Febriamy Hutapea

Juwono Urges Discretion on Ambalat

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono urged lawmakers on Monday to refrain from commenting on recent allegations that Malaysian warships have been intruding into Indonesian waters in the Ambalat region off the northeastern coast of Borneo Island.

“Don’t fall into the trap of using aggressive words, because if we take the first shot, it will hurt our position in the negotiation process,” Juwono told a hearing with House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs.

“This is what Malaysia is waiting for,” he said.

Dozens of legislators in Commission I have criticized the government, claiming it has been too slow and too soft on the Malaysian authorities over the presence of their ships in the disputed Ambalat area, where both countries have conflicting claims of sovereignty.

Some legislators have even said that they would be willing to support the government in declaring war over the Ambalat issue.

“Our people are being shot at when they trespass into other countries’ waters, so there’s no reason for us not to do the same,” Golkar Party legislator Yuslin Nasution said.

Marzuki Darusman, another Golkar lawmaker, said that the military was not to blame for the Ambalat problem. Rather, Marzuki said, the government should be held responsible for failing to adequately spell out its positions and take diplomatic action.

Legislator Abdillah Toha of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said that the government did not have the courage to press Malaysia on the issue. “We should exercise our power of diplomacy through political pressure,” he said.

Juwono responded by saying that the government would not make any compromises on matters of national sovereignty. But the government needed to wait to start negotiations with Malaysia, he said.

Malaysia claims part of the oil-rich Ambalat region based on a 1979 maritime chart, while Indonesia bases its claim on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that the area belongs to Indonesia.

“We have a strong legal basis and have strong forces in the field, but the country needs to carefully consider its options before doing something like declaring war against Malaysia,” he said.

Juwono said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had tried to push Malaysia to accept Indonesia’s claim backed by the UN document.

He said that the government should examine other strategic approaches to the Ambalat issue.

Armed Forces Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, who also attended the hearing, said that he would try to avoid a conflict.

“In the security system, we try to solve problems properly, so [Malaysia] is able to pull its warships back to their positions,” he said.

Djoko said that the Armed Forces respected any decision by the government to tackle the Ambalat issue through diplomatic channels. “If there has been a violation, we will be stern and give them a warning, but we will still avoid firing the first shot,” he said.

Several legislators were scheduled to fly to Malaysia on Monday evening to meet with their counterparts and discuss possible ways to resolve the Ambalat dispute.

Legislator Yusron Ihza Mahendra, who chaired the delegation, said that the team was planning to “have a parliament-to-parliament meeting” with the Malaysian parliamentary speaker and his defense team.

The House team met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential office on Saturday night for a briefing about their planned visit.

“The government’s stance is clear: Diplomacy is the main priority,” Yusron said. “But the president has also already started evaluating our military strength, in case the worst-case scenario ends up becoming true.”

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