Global dignitaries to join SBY’s swearing in

Many state leaders and foreign diplomats countries are scheduled to attend the swearing in of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President, at a ceremony at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Jakarta today.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told The Jakarta Post that at least two heads of state (Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Timor Leste President Ramos Horta) and three heads of government (Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) had confirmed plans to attend.

Two foreign ministers from the Philippines and Thailand would also attend, along with special envoys from Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United States and the Czech Republic, Teuku said.

Rudd was scheduled to depart from Brisbane to Jakarta on Monday evening and return Tuesday evening, Antara news agency reported.

Australian Foreign Minister Ste-phen Smith would be among those accompanying Rudd to Jakarta.
Smith would also visit West Sumatra to oversee Australia’s earthquake relief efforts.

Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Jakarta issued a press release saying President Barack Obama had appointed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson as the country’s official delegate at the ceremony.

Jackson is the first African-American to ever hold the EPA administrator post. She previously worked at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, where she spent six years.

The release also said its other delegates included US Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume, and US-Indonesia Society president David N. Merrill.

A number of Western European countries also planned to send delegates to attend the ceremony.

British Embassy media and communications assistