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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001930 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CORRECTED COPY (CLASSIFICATION REVISED IN PARAGRAPH 1) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID KDEM ID
SUBJECT: CODEL PAYNE AND HDAC FIND RECEPTIVE AUDIENCE IN 
JAKARTA 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 1892 (CODEL MEETS DEFMIN) 
 
     ¶B. JAKARTA 1845 (CODEL MEETS SBY) 
     ¶C. JAKARTA 1759 (CODEL SCENESETTER) 
 
JAKARTA 00001930  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) On July 4-7, CODEL Payne visited Jakarta as part of 
the House Democracy Assistance Commission's (HDAC) ongoing 
legislative strengthening program in Indonesia.  In a 
whirlwind three-day visit, CODEL Payne met with President 
Yudhoyono (Ref B), Defense Minister Juwono (Ref A) and top 
legislators from the Indonesian House of Representatives 
(DPR).  CODEL Payne engaged with parliamentarians on a host 
of issues and in a variety of fora at the DPR, in a series of 
breakfast and lunch meetings, and during a reception at the 
Ambassador's residence for members of the DPR's 
U.S.-Indonesia Caucus.  Throughout their visit, 
Representatives Donald Payne (D-NJ), David Dreier (R-CA), and 
James Moran (D-MD) consistently stressed the need to develop 
an independent Indonesian legislature, and noted the 
importance of attracting talented, independent DPR support 
staff as part of this process (Note: presently the DPR 
largely relies on civil servants employed by the Secretariat 
and accountable only to the Executive branch for staffing. 
End Note).  Indonesian interlocutors from the President on 
down to individual parliamentarians proved receptive to this 
message, and demonstrated a palpable enthusiasm for HDAC's 
mission that was reportedly lacking during HDAC's two 
previous trips to Indonesia.  In the most notable 
manifestation of the DPR's obvious enthusiasm for the visit, 
DPR Speaker Agung Laksono urged CODEL Payne to sign a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing the 
relationship between HDAC and the DPR; however, the 
delegation declined to sign the Indonesian text.  HDAC will 
consider proposing its own MOU language instead.  End Summary. 
 
CODEL PAYNE MEETS SPEAKER LAKSONO 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On July 5, CODEL Payne met with Speaker Laksono, 
Commission I Chairman Theo Sambuaga, and Inter-Parliamentary 
Vice Chairman Andi Ghalib.  Chairman Laksono welcomed the 
CODEL to Indonesia, spoke about his own efforts at 
legislative reform, and agreed with the CODEL's assessment 
that a stronger legislature would help expedite the 
democratic consolidation process in Indonesia.  Congressman 
Payne recounted for the Speaker the group's conversation 
earlier that day with President Yudhoyono (Ref B), and noted 
that the President had also endorsed the idea of a stronger 
independent legislative branch of government.  Congressman 
Payne underscored HDAC's belief that the DPR would need to 
bolster the number of expert staff available to help 
Indonesian legislators conduct the nation's business.  He 
further emphasized that the DPR's current staffing structure, 
currently under Executive branch oversight, should be 
reformed to develop a staff cadre that would report directly 
to the legislative branch. 
 
¶3. (U) Congressman Dreier briefed the Speaker on HDAC's 
mission and noted that Indonesia was the Commission's largest 
and most geopolitically significant partner.  Bearing in mind 
the DPR's previous sensitivity to the optics of receiving 
democratic strengthening assistance from the United States, 
Dreier noted that democracy was still a work in progress in 
the United States as well.  Congressman Moran discussed the 
importance of accounting for past human rights transgressions 
as a necessary step towards progressing as a nation, and 
highlighted the need for additional resources to help the DPR 
continue to develop as an effective institution. 
 
¶4. (U) Chairman Laksono closed the meeting by asking the 
CODEL to consider endorsing a formal MOU with the DPR that 
would commit HDAC to long-term assistance in the form of 
exchanges, technical assistance, and continued cooperation. 
Representative Payne thanked the Speaker for the proposed 
MOU, characterizing it as a clear symbol of the DPR's 
seriousness of purpose, and agreed to review the document 
carefully. 
 
 
JAKARTA 00001930  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
CODEL PAYNE ENGAGES WITH THE DPR 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The three Congressmen and six staffers in CODEL Payne 
participated in an intense series of meetings at the DPR that 
stretched out over the better part of two days.  The 
Representatives met at one point or another with the Speaker, 
the DPR Reform Implementation Team, the Legislative Council, 
the DPR Administration Committee, the Finance and Banking 
Committee, leaders from all ten political party factions, 
groups of legislators from all ten party factions, alumni 
participants in a 2006 HDAC exchange to the United States, 
the U.S. Indonesia Caucus, and USAID's legislative 
strengthening partners.  CODEL Payne staffers participated in 
many of the same meetings and also periodically broke away to 
meet with staff members from the Speaker's office, expert 
staff from political party factions, expert staff from all 11 
DPR Commissions, expert staff from the Legislative Council, 
and the Director of the DPR's information center.  One 
measure of the intensity of the program was the fact that at 
two separate points during the visit, the Congressmen and 
staffers participated in six concurrent meetings at the DPR. 
 
¶6. (U) In meetings with the DPR's Legislative Group and its 
Reform Implementation Team, Indonesian parliamentarians 
consistently highlighted the issue of inadequate funding as 
the DPR's most pressing concern.  DPR members agreed with 
CODEL Payne's assessment that responsibility for staffing the 
DPR should no longer lie with the executive branch, and they 
demonstrated a sense of urgency about the need for greater 
reform. In a meeting with the DPR's Administration Committee, 
several parliamentarians shared their candid views about what 
they perceived as a USG effort to promote "U.S. style 
democracy in Indonesia."  Congressman Dreier responded that 
HDAC sought simply to assist other legislatures by way of 
example and through the exchange of information and 
experiences.  There was no such thing as a perfect democracy, 
Dreier added, before noting that even with the benefit of 
over two hundred years of experience, the United States had 
room for improvement. 
 
¶7. (U) During the course of their individual meetings with 
DPR members from the different factions, Congressmen Payne, 
Dreier, and Moran addressed questions about U.S. foreign 
policy, discussed concerns related to the impact 
globalization, and reviewed a variety of other issues of 
mutual interest.  In Congressman Payne's meeting with the 
largest party in the DPR, Golkar, he stressed the importance 
of interacting with one's constituents, and noted to the 
group's collective astonishment that he visits his district 
nearly every week.  Several parliamentarians remarked that 
funding constraints precluded them from visiting their 
constituents more than once or twice a year.  In Congressman 
Dreier's meeting with the second largest faction, PDI-P, and 
several smaller parties, Dreier presided over a lively 
exchange that touched on Iraq, Papua, and the challenges of 
democratic consolidation. 
 
¶8. (U) In their July 11 meeting with Commission XI, the DPR 
committee charged with oversight of finance and banking 
issues, Congressmen Dreier and Payne emphasized that the U.S. 
Congress sets the federal budget.  Congressmen Payne and 
Dreier then outlined for their Indonesian counterparts the 
detailed mechanics of the U.S. budget process, before 
underscoring the U.S. House's role in initiating all 
spending.  Congressman Dreier pointed out that the House and 
Senate have the right to disagree with the President, and 
vice versa, before noting that the Framers crafted the 
Constitution in such a way that there would always be a 
healthy clash of ideas between the legislative and executive 
branches.  In closing the meeting, both Dreier and Payne once 
again emphasized the importance of employing independent 
staff members directly accountable to their superiors, and 
emphasized that they would never allow outside influences to 
direct their staffing decisions. 
 
¶9. (U) CODEL Payne has cleared this cable. 
HUME