her role are more crucial.
The author mentioned technocrats, but somehow refused to appraise or being critical towards them. Nevertheless, in several position, we must acknowledge that the appointees were highly promising compared to the previous cabinet.
Thanks, Nick, for this poignant photo essay and reminder that the Red Shirts are very much alive in spirit and only waiting for the present group of self-appointed thugs ruling Thailand to self-destruct.
“Only Nixon can go to China” is the perfect answer for those who are questioning the appointment of Mr. Ryacudu.
Well written and insightful response to a somewhat imbalance article.
I think the professor is making a big stink about Puan. What has she done that has been so bad that deserve such scorn? The only thing she has done is she is the Megawati’s daughter.
Indonesia had 10 years of appointing ministers from the religious parties in the departments under Menko The education bureaucracy is filled with PKS types. Her job is to reverse “Islamization” of these departments. Who better to the house cleaning than Sukarno’s grand daughter. I think there are a lot of religious minorities and secular Indonesians don’t want Indonesia turn into Malaysia within a generation. The problem in Indonesia with Islamization is not so much competence, but a lack of political will.
The author lives in a parliamentary system, where all ministers are politicians as a fact, and the vast majority of them are politicians in spirit. While there are some technocrats who have been parachuted into safe seats is very rare.
The Indonesians system is not mixed parliamentary/presidential system in practice. You are bound to get political appointment. In the US Cabinet system, the most famous Secretaries are usually politicians. The most famous being Alexander Hamilton.
I think it’s not a working cabinet, but a new cabinet with high integrity. In my opinion, Jokowi has started his term better than the last president. Indonesia needs cabinet members with high integrity first because of the current situation. You can read more about my opinion on this link.
No kidding, Ken Ward. When the wiretapping of the president’s mobile phone was exposed last year, most people in Indonesia asked why on earth would foreign spies do something risky and barely useful like that? (There were even some funny jokes about it on the net) Indonesians are mobile phone maniacs. “Never say anything you’ll regret over the phone” is probably ingrained since primary school. It would be much reliable, cheaper and significantly safer to just pay for information from several dozen snitches. They don’t even have to be high-level. Adjutants, chefs, maids, chauffeurs, guards, nannies, office boy, disgruntled ex-staff, to name a few, are all capable to give excellent tip-offs. The only prerequisite is that you cross-check the information against each other for consistency and degree of reliability (100% is impossible). This is called due diligence. Something the IT-generation spies and diplomats seem to have forgotten. This old-fashioned spy-craft is time consuming, sure, but what’s the rush? It’s Indonesia, for crying out loud. Bicycles there are faster than cars.
The author has correctly identified the enormous waste of money that the Kyaukphyu SEZ may become. Arakan is in desperate need of better roads, schools and healthcare facilities. How could such an expensive project, with so little chance of success, be justified?
Thank you for this article and for the beautiful photographs of this sad occasion, Nick. I am constantly haunted by one thought – after all the sacrifices made by opposition Thai politicians, why has Thaksin Shinawatra remained so mute? Has he perhaps made a separate deal with the present military dictator, or what?
When he was army chief of staff in the halcyon days of Megawati’s presidency, Ryamizard Ryacudu acted as a precursor to Edward Snowden by revealing that there were 60,000 foreign spies (‘mata-mata asing’) in Indonesia. Presumably he rounded up to that figure from the real total, say 59,678, or maybe 58,945, for ease of reference.
The competition for sources among all those foreign spies must have been phenomenal. Indonesian informants could have auctioned off their access and information to the highest bidder and made fortunes in the process. Alternatively, they could have provided the same information to several foreign agencies and doubled, tripled or quadrupled their income.
General Ryamizard let down his audience to some extent by not providing a national break-down of the 60,000. It is to be hoped that he will fill in this gap in our knowledge now that he is Defence Minister. Despite low birth rates in most Western countries, the number of spies in Indonesia may well have increased during the last decade.
Mr Rawlinson shouldn’t fret too much over the Cambodia deal. It’s just another smoke and mirrors trick from Morrison to distract the media from what is really happening in the field. Which is:
The boats continue to come and to be turned back, unacknowledged. The crew of a boat turned back from Ashmore in late May was sent back to Rote in an Osprey speedboat, and it wasn’t even orange. The asylum seekers are unaccounted for. That boat had departed ex Wuring, Flores. The latest turnbacks were in late September and early October, both from Ashmore. The first was found on the beach at Amarasi in West Timor, the crew did a midnight flit and the cops pinched 7 Indians, 9 others remain unaccounted for.
