INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE`S DEFENCE COOPERATION AGREEMENT CANCELLED

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 14, 2008

Indonesia and Singapore’s Defense Cooperation Agreement Cancelled

(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)
INDEPENDENT-The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Indonesia and Singapore has been cancelled. Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the agreement that was signed in Bali was invalid along with Singapore’s assumption that the extradition is not logical. “Because the two matters are related,” said Juwono after a closed cabinet meeting at the Defense Department yesterday (4/2).

According to Juwono, the cabinet meeting did not discuss the DCA at all because it was not a priority. Singapore’s objection, said Juwono, was clearly seen when Singapore’s mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew came to Indonesia last July. “Yes, they dropped the DCA when Lee came,” he said.

Juwono explained that when Lee was in Indonesia, he said that the extradition was not logical. Lee’s statement was interpreted by Indonesia that the agreement is off. In diplomatic terms, he said, DCA and the extradition were put aside.

Late last year, Juwono said he would reformulate the DCA in 2008. Juwono now stated that reformulating the DCA can be done if it is separated from the extradition agreement. But since the two are strongly related, the reformulation is impossible.

The DCA of the two countries was rejected since it was signed in Tampaksiring Palace, Bali at the end of last February. Almost all factions in the House’s Defense Commission considered that cooperation means a loss to the Republic of Indonesia.

The House also refused the theory that the DCA be exchanged with the extradition agreement. The exchange was considered as weakening Indonesia’s position in the DCA. The House believed that pursuing corruptors who were in Singapore can still be accomplished without the extradition agreement.

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