Indonesian President blasted for 'characteristic' indecision

Hans David Tampubolon and Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post 21 Dec 09;

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono’s “characteristic” lack of leadership was the main reason for Indonesia’s failure to play a bigger role in the recent UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, experts and legislators say.

Having successfully hosted the Bali climate talks two years ago and won international praise for domestic reforestation efforts, Yu-dhoyono came to Copenhagen with an ambitious plan to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in creating a new climate change deal.

But Yudhoyono did not even make the group of countries that drafted the final form of the Copenhagen Accord, which emerged principally from US President Barack Obama’s meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa.

In international media coverage about the talks, Indonesia’s role was also rarely mentioned.

“The people put high hopes in the President to show strong diplomacy during the conference,” National Awakening Party (PKB) legislator Effendi Choirie said Sunday.

“The people realized that Indonesia, with its vast forests and seas, should have stronger bargaining power at the conference.

“However, the strong leadership expected from the President went to waste, because we all know the kind of character he is: not brave, and more concerned about lip service than real action.”

The climate talks ended Saturday without a legally binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions
reductions.

Yudhoyono, arriving back in Jakarta on Sunday afternoon, expressed his satisfaction with the accord, claiming almost all of Indonesia’s proposals to address climate change, which he had outlined in his speech, had been included in the draft.

Benny Furqon, from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the lack of leadership from the Indonesian delegation was evident in the country’s unclear stance on whether to take sides throughout the conference.

“Indonesia tried to play the mediator between the developing and rich countries, but at the end of the day, nobody wanted to hear what Indonesia had to say because of its indecisiveness,” he said.

“Indonesia should have taken a much more firm and clear stance from the very start. This country could have been the leader of the developing nations in bargaining with the rich countries for the sake of the Earth and the environment.”

Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice coordinator Giorgio Budi said Yudhoyono had also failed to comprehend the real issues.

“The President didn’t realize that his interventions were mostly related to money,” he said.

“Money is not the issue. The issue is rich countries’ responsibility for causing environmental damage in developing countries.”

Giorgio also lambasted Yudho-yono for focusing more on guarding his image in the eyes of world leaders rather than fighting for the environmental interests of his own people back home.