Political will enables Singapore and Indonesia to seal pacts

Speedy deals leave critics dumbstruck
The Straits Times, April 28, 2007
By Azhar Ghani, Indonesia Bureau Chief



JAKARTA - SOMETHING unfamiliar was 'heard' among Jakarta's chattering classes recently - stunned silence.

It lasted for the briefest of moments before the talk resumed, with even greater frenzy.

The cause? Singapore and Indonesia unexpectedly sealed a deal on an extradition treaty and a defence cooperation pact on Monday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's coup in bagging a deal that his predecessors had long coveted silenced the critics who have never been shy to put down the Indonesian government.

But the boo-boys in Jakarta's elite and media circles recovered quickly enough.

Offering only grudging welcome to the deal they had long been calling for, the critics turned instead to focusing on all the possible ways that Indonesia could end up being disadvantaged by the accords.

Would the pacts be ratified? Could they be enforced? Would alleged crooks be caught or allowed to flee before they came into effect? Who gained more from the deal?

The element of surprise in the deal stemmed partly from the fact that not many were even aware that talks on the treaty were to take place on Monday.

And some senior Indonesian officials who had been told that they might be involved in the talks - but later found themselves excluded - did not know the talks were held in Singapore.

Likely venues in Pekanbaru and Bali had been bandied about.

And, even more crucially, these officials did not expect that Monday's talks would be the final round.

One official told The Straits Times that Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda had asked him as recently as late last week to be prepared to be involved in the discussions - not in Singapore - but in Indonesia's Riau Islands province, possibly Batam.

No time-frame was mentioned at all, and he heard no further news - until Monday's eye-opening announcement.

The biggest surprise in Jakarta was that the deal was reached at all.

Although negotiations on the two accords began only in 2005, the extradition treaty had been on Jakarta's wish list for far longer.

It is something of an article of faith among many in Indonesia that the treaty will bolster efforts to nab corrupt tycoons and politicians who allegedly park their illegal gains in Singapore.

Indonesia's Kompas newspaper summed up this view when it called the treaty a 'legal platform to take action' against those who were said to be in hiding in Singapore.

But it rightly also pointed out that the treaty 'is not the only answer to resolving the problem'.

'What is more important is how far the legal system in our country can be upheld,' an editorial in the newspaper said on Thursday.

A similar line was taken by the Jakarta Post, which said in its editorial on Thursday: 'The treaty is only a piece of paper. It does not have a magic power to stamp out corruption in the country. The problem rests with Indonesia rather than Singapore.

'Even if it is true that many Indonesians have escaped to Singapore along with their ill-gotten money, and Singapore agrees to extradite them to Indonesia, are we able, and willing, to bring them to court and uphold the law?

'Will they be jailed for the crimes they commit, or will they be made into cash cows by the people entrusted to enforce justice?'

Singapore has long denied it is a centre for laundered money, saying it has strict safeguards against it.

Even so, the city-state has been perceived here to be reluctant to sign the extradition agreement, so it was widely expected that the 'stalling' would go on.

Some observers recalled Singapore's quick comeback after the Jakarta Post ran a report in February that had Indonesia's chief negotiator Arif Havas Oegroseno saying that a deal was near.

Responding to press queries on the remarks by Mr Arif, a spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had then said: 'I am a little puzzled. There has indeed been progress in the negotiations on an extradition treaty but some difficult issues still need to be settled.'

On the other hand, some others who had been following the progress of the talks said they had seen the end coming.

One of them, University of Indonesia's international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana, noted that Indonesia's negotiators had been reported as saying that differences over the agreements had narrowed progressively.

Others pointed to the statement made by the Singapore's MFA in March. It had announced that Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo and Dr Hassan had agreed to set an early date for joint negotiations to conclude - not discuss - the two agreements.

So, why the lingering perception that irreconcilable gaps existed?

Blame it on the recent rough patches in ties, suggested Professor Hikamhanto.

Late last year, differences on how to handle the regional haze problem caused by Indonesian wildfires had resulted in some tension.

More trouble came in February this year after Jakarta's ban on land sand exports, which has hit Singapore's construction industry.

But sources claimed the talks were more or less immune to these developments in bilateral ties, insisting that the negotiations were always on track.

One of them said: 'Both sides had already reached certain positions in the negotiations.

'The sand export ban was a distraction that led talks to be put aside, but just for a while.'

The turning point is said to have come after the initiative to elevate the official-level discussions to ministerial levels.

But neither the clear-eyed negotiators nor the involvement of ministers could quite explain how the bilateral deal had been sealed as early as Monday, said Prof Hikmahanto.

'The remaining issues had looked rather sticky, and it would have needed a political decision with some degree of flexibility to settle things fast,' he said.

'The question is: what drove those decisions?'

In the press conference to announce the deal on Monday night, the two foreign ministers cited 'goodwill' as a reason for the success of the talks.

As Dr Hassan said then: 'Indonesia and Singapore are good neighbours, and we are determined to expand and deepen our bilateral relations.'

But a number of analysts also see other factors at play.

For Indonesia, one possible incentive was the need for Dr Yudhoyono to shore up his image as he passed the midway mark in his five-year term on April 20.

International relations analyst Bantarto Bandoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said: 'The extradition treaty would be a significant notch as it is seen as a key tool to help Indonesia tackle graft.'

It has also been suggested that Foreign Minister Hassan would not have driven as hard if he had not been under the direct instructions of his President.

Indeed, just two weeks before Monday's accord, Dr Hassan was quoted by Indonesian news agency Antara as indicating that he was looking at a slightly longer time-line for the end of ministerial-level negotiations.

He had said: 'I hope it will be completed by end-2008...but if it gets stuck there and we need intervention from the heads of state, then so be it.'

Thankfully, that did not happen, and a deal which both sides appear to be happy with was struck much sooner than many expected.