VZCZCXRO3766
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2195/01 3371055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021055Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0869
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5686
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3358
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1483
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1465
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2474
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 4114
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 5186
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2796
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 3305
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 1314
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 3142
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002195 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID
SUBJECT: MISSION'S ENGAGEMENT OF INDONESIAN PARLIAMENT 
YIELDS RESULTS 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 00544 
     ¶B. JAKARTA 02137 
 
JAKARTA 00002195  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Mission has successfully stepped up 
engagement with the Indonesian House of Representatives 
(DPR).  Parliamentary exchanges funded by the House Democracy 
Assistance Commission (HDAC), USAID, PAS and other sources 
have been instrumental in encouraging DPR to engage 
productively with the Mission and U.S. Congress.  The DPR 
sent a Parliamentary Reform team to Washington December 2-5. 
The DCM hosted a working lunch for the DPR Indonesia-U.S. 
Caucus which the Ambassador attended.  Members committed to 
exploring ways of strengthening people-to-people contacts and 
agreed to start meeting with Embassy officials monthly. 
 
¶2. SUMMARY (cont.) Parliamentarians also discussed expanding 
foreign investment and deepening bilateral relations, in a 
meeting with Senator Lugar's Senior Staffer, Keith Luse.  The 
DPR also is looking forward to the December opening of the 
Library of Congress' Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) 
center in Indonesia.  This increased engagement will help 
promote USG democracy goals as Indonesia approaches 2009 
elections. 
 
DPR'S PARLIAMENTARY REFORM TEAM VISITS WASHINGTON 
 
¶3. (SBU) Parliamentary exchange and training programs have 
had tangible results.  Senior DPR members told us they were 
inspired by the success of the House Democracy Assistance 
Commission (HDAC) and USAID training of staff and members 
aimed at legislative reform and capacity building.  As a 
result, nine Members of Parliament and two staffers left for 
Washington for a December 2-5 visit to learn about 
parliamentary reform from U.S. Congressional Staff.  The 
visit is an encouraging sign that the DPR is proactively 
reaching out to us, as the team is self-funded and at the 
initiative of the Speaker of the House, Agung Laksono. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Speaker Laksono (ref B) personally wrote to Speaker 
Pelosi to request her assistance with the visit.  Reform and 
anti-corruption promise to be key issues in the 2009 
legislative and presidential election campaigns.  This trip 
is an indication that the DPR is also taking these seriously. 
 
DPR INDONESIA-US CAUCUS WORKING LUNCH WITH DCM 
 
5.(U) DCM hosted a working lunch for DPR members of the 
US-Indo caucus, attended by the Ambassador. The Ambassador 
urged the members to actively forge a relationship with the 
U.S. based on shared U.S.-Indonesian interests.  The group 
took that on board and agreed to start meeting monthly with 
Embassy officials to expand the relationship. 
 
¶6. (U) Encouraged by the Ambassador's message, members 
touched on several areas for cooperation during the working 
lunch. Parliamentarians asked for help creating closer links 
with their counterpart caucus in the U.S. Congress, headed by 
Representatives Wexler and Burton. They also wanted to know 
how to raise awareness in U.S. Congress on issues of interest 
to Indonesia. 
 
¶7. (SBU) People-to-people exchanges were foremost in their 
minds. Abdillah Toha, head of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, 
runs an Islamic publishing company, Mizan. Mizan has 
published the book, Rainbow Warriors, recently produced as a 
popular film.  His colleague, Ade Nasution, co-chair of the 
Caucus, has also produced a film, called "Golden Goal." Both 
parliamentarians were interested in participating in a 
U.S.-Indonesian film festival and working together to protect 
intellectual property rights. They were also keen to 
establish a film museum in Jakarta. MP Cecep Syarifuddin, 
founder of Galuth University in West Java, wanted to learn 
 
JAKARTA 00002195  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
how to set up exchanges with American professors and 
speakers. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Golkar Secretary Syamsul Bachri, member of Energy 
and Environment Commission (Commission VII), expressed an 
interest in discussing geothermal and other energy-related 
partnerships.  Bachri also noted his interest in the upcoming 
Embassy-supported Wallacea Conference, which highlights the 
Indonesian scientific community's international 
contributions.  The conference will be hosted in Makassar, 
Bachri's district. 
 
CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DPR 
 
¶9. (SBU) Members of Parliament met in Jakarta with Senator 
Lugar's Senior Staffer, Keith Luse. The meeting gave the 
Indonesian MPs an opportunity to articulate what they want 
from the bilateral relationship. The four Parliamentarians, 
Theo Sambuaga of Golkar, Abdillah Toha of National Mandate 
Party (PAN), Ramson Siagian of Indonesian Democratic Party of 
Struggle (PDI-P) and Zulkifliemansyah of Prosperous Justice 
Party (PKS), asked the U.S. to help: 
 
-- Develop technological systems which have been successful 
in the U.S.; 
-- Strengthen Indonesia's industrial competitiveness; and 
-- Increase people-to-people exchanges (of journalists, 
teachers, youth, unions, and military). 
 
¶10. (SBU) They expressed concern about the global financial 
crisis and said that Indonesian needs increased foreign 
investment in manufacturing (rather than extracting 
Indonesia's natural resources) in order to alleviate poverty. 
They acknowledged, however, that Indonesia needs to be 
responsible for providing sound infrastructure and a strong 
legal basis to attract investment.  DCM and Luse noted that 
Indonesia is still giving mixed messages to the foreign 
investment community. While Indonesia now promotes a more 
open trade environment, there are still concerns, such as the 
monopoly on importing U.S. beef. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Luse expressed the U.S. desire for an equal 
partnership with Indonesia which would be mutually 
beneficial.  He also stressed growing appreciation of 
Indonesia in the U.S.  When asked why the U.S. wants to 
promote ties with Indonesia, Luse pointed out that the U.S. 
is engaged for the long-term, not just in terms of security 
but in education, business and other fields.  Most 
importantly, Indonesia's democracy stabilizes the region and 
provides a good example for other countries. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Finally, the DPR is eagerly anticipating the 
mid-December visit of a Library of Congress team to help 
establish a Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Center in 
Jakarta. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Closer relations with Congress and better 
communication with the Indonesian legislature will enable us 
to facilitate discussion of key policy issues. It also allows 
us to support Indonesian efforts to reform and shape their 
Parliament into an effective and strongly democratic 
institution. We welcome future Congressional Member and Staff 
visits to Indonesia. 
HUME