Jokowi’s likely absence from UN assembly is just ridiculous: Comment

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): It will be an irresponsible decision and even a cowardly act for President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, if he opts to skip the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the eighth time.

There are no more acceptable excuses for him to shun the annual global forum, unless he has a serious health problem, which is unlikely. Or is it because he has increased fuel prices, an unpopular decision Indonesian presidents avoid?

If that is the case, his absence does not make any sense.

Although the UNGA is only one week away, there is no confirmation from the President on whether he will fly to New York.

The 77th session of the UNGA opens on Sept 13 under the theme “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges”.

The UN says the theme stems from the recognition that “the world is at a critical moment in the history of the UN due to complex and interconnected crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, a tipping point in climate change, as well as growing concerns about threats to the global economy”. Jokowi told Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi a few months ago that he will attend the UNGA for the first time but reportedly changed his mind because he wanted to focus on domestic affairs.

Initially, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin would speak on his behalf at the Assembly but for health reasons, doctors did not recommend the 79-year-old Muslim cleric to go.

A senior economic minister told a group of journalists recently that the President was reluctant to leave the country apparently because the government planned to increase fuel prices.

But now that new fuel prices have come into effect and major protests are nowhere to be seen, it should be safe for Jokowi to make his first appearance at the UNGA.

Jokowi’s attendance is important especially if he can come up with a breakthrough to mitigate the devastating impacts of the war in Ukraine, not only on the millions of people in Ukraine, but also the many people who face imminent starvation because the war has denied their access to food.

The President has at least four capacities to speak in the yearly UN Assembly, while he can seize opportunities to hold bilateral talks with other leaders, including United States President Joe Biden.

First, Jokowi holds the Group of Twenty (G20) presidency and will host the G20 Summit in November. The summit’s prospect is in jeopardy after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24.

Western leaders of the group have threatened to boycott the summit if Putin turns up. Jokowi flew to Germany in late June to brief the Group of Seven (G7) leaders as part of his bid to save the G20 Summit, expected to find solutions to the global threats of inflation and the looming food and energy crises.

Jokowi also travelled to Kyiv and Moscow on a mission to ensure Ukraine could export its grain to the world, while personally inviting President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Putin to come to Bali.

More recently, Jokowi toured China, Japan and South Korea to discuss bilateral and multilateral issues, while conveying his invitation to the three G20 members to attend the Bali Summit.

In New York, Jokowi will have a chance to meet leaders of other G20 members such as Saudi Arabia, India and Brazil to ask them to RSVP his invitation to take part in the Bali gathering. G20 combines developing and developed, democratic and undemocratic countries in the world.

Second, Jokowi is taking over the Asean chairmanship from Cambodia in November. The regional grouping was behind the formation of the world’s largest trading bloc, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Global powers also acknowledge that Asean should play a central role in the Indo-Pacific, especially the South China Sea.

Under Indonesia’s leadership, Asean is expected to accelerate solutions to the Myanmar conundrum, which otherwise puts regional security and stability in peril.

Asean centrality in maintaining regional and world peace is imperative especially amid the rising tension between global powers in the South China Sea, where China has claimed its sovereignty over almost the entire maritime territory.

The role of Indonesia’s regional leadership will hopefully be instrumental in keeping the commitment of Asen to uphold the South China Sea as a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality.

Third, Jokowi leads the world’s third-largest democracy after India and the US. Despite all its imperfections, Indonesia is seen as a beacon of democracy in the region and beyond.

Indonesia can contribute more to the promotion of democratic values and practices across the world.

Fourth, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and the world’s largest Muslim nation.

Indonesia has so far proven that democracy and Islam not only are compatible but also enrich and complement each other. This year will be the last chance for Jokowi to speak in person at the UNGA.

He will most likely be absent from the forum next year when Indonesia is gearing up for the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Feb 14, 2024.

Of course, the President still has a chance to attend the UNGA in 2024, but his appearance will be of no relevance as at that time he will be transferring power to his successor, unless Jokowi intends to go to New York for leisure.

As the UN states, "It is, therefore, necessary to find and focus on joint solutions to these crises and build a more sustainable and resilient world for all and for the generations to come”.

President Jokowi should seize the opportunity to address the issue now that he chairs the G20 and will soon lead Asean. Jokowi has no excuse to skip the UNGA this time around. If he stubbornly refuses to address the UN Assembly, people in the country and the world will only ask, what’s wrong with him?

*** The writer is a senior editor of The Jakarta Post.