BURMA -- LEGISLATORS ON ASEAN CHARTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003297 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, IO/UNP, EAP/PD NSC FOR E. PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV ID BM SUBJECT: BURMA -- LEGISLATORS ON ASEAN CHARTER REF: A. POL/JAKARTA - EAP/PD 11/30/07 E-MAIL ¶B. JAKARTA 3201 ¶C. JAKARTA 3180 ¶D. JAKARTA 2855 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b-d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesian legislators told Pol/C that the GOI is urging speedy ratification of the ASEAN Charter. They predict that--despite concerns about Burma--the Charter will be ratified at some point next year. In the meantime, the national legislature (DPR) has approved the government's nominee as ambassador to Burma. They reached an understanding with the GOI that--in order to show displeasure with the regime--the new envoy will not actually go to Rangoon for several months. Mission is planning to hold another meeting with Indonesian civil society leaders, journalists, etc., to discuss ways to support enhanced Indonesian and regional activism re Burma. END SUMMARY. GOI PUSHES CHARTER ¶2. (C) Legislators report that the government is pushing speedy ratification of the ASEAN Charter. Theo Sambuaga, the DPR's Chief of Commission I on foreign and security affairs, told Pol/C on December 3 that the government plans to submit the Charter formally for ratification in the near-term. Sambuaga said a Presidential Palace contact told him that it was "important for ASEAN's and Indonesia's regional credibility that the Charter receive ratification soon." ¶3. (C) It is still early, but legislators predict that the DPR will eventually approve the Charter. Though he did not oppose it, Sambuaga said he had "some serious questions" about the Charter, including regarding Burma. Some other legislators also had concerns. That said, if the government "really pushed," it would get "its way," he said. In a December 3 meeting with Pol/C, Joko Susilo, a member of Parliament and the head of the Myanmar Caucus, told Pol/C that he opposed the Charter because Burma had been allowed to sign. He and his anti-regime colleagues in the DPR would publicly criticize the Charter and Susilo said they hoped to be able to delay the ratification process. He agreed with Sambuaga, however, that the Charter would eventually win passage "if the government wanted it that way." NOMINEE APPROVED WITH A CONDITION ¶4. (C) In the meantime, the DPR has approved the GOI's nominee to be the next envoy to Burma. Sambuaga confirmed that the DPR had last week approved the nomination of Sebastianus Sumarsono, a retired military officer with close links to President Yudhoyono, to be Indonesia's next ambassador to Burma. (Note: Sumarsono graduated from Indonesia's military academy in the same 1973 batch as Yudhoyono.) Sambuaga said Sumarsono, a Christian Javanese, had "a good reputation." Sambuaga added that the DPR had reached an understanding with the government that--in order to show displeasure with the regime--the new envoy would not actually go to Rangoon for several months. When queried about this, Susilo told Pol/C that he actually did not want the GOI to send a representative at this time -- "that is not a good signal," he commented. He did not object to Sumarsono, however, who was smart and had "shown himself to be a person of some ability." Susilo predicted that Sumarsono would be on the ground in Rangoon in about four months. WORKING TO SUPPORT ACTIVISM ¶5. (U) Mission continues to work to support Indonesian activism regarding Burma. Mission has several public diplomacy outreach events proposed or scheduled for the near future to focus Indonesian attention on the role it can play in pressuring the regime. These include a December 17 civil society discussion at San Francisco House, Pol/C's residence, on ways to promote democracy in Burma. Mission plans to invite human rights activists, Muslim and other religious leaders, labor leaders, journalists, scholars, JAKARTA 00003297 002 OF 002 parliamentarians and third country diplomats, to the event. The meeting is a follow-up to the discussion with civil society leaders held at the DCM's residence in October (ref D). ¶6. (U) The December 17 meeting will brainstorm--among other approaches--Mission's proposal (ref A) for a regional Burma conference of civil society leaders to be held in Jakarta in early 2008. The conference would be organized by an international think-tank or NGO in conjunction with an Indonesian NGO/think-tank. Mission also is proposing that an academic speaker visit Indonesia and perhaps other countries in the region to address the Burma issue with officials, civil society leaders and the media. HUME