The second boat was said to have been sabotaged at Ashmore, however a boat with another 12 people was turned back and found at Ndao shortly after, from where it was towed to Timor by POLAIR. This wasn’t covered by the local press, who couldn’t give a rats about the issue. Both boats departed ex Tablolong and the smuggler is well known there.
btw a POLAIR boat sank in the same area with the loss of 6 lives this month, demonstrating just how unsafe turnbacks are at this time of year with the SE Trades blowing a near gale.
During the past month some 25 people have been moved from detention in Kupang to IOM in Makassar, to make room for the new turnbacks and part of the usual musical chairs of corruption, which we pay them for.
During the 6 month period prior to OSB some 1600 new Afghan arrivals registered. There was no change during the 6 month period after OSB began, another 1600. The smugglers continue to make squillions bringing people into RI, where they wait to be resettled to Aust, NZ and the US. The smugglers still have a good product to sell, despite Morrison’s Bullwinkle and Rocky type magic disappearing trick. They don’t need the boat leg to Australia to sell their product. So long as we pay IOM to take care of asylum seekers, and they can hope for resettlement, the smugglers have a product to sell and will continue to bring people into RI. The Minister calls this ‘doing Indonesia a favour.’
Did all those pesky wabbits disappear into Scottie’s red fez? Nope, they’re being flown here, NZ and the US for resettlement, slowly and without media attention.
So, Mr Rawlinson, that’s what the real regional solution looks like. Wait in Indonesia 18 months avg for UNHCR to assess you then get on a plane here, NZ or the US. NOT Cambodia. But hey, shhh… don’t tell anyone.
Amazing innit. 21st century and people still believe what pollies say. I’m sure you have some in the UK too.
After the Atambua UNHCR murders Ryakudu was sent to to investigate. He hated Timor,the whole island, couldn’t wait to leave. I empathise. Before checking out of his hotel he grabbed a list of militia leaders prepared by his minions and gave it to the Minister, SBY, who called a meeting in Bali and told them to attend. Some did, others couldn’t be bothered. As SBY began reading out their names as suspects, one stood up and threatened that if they were to be made scapegoats they would expose TNI and POLRI’s role in the events. SBY started sweating, noticeably. Had someone checked his seat they may have noticed a wet brown patch. He promised to fix it with rupes – 3M, initially. Pretty poor really, considering the old joke that TNI went to Timor with an M16 and returned with 16 M. He then sent local cops Mere and Loemau, both Tetun speakers, the former with a missus from UDT. The cash was for bribing militia to ‘pasang badan’ – go to jail for a crime they hadn’t perpetrated, or had a minor role in, to protect Indonesia’s reputation. Mere’s rupes convinced the late katuas Miguel Babo, Ermera militia leader, to pay a few of his guys to pasang their badans. The Haliwen crowd, where the Ermera refugees camped, had indeed been involved in the murders. As a result, the perpetrators and those who controlled them walked away, and still do, as free men.
Hey “Oh Really”!! You f@ckin nailed it. Excellent reply to this horrible article. Please reply to all these “expert expat” analyses cluttering the net. They all want to see Indo fail.
Josh is right to highlight the much-needed investments being made in Yangon’s infrastructure, which should play an important role enabling economic recovery and growth in Myanmar. However, it is a shame that an opportunity to stimulate growth without trampling citizen’s rights seems to have been missed once again.
The SEZ Management Committee and key backers JICA have so far fallen far short of meeting *minimum* international standards on development-based displacement and relocation – despite their own rhetorical and policy commitments to ‘best practice’. Displaced communities – who have actually voiced support for economic development projects in Myanmar – are yet to receive adequate compensation and alternative livelihoods options. Their calls for genuine dialogue with project backers have been largely snubbed, and many community members are now far worse-off than they were before this latest Thilawa project.
In this current period we should be recognising the potential for large infrastructure projects to be precedent-setting, and promote a *fair and transparent process of land acquisition* as being part of what success looks like.
Does this author believes that a good cabinet must be filled pro-Australian ministers?
1. The appointment of Ryamizard Ryacudu is a sign that Jokowi does not intend to negotiate of border sovereignty issues. This is actually in line with his acceptance speech firm remarks. So if the president makes good on his promise pledge by appointing someone from the hardliner, what seems to be the problem?
