Jokowi Should Focus on Indonesia’s Sovereignty: SBY

Words of Wisdom: Yudhoyono preaches keeping the nation at peace as the next administration is set to take over

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Aug 11, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, second from left, greets veterans on
National Veterans Day at Sarbini House on Aug. 11, 2014. (Antara Photo/
Prasetyo Utomo)

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked President-Elect Joko Widodo to focus on Indonesia’s sovereignty as his priority when he is inaugurated in October.

“Bapak Joko Widodo is here today. It’s true that we are awaiting the Constitutional Court’s ruling. If you are destined to lead Indonesia, veterans and the Indonesian people are hoping to see the sovereignty of our state protected,” Yudhoyono said during the commemoration of National Veterans Day on Monday.

The comments come as China tries to exert its influence in the South China Sea, claiming territory over waters that overlap areas claimed by neighboring nations including the Philippines and Vietnam. Joko had suggested using drones to monitor Indonesia’s territorial waters, should he become president.

At Sarbini House on Monday, Yudhoyono also asked Indonesian political leaders to take the time to go to the Kalibata National Heroes Cemetery and pay their respect to the country’s heroes.

The president said that some 35,000 soldiers who died in the line of duty were being remembered on a monument at the cemetery.

On this occasion, Yudhoyono also gave a reminder that war should be the last option, used only after political and diplomatic measures could no longer offer solutions to disputes with other countries.

Yudhoyono said Indonesian leaders should not resort to war as history has shown that war always brought about destruction. The president also said world leaders — with the exception of Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy — preferred peace rather than war.

“Bear in mind soldiers’ lives. In my opinion Indonesian leaders should not be crazy about waging war. [They] shouldn’t also easily decide about going to war,” the president said.

Yudhoyono also said that if a leader is forced to take war as an option, it has to be decided carefully.

“Therefore, if one day, a political leader is forced to make a decision to declare war, the decision should be made carefully and with no mistake,” he said.

Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general, is challenging the General Elections Commission’s result for the presidential election, which saw Joko declared the winner.

The Constitutional Court will make its final decision on Aug. 22.

To strengthen his position in the political arena, Prabowo has counted on several political parties to back him up in the so-called Merah Putih coalition.

But Yudhoyono led his Democratic Party in a political about-face, withdrawing their support for the Merah Putih coalition.

In a video uploaded to YouTube last week, he said he wished the Democratic Party would avoid aligning itself with either Prabowo or Joko’s coalition.

“I think it’s better for the political party that I am leading to be independent. It’s better for us to become a balancing power and to not join Pak Prabowo’s permanent coalition or Pak Joko Widodo’s camp. That’s the stance the party I lead has chosen,” the president said.

Yudhoyono’s statement was seen as an attempt to clarify this party’s after several top officials declared support for Prabowo’s camp, while others said the party would cooperate with the new administration.

Senior Democratic politician Nachrowi Ramli joined a movement last month aimed at putting up roadblocks at the House of Representatives to thwart Joko’s policy plans. Nachrowi co-signed a memorandum of understanding establishing Prabowo’s “permanent Merah Putih coalition.”

Yudhoyono steps down as president on Oct. 20, ending a two-term limit.