ASIA-PACIFIC DEMOCRACY PARTNERSHIP -- GOI

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000970 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/FO FOR CCAMPONOVO, S/P, DRL; G (KCURRIE), NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2018 TAGS: PREL KDEM ID PHUM MG SUBJECT: ASIA-PACIFIC DEMOCRACY PARTNERSHIP -- GOI CONSIDERING MONGOLIA INVITATION REF: A. STATE 50320 ¶B. JAKARTA 588 ¶C. JAKARTA 211 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (U) This is an Action Request -- Please see Paras 6-7. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: DepPol/C reviewed the latest points related to the Asia-Pacific Democracy Partnership (APDP) with a high-level GOI contact on May 15. Our contact confirmed that Indonesia would carefully consider the proposal to send representatives to Mongolia in June. Because the proposal is low-key and deals with something technical like election monitoring, we think the GOI will review the proposal very carefully. That said, it still seems almost allergic to the APDP initiative. Paras 6-7 suggests next steps. END SUMMARY. MAKING THE POINTS ¶3. (C) DepPol/C met on May 15 with Umar Hadi, Director for Public Diplomacy at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),to convey Ref A request that Indonesia send: -- a DEPLU official to represent the GOI at the Asia-Pacific Democracy Partnership (APDP) working meeting in Mongolia in June and participate in the Election Observation Mission (EOM); and, -- a second representative with electoral expertise to participate in the EOM. ¶4. (C) DepPol/C pointed out that Indonesia's participation would be low profile politically. By participating, Indonesia would benefit by being involved in an election monitoring mission focused on an emerging democracy in Asia. GOI TO CONSIDER PROPOSAL ¶5. (C) Hadi--a close advisor to the Foreign Minister--agreed that the proposal was interesting and acknowledged that the GOI would benefit from participating. (Note: Hadi is also spearheading Indonesia's Bali Democracy Forum--see Ref C.) He asked whether the EOM would be called the APDP-EOM or would have a more neutral name, asserting that this might be an important consideration. Also, the GOI, he said, would find it easier to accept the invitation if it came from the International Republican Institute because it is an NGO. ACTION REQUEST ¶6. (C) Hadi added that he would convey our request right away to FM Wirajuda, mindful of the tight May 27 deadline for participant information. Hadi said he would like to participate himself and could easily find someone from the Indonesian Elections Commission to participate. While Hadi seemed upbeat re this latest initiative, DEPLU has been almost allergic toward the APDP and could easily sit on another open-ended request. ¶7. (C) We suggest that an invitation letter with details--including an offer to fund the travel--be sent to DEPLU right away by IRI if possible. Per Hadi's remark, we also request clarification regarding the name of the event. END ACTION REQUEST. HEFFERN