INTEREST IN ASIA PACIFIC DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002679 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, G (FERRAO, LETTOW),DRL/MLGA, S/P NSC/EPHU, WINBODEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM UNGA KDEM ID SUBJECT: INTEREST IN ASIA PACIFIC DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE, BUT STILL NO COMMITMENTS REF: A) STATE 131561 B) JAKARTA 2606 Classified By: POL/C JOSEPH LEGEND NOVAK, REASONS 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Mission recently briefed the GOI and a key figure in the Indonesian national legislature re the latest on the Asia Pacific Democracy Partnership (APDP) initiative. Interlocutors expressed great interest in the proposal, but were otherwise non-committal. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) REVIEWING WITH DEPLU: Following up on Pol/C's recent briefing (ref b),poloff met September 19 with Hari Purwanto, Director of the North America Office at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),to convey latest points re the APDP (ref a). We emphasized the positive contribution that Indonesia could make, asking for a response by October 12 on whether Indonesia would participate in ADPD, including participation in a meeting during the Community of Democracies (CD) ministerial in Bamako. Poloff also conveyed our hope that Indonesia would host the first leaders' meeting of APDP in early 2008. ¶3. (C) Purwanto promised to confirm Indonesia's commitment on these points by October 12. Purwanto said he personally believes Indonesian participation and hosting of the first meeting would be very positive, but that he had no indication of what the GOI would decide. ¶4. (SBU) BRIEFING DPR: Pol/C on September 21 briefed Theo Sambuaga, Chair of the Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defense in the Indonesian national legislature (DPR),re the APDP proposal. Sambuaga listened intently, noting that he thought it was a very interesting idea. He needed to study it more and would urge that the GOI review it very carefully. He hoped that the USG would provide more briefings on the proposal to DPR members. HUME