EAP DAS MARCIEL'S MEETING WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000926 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/EP NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ID SUBJECT: EAP DAS MARCIEL'S MEETING WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER REF: A. JAKARTA 914 ¶B. JAKARTA 900 ¶C. JAKARTA 888 ¶D. JAKARTA 871 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: EAP DAS Scot Marciel met Indonesian Presidential Adviser Dino Djalal on May 8 in Jakarta. DAS Marciel conveyed Washington's growing concern over the negative publicity campaign against the Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) located in Jakarta. Djalal noted that the Health Minister--who was responsible for the charges--had been warned off by the President. Djalal said the GOI would hike fuel prices soon and would not ban the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect. The two also discussed the Burma relief situation (reported ref A). END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT: DAS Marciel visited Jakarta, May 7-8. In his meeting with Presidential Adviser Dino Djalal, Marciel remarked that Washington was concerned over the negative publicity that Health Minister Supari was stirring up against the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) in Jakarta. Djalal noted that he was one of Supari's targets and that Supari had broken one of the President's tacit rules that members of the administration did not attack one another publicly. Supari had a political agenda, he commented. But now she had been "explicitly warned" by President Yudhoyono to cease her campaign against NAMRU, Djalal said. (Note: This confirms other reports we have received -- ref B.) ¶3. (C) FUEL PRICE RISE COMING: Djalal said the government would raise the price of fuel soon (ref D). The problem was timing. President Yudhoyono was planning to visit Europe in early June and the price hike would probably need to occur before that trip. That said, Indonesia would celebrate its "Centenary of National Awakening" on May 20 and the President did not want protests over fuel price increases to mar that day. (Note: The May 20 commemoration celebrates the beginning of the Indonesian nationalist movement in 1908.) ¶4. (C) GOI WILL NOT BAN RELIGIOUS SECT: The government was not going to ban the Ahmadiyah sect, Djalal said, despite a joint recommendation from the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) and the Attorney General's Office (ref. C). Ahmadiyah groups had long lived peacefully in Indonesia--he cited a community that lived down the street from his wife's family in Banten, west of Jakarta--and had not disturbed anyone. "We have such holy men in our Javanese history books, so what is the difference?," he asked rhetorically. ¶5. (C) FIGHTING ULTRANATIONALISM: There were many in the country, Djalal said, who wanted to politicize everything, from fuel and food prices to so-called deviant Islamic sects. Their strategy was to fan the flames of ultranationalism. In that sphere, reason no longer prevailed. The president's strategy in countering this would be to try to keep issues firmly in the center of the political spectrum, moderate and unpoliticized. ¶6. (U) DAS Marciel approved this message. HUME