2. In a Kompas article (27/10, page 2), the KPK has reaffirmed that no one in this working cabinet got red-flagged or even yellow-flagged. So Rini Soewandi, Tjahjo Kumolo, and Puan are in the clear and must be given the benefit of a doubt. You can not just accuse someone just because it seems right. The KPK says they are clean, then they are clean.
This expression of disappointment over Indonesia’s new Ministerial Cabinet far exceeds the average Indonesian, even the most bitter of Camp Prabowo’s groupies. The author declared up-front that “It’s a cabinet with the standard mixture we have come to expect in democratic Indonesia.” I’m confused. Does this mean he expected something from an un-democratic Indonesia?
The fact is there are many things about the current cabinet selection process that are superior to the previous cabinets. Foremost: It involved the KPK and PPATK; It was reasonably transparent by employing a team rather than completely reliant on just the President and his closest whisperers; It has a good pace (Not too fast and not exceeding the post-inauguration 14-day time limit); etc. Remember the time when all the President had to do was pick up a phone and tell someone that he is appointed? (Shudder!)
Let’s start with the author’s first gripe: “… it is striking that so few of them (Anies Baswedan is the obvious exception) have established independent reputations as reformers, even though many such people were included in the many lists of potential cabinet members that circulated in the lead up to the announcement.” I don’t know why Anies is considered an exception (fellow academic sentiments, perhaps? Here’s a naysayer: http://www.aktual.co/politik/jokowi-anies-baswedan-tak-berjiwa-trisakti ) but he’s not. Susi PudjiastutiтАО was a self-made entrepreneur (real rags-to-riches story that rivals Jokowi’s) who provided air travel on routes that Garuda Airways dared not. Ignasius Jonan practically reinvented the Indonesian railway system to become the air-conditioned pee-stench-free system we enjoy today. And so on. Always keep in mind that 250 million Indonesians have different opinions on each individual ministers, including their reform cred. Nobody can accommodate so many (few?) eligible candidates for only 34 positions and appease everybody.
The author’s main beef is the appointment of Ryamizard Ryacudu, apparently, as “He is the most conservative former military officer to have been included in a cabinet since 1999.” The article then spend two paragraphs citing the general’s past attrocities. Well . . . “Quis ex vobis sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat.” (Evangelium Secundum Ioannem, 8:7). Even most Acehnese and Papuans have moved on. That aside, the appointment of Ryacudu is not without merit. For a start, as a conservative, he has the chops, the cred, and speaks the lingo of those he has to manage: the TNI. Remember, Jokowi is planning a major re-shaping of the TNI (i.e. from focusing from the army to the navy). This will not happen without resistance from the old guard. Who better than someone like Ryacudu to tame these tigers? Another clueless civilian that the TNI will ignore? Only Nixon can go to China.
And then there’s the objection against Rini Soewandi: “… Soewandi is a confidante of Megawati Soekarnoputri and owes her cabinet position to this connection. She was a trade and industry minister under Megawati, and was last year questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in regard to her alleged role in the massive Bank Indonesia (BI) liquidity assistance scandal.” Aw, hell. Everyone is a confidante to Somebody. Soewandi’s connection to Megawati is just as common as, say, US’ Bobby Kennedy and JFK, Aussie’s Anna Bligh and Greg Withers, or UK’s 200-plus MPs who used Parliamentary allowances to employ their own relatives in a variety of office roles. Lucky Ms Soewandi. Just get over it already. Regarding KPK’s suspicion of her past? Well, innocent until proven. Right?
Next on the complaint list is: “Tjahjo Kumolo, the party’s unscrupulous general secretary and all-round fixer appointed to the politically crucial position of Interior Minister.” Never mind the contradiction in this sentence (I know “unscrupulous” is bad, but isn’t being an “all-round fixer” is actually good for a “politically crucial position”???), Kumolo actually would make a good foil for a potentially hostile DPR and MPR. He’s ex-DPR Fraction leader and worked at Komisi I, which means he’s the guy the KMP people feel that they can talk to. He’s certainly an upgrade from Gamawan Fawzi, who despite having a PhD managed to propose the Law on Indirect Election! Nope. This position does NOT need another academic or bureaucrat. It needs a player.
Then we have the most subjective sentence in the article: “Puan Maharani, Megawati’s daughter and one of the most reviled figures in contemporary Indonesia.” Now, there’s actually a survey to back this up, right? No? Otherwise, the word “reviled” is quite overboard, not to mention rude. Had the sentence was applied to Megawati, then it MAY contain some truth, given that she has accumulated some mileage. Applying it to her daughter? That’s hardly fair, is it? What if the post is given to, say, Edhie “Ibas” Baskoro or Tatiek Soeharto or Yenni Wahid or some other helpless next-gen politicos? Should they also pay for their fathers’ sins? As for Puan’s appointment, well, this is hardly the first time that a newbie was appointed to an important post, is it? So just give her a break and stop with the family name-calling. It’s the height of rudeness in Indonesia (Try asking “Bapak lu siapa?” to anyone in Indonesia in order to get into trouble).
The article seems to have lost the plot near the end, by saying, “The new coordinating minister for economic affairs, Sofyan Djalil, was an undistinguished minister for state enterprises.” I will ignore the “undistinguished” remark in that sentence (see opinion above re: subjectivity) and focus instead on progression: First, he was Minister for State Enterprises. Next, he was Minister for Economic Affairs. Hel-looo? That’s a clear cut connection to Jokowi’s repeated mantra to deliver on “ekonomi kerakyatan”, right? Who’s the striker? Who’s the sweeper? Who’s in the middle? Who guards the back? Who’s the goalie? These are just the means. You have to STOP nitpicking on individual appointments and start focusing on the overall game plan.
Finally, the article gave its disclaimer: “at first glance, this cabinet is far from being the fresh start that Jokowi promised.” Well, first glances are almost always deceptive and superficial. After the author admitted to this, my question is: Why on earth would a professor of politics wrote a foreboding article on a cabinet that is barely formed? For example, the Coordinating Ministry of the Maritime Sector (Menko Bidang Kemaritiman) is so new that Minister Indroyono Soesilo (ex-FAO chief) has no staff and no office (Incidentally, would this this new ministry qualify as another continuation of “Indonesia’s emerging political traditions”?). As a scholar of politics, the author should know better than anyone that there is no such thing as political traditions (in Indonesia at least), only pragmatic realpolitik. The governments of Soekarno, Soeharto, Habibie, Gus Dur, Megawati and SBY are all so different in nature that the only common thread is if an individual hold the same post. Even this is no guarantee.
When Michelle Obama asked Joe Klein (author of Primary Colors) whether he was going to write another story based on her husband’s new presidency, Barack told her that he is not interesting enough. He was right. Only a dysfunctional government would make a good story. I suspect that the only reason for writing this article is to make sure that business IS as usual. Among political analyst Indonesianists, that is. This require drama, which some people are seeking by drumming up insignificant spectres and bogeymen, and turn them into clear and present dangers to the nation (Minor nitpick: The author doesn’t even vote or is even a citizen of Indonesia, right?).
Anyways, the article is highly provocative (may be incendiary) at a time when Indonesians are tired of drama and wanted only a decent closure. Jokowi’s new cabinet is only starting, just like the previous cabinets had their starts, and any start will always be fresh no matter what the spoilers say.
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The reassertion of the state
The article’s main thrust (that scrapping local elections won’t have a major impact on everyday Indonesians) is hard to argue with, but only in the short-term.
In the long-term, though, people will suffer: democratization takes a generation and Indonesia’s process is still in its infancy. The direct election system had the potential to become more representative and responsive over time as the process of democratization unfolded and as decentralization became more refined. The direct election mechanism should have been improved, not scrapped.
Jokowi fails his first test
I’m with Ed and Ken about Ryamizard – it’s a truly terrible appointment. Did Hendropriyono have anything to do with it, I wonder?
Possibly more likely is that this involves a little quiet revenge-taking by Megawati. At the end of her presidency in 2004, she tried to appoint Ryamizard as KSAB (I think it was), but SBY averted this.
Anyway, having defeated one of the most anti-democratic New Order ex-generals in an election, we have the prospect of Jokowi, the arch-democrat, appointing a different anti-democrat to an important position.
Yes, give the new government a fair chance to work, but we already know a bit too much about some of them, and that bit is none too favourable.
A key question in my mind is whether Jokowi will – or will be able to – exert a unifying and team-building influence on the cabinet, or whether he will let ministers do their own thing with limited and/or inadequate central direction, as SBY too often did. In itself, it looks more like a collection of spare parts, rather than a smooth-running machine.
Well, at least Jokowi’s talking tough:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/27/in-first-cabinet-meeting-jokowi-shows-who-boss.html
Jokowi fails his first test
Exactly, Dazed and Confused. Those on the list were legitimate targets, any analyst worth his/her dolphins would have wanted to know if Bank Century had the potential to bring down the SBY Gov and if SBY intended to use his Party to force more of his dribbling family members into office. That humint wasn’t up to the task is the worst possible condemnation. That so many on the list had Australian connections, and our diplomats still couldn’t get the information, is all the more embarrassing. The only possible conclusion is that Australia can’t do humint any more and has surrendered to signals. The laziness is astounding and won’t be fixed in a generation.
Jokowi fails his first test
Focusing on the appointment of Puan Maharani, as much as it seemed as a ‘thank you’ gesture from Jokowi to his party, giving her the coordinating ministry position is a brilliant move. Not only she won’t have direct role to the policy making process, she also won’t be the decisive factor of a ministry affairs.
Her position is higher, hierarchically, but not necessarily means her role are more crucial.
The author mentioned technocrats, but somehow refused to appraise or being critical towards them. Nevertheless, in several position, we must acknowledge that the appointees were highly promising compared to the previous cabinet.
The funeral of Dr Apiwan Wiriyachai
Thanks, Nick, for this poignant photo essay and reminder that the Red Shirts are very much alive in spirit and only waiting for the present group of self-appointed thugs ruling Thailand to self-destruct.
Jokowi fails his first test
“Only Nixon can go to China” is the perfect answer for those who are questioning the appointment of Mr. Ryacudu.
Well written and insightful response to a somewhat imbalance article.
Jokowi fails his first test
I think the professor is making a big stink about Puan. What has she done that has been so bad that deserve such scorn? The only thing she has done is she is the Megawati’s daughter.
Indonesia had 10 years of appointing ministers from the religious parties in the departments under Menko The education bureaucracy is filled with PKS types. Her job is to reverse “Islamization” of these departments. Who better to the house cleaning than Sukarno’s grand daughter. I think there are a lot of religious minorities and secular Indonesians don’t want Indonesia turn into Malaysia within a generation. The problem in Indonesia with Islamization is not so much competence, but a lack of political will.
The author lives in a parliamentary system, where all ministers are politicians as a fact, and the vast majority of them are politicians in spirit. While there are some technocrats who have been parachuted into safe seats is very rare.
The Indonesians system is not mixed parliamentary/presidential system in practice. You are bound to get political appointment. In the US Cabinet system, the most famous Secretaries are usually politicians. The most famous being Alexander Hamilton.
Jokowi fails his first test
Hi,
I think it’s not a working cabinet, but a new cabinet with high integrity. In my opinion, Jokowi has started his term better than the last president. Indonesia needs cabinet members with high integrity first because of the current situation. You can read more about my opinion on this link.
http://pojokgagasan.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/kabinet-kerja-atau-kabinet-berintegritas.html
Jokowi fails his first test
No kidding, Ken Ward. When the wiretapping of the president’s mobile phone was exposed last year, most people in Indonesia asked why on earth would foreign spies do something risky and barely useful like that? (There were even some funny jokes about it on the net) Indonesians are mobile phone maniacs. “Never say anything you’ll regret over the phone” is probably ingrained since primary school. It would be much reliable, cheaper and significantly safer to just pay for information from several dozen snitches. They don’t even have to be high-level. Adjutants, chefs, maids, chauffeurs, guards, nannies, office boy, disgruntled ex-staff, to name a few, are all capable to give excellent tip-offs. The only prerequisite is that you cross-check the information against each other for consistency and degree of reliability (100% is impossible). This is called due diligence. Something the IT-generation spies and diplomats seem to have forgotten. This old-fashioned spy-craft is time consuming, sure, but what’s the rush? It’s Indonesia, for crying out loud. Bicycles there are faster than cars.
Myanmar Special Economic Zones, Part II
The author has correctly identified the enormous waste of money that the Kyaukphyu SEZ may become. Arakan is in desperate need of better roads, schools and healthcare facilities. How could such an expensive project, with so little chance of success, be justified?
The funeral of Dr Apiwan Wiriyachai
Thank you for this article and for the beautiful photographs of this sad occasion, Nick. I am constantly haunted by one thought – after all the sacrifices made by opposition Thai politicians, why has Thaksin Shinawatra remained so mute? Has he perhaps made a separate deal with the present military dictator, or what?
Jokowi fails his first test
When he was army chief of staff in the halcyon days of Megawati’s presidency, Ryamizard Ryacudu acted as a precursor to Edward Snowden by revealing that there were 60,000 foreign spies (‘mata-mata asing’) in Indonesia. Presumably he rounded up to that figure from the real total, say 59,678, or maybe 58,945, for ease of reference.
The competition for sources among all those foreign spies must have been phenomenal. Indonesian informants could have auctioned off their access and information to the highest bidder and made fortunes in the process. Alternatively, they could have provided the same information to several foreign agencies and doubled, tripled or quadrupled their income.
General Ryamizard let down his audience to some extent by not providing a national break-down of the 60,000. It is to be hoped that he will fill in this gap in our knowledge now that he is Defence Minister. Despite low birth rates in most Western countries, the number of spies in Indonesia may well have increased during the last decade.
Asylum seekers, refugees and Cambodia’s “national” interest
Mr Rawlinson shouldn’t fret too much over the Cambodia deal. It’s just another smoke and mirrors trick from Morrison to distract the media from what is really happening in the field. Which is:
The boats continue to come and to be turned back, unacknowledged. The crew of a boat turned back from Ashmore in late May was sent back to Rote in an Osprey speedboat, and it wasn’t even orange. The asylum seekers are unaccounted for. That boat had departed ex Wuring, Flores. The latest turnbacks were in late September and early October, both from Ashmore. The first was found on the beach at Amarasi in West Timor, the crew did a midnight flit and the cops pinched 7 Indians, 9 others remain unaccounted for.
The local press covered this, though not in detail. http://kupang.tribunnews.com/2014/09/25/polisi-bekuk-tujuh-warga-india.
The second boat was said to have been sabotaged at Ashmore, however a boat with another 12 people was turned back and found at Ndao shortly after, from where it was towed to Timor by POLAIR. This wasn’t covered by the local press, who couldn’t give a rats about the issue. Both boats departed ex Tablolong and the smuggler is well known there.
btw a POLAIR boat sank in the same area with the loss of 6 lives this month, demonstrating just how unsafe turnbacks are at this time of year with the SE Trades blowing a near gale.
During the past month some 25 people have been moved from detention in Kupang to IOM in Makassar, to make room for the new turnbacks and part of the usual musical chairs of corruption, which we pay them for.
During the 6 month period prior to OSB some 1600 new Afghan arrivals registered. There was no change during the 6 month period after OSB began, another 1600. The smugglers continue to make squillions bringing people into RI, where they wait to be resettled to Aust, NZ and the US. The smugglers still have a good product to sell, despite Morrison’s Bullwinkle and Rocky type magic disappearing trick. They don’t need the boat leg to Australia to sell their product. So long as we pay IOM to take care of asylum seekers, and they can hope for resettlement, the smugglers have a product to sell and will continue to bring people into RI. The Minister calls this ‘doing Indonesia a favour.’
Did all those pesky wabbits disappear into Scottie’s red fez? Nope, they’re being flown here, NZ and the US for resettlement, slowly and without media attention.
So, Mr Rawlinson, that’s what the real regional solution looks like. Wait in Indonesia 18 months avg for UNHCR to assess you then get on a plane here, NZ or the US. NOT Cambodia. But hey, shhh… don’t tell anyone.
Amazing innit. 21st century and people still believe what pollies say. I’m sure you have some in the UK too.
Jokowi fails his first test
After the Atambua UNHCR murders Ryakudu was sent to to investigate. He hated Timor,the whole island, couldn’t wait to leave. I empathise. Before checking out of his hotel he grabbed a list of militia leaders prepared by his minions and gave it to the Minister, SBY, who called a meeting in Bali and told them to attend. Some did, others couldn’t be bothered. As SBY began reading out their names as suspects, one stood up and threatened that if they were to be made scapegoats they would expose TNI and POLRI’s role in the events. SBY started sweating, noticeably. Had someone checked his seat they may have noticed a wet brown patch. He promised to fix it with rupes – 3M, initially. Pretty poor really, considering the old joke that TNI went to Timor with an M16 and returned with 16 M. He then sent local cops Mere and Loemau, both Tetun speakers, the former with a missus from UDT. The cash was for bribing militia to ‘pasang badan’ – go to jail for a crime they hadn’t perpetrated, or had a minor role in, to protect Indonesia’s reputation. Mere’s rupes convinced the late katuas Miguel Babo, Ermera militia leader, to pay a few of his guys to pasang their badans. The Haliwen crowd, where the Ermera refugees camped, had indeed been involved in the murders. As a result, the perpetrators and those who controlled them walked away, and still do, as free men.
Jokowi fails his first test
Hey “Oh Really”!! You f@ckin nailed it. Excellent reply to this horrible article. Please reply to all these “expert expat” analyses cluttering the net. They all want to see Indo fail.
Myanmar Special Economic Zones, Part III
Josh is right to highlight the much-needed investments being made in Yangon’s infrastructure, which should play an important role enabling economic recovery and growth in Myanmar. However, it is a shame that an opportunity to stimulate growth without trampling citizen’s rights seems to have been missed once again.
The SEZ Management Committee and key backers JICA have so far fallen far short of meeting *minimum* international standards on development-based displacement and relocation – despite their own rhetorical and policy commitments to ‘best practice’. Displaced communities – who have actually voiced support for economic development projects in Myanmar – are yet to receive adequate compensation and alternative livelihoods options. Their calls for genuine dialogue with project backers have been largely snubbed, and many community members are now far worse-off than they were before this latest Thilawa project.
In this current period we should be recognising the potential for large infrastructure projects to be precedent-setting, and promote a *fair and transparent process of land acquisition* as being part of what success looks like.
Jokowi fails his first test
Does this author believes that a good cabinet must be filled pro-Australian ministers?
1. The appointment of Ryamizard Ryacudu is a sign that Jokowi does not intend to negotiate of border sovereignty issues. This is actually in line with his acceptance speech firm remarks. So if the president makes good on his promise pledge by appointing someone from the hardliner, what seems to be the problem?
2. In a Kompas article (27/10, page 2), the KPK has reaffirmed that no one in this working cabinet got red-flagged or even yellow-flagged. So Rini Soewandi, Tjahjo Kumolo, and Puan are in the clear and must be given the benefit of a doubt. You can not just accuse someone just because it seems right. The KPK says they are clean, then they are clean.
Jokowi fails his first test
Wow.
This expression of disappointment over Indonesia’s new Ministerial Cabinet far exceeds the average Indonesian, even the most bitter of Camp Prabowo’s groupies. The author declared up-front that “It’s a cabinet with the standard mixture we have come to expect in democratic Indonesia.” I’m confused. Does this mean he expected something from an un-democratic Indonesia?
The fact is there are many things about the current cabinet selection process that are superior to the previous cabinets. Foremost: It involved the KPK and PPATK; It was reasonably transparent by employing a team rather than completely reliant on just the President and his closest whisperers; It has a good pace (Not too fast and not exceeding the post-inauguration 14-day time limit); etc. Remember the time when all the President had to do was pick up a phone and tell someone that he is appointed? (Shudder!)
Let’s start with the author’s first gripe: “… it is striking that so few of them (Anies Baswedan is the obvious exception) have established independent reputations as reformers, even though many such people were included in the many lists of potential cabinet members that circulated in the lead up to the announcement.” I don’t know why Anies is considered an exception (fellow academic sentiments, perhaps? Here’s a naysayer: http://www.aktual.co/politik/jokowi-anies-baswedan-tak-berjiwa-trisakti ) but he’s not. Susi PudjiastutiтАО was a self-made entrepreneur (real rags-to-riches story that rivals Jokowi’s) who provided air travel on routes that Garuda Airways dared not. Ignasius Jonan practically reinvented the Indonesian railway system to become the air-conditioned pee-stench-free system we enjoy today. And so on. Always keep in mind that 250 million Indonesians have different opinions on each individual ministers, including their reform cred. Nobody can accommodate so many (few?) eligible candidates for only 34 positions and appease everybody.
The author’s main beef is the appointment of Ryamizard Ryacudu, apparently, as “He is the most conservative former military officer to have been included in a cabinet since 1999.” The article then spend two paragraphs citing the general’s past attrocities. Well . . . “Quis ex vobis sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat.” (Evangelium Secundum Ioannem, 8:7). Even most Acehnese and Papuans have moved on. That aside, the appointment of Ryacudu is not without merit. For a start, as a conservative, he has the chops, the cred, and speaks the lingo of those he has to manage: the TNI. Remember, Jokowi is planning a major re-shaping of the TNI (i.e. from focusing from the army to the navy). This will not happen without resistance from the old guard. Who better than someone like Ryacudu to tame these tigers? Another clueless civilian that the TNI will ignore? Only Nixon can go to China.
And then there’s the objection against Rini Soewandi: “… Soewandi is a confidante of Megawati Soekarnoputri and owes her cabinet position to this connection. She was a trade and industry minister under Megawati, and was last year questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in regard to her alleged role in the massive Bank Indonesia (BI) liquidity assistance scandal.” Aw, hell. Everyone is a confidante to Somebody. Soewandi’s connection to Megawati is just as common as, say, US’ Bobby Kennedy and JFK, Aussie’s Anna Bligh and Greg Withers, or UK’s 200-plus MPs who used Parliamentary allowances to employ their own relatives in a variety of office roles. Lucky Ms Soewandi. Just get over it already. Regarding KPK’s suspicion of her past? Well, innocent until proven. Right?
Next on the complaint list is: “Tjahjo Kumolo, the party’s unscrupulous general secretary and all-round fixer appointed to the politically crucial position of Interior Minister.” Never mind the contradiction in this sentence (I know “unscrupulous” is bad, but isn’t being an “all-round fixer” is actually good for a “politically crucial position”???), Kumolo actually would make a good foil for a potentially hostile DPR and MPR. He’s ex-DPR Fraction leader and worked at Komisi I, which means he’s the guy the KMP people feel that they can talk to. He’s certainly an upgrade from Gamawan Fawzi, who despite having a PhD managed to propose the Law on Indirect Election! Nope. This position does NOT need another academic or bureaucrat. It needs a player.
Then we have the most subjective sentence in the article: “Puan Maharani, Megawati’s daughter and one of the most reviled figures in contemporary Indonesia.” Now, there’s actually a survey to back this up, right? No? Otherwise, the word “reviled” is quite overboard, not to mention rude. Had the sentence was applied to Megawati, then it MAY contain some truth, given that she has accumulated some mileage. Applying it to her daughter? That’s hardly fair, is it? What if the post is given to, say, Edhie “Ibas” Baskoro or Tatiek Soeharto or Yenni Wahid or some other helpless next-gen politicos? Should they also pay for their fathers’ sins? As for Puan’s appointment, well, this is hardly the first time that a newbie was appointed to an important post, is it? So just give her a break and stop with the family name-calling. It’s the height of rudeness in Indonesia (Try asking “Bapak lu siapa?” to anyone in Indonesia in order to get into trouble).
The article seems to have lost the plot near the end, by saying, “The new coordinating minister for economic affairs, Sofyan Djalil, was an undistinguished minister for state enterprises.” I will ignore the “undistinguished” remark in that sentence (see opinion above re: subjectivity) and focus instead on progression: First, he was Minister for State Enterprises. Next, he was Minister for Economic Affairs. Hel-looo? That’s a clear cut connection to Jokowi’s repeated mantra to deliver on “ekonomi kerakyatan”, right? Who’s the striker? Who’s the sweeper? Who’s in the middle? Who guards the back? Who’s the goalie? These are just the means. You have to STOP nitpicking on individual appointments and start focusing on the overall game plan.
Finally, the article gave its disclaimer: “at first glance, this cabinet is far from being the fresh start that Jokowi promised.” Well, first glances are almost always deceptive and superficial. After the author admitted to this, my question is: Why on earth would a professor of politics wrote a foreboding article on a cabinet that is barely formed? For example, the Coordinating Ministry of the Maritime Sector (Menko Bidang Kemaritiman) is so new that Minister Indroyono Soesilo (ex-FAO chief) has no staff and no office (Incidentally, would this this new ministry qualify as another continuation of “Indonesia’s emerging political traditions”?). As a scholar of politics, the author should know better than anyone that there is no such thing as political traditions (in Indonesia at least), only pragmatic realpolitik. The governments of Soekarno, Soeharto, Habibie, Gus Dur, Megawati and SBY are all so different in nature that the only common thread is if an individual hold the same post. Even this is no guarantee.
When Michelle Obama asked Joe Klein (author of Primary Colors) whether he was going to write another story based on her husband’s new presidency, Barack told her that he is not interesting enough. He was right. Only a dysfunctional government would make a good story. I suspect that the only reason for writing this article is to make sure that business IS as usual. Among political analyst Indonesianists, that is. This require drama, which some people are seeking by drumming up insignificant spectres and bogeymen, and turn them into clear and present dangers to the nation (Minor nitpick: The author doesn’t even vote or is even a citizen of Indonesia, right?).
Anyways, the article is highly provocative (may be incendiary) at a time when Indonesians are tired of drama and wanted only a decent closure. Jokowi’s new cabinet is only starting, just like the previous cabinets had their starts, and any start will always be fresh no matter what the spoilers say.
Jokowi fails his first test
[…] Professor Ed Aspinall says that Jokowi has gone for ‘realpolitik over reform’, although he has still some […]
Another view of the Ramkhamhaeng inscription
I thought talking about that bell is what got Jakrapop the boot.
It may only be one part, but seems to be a sensitive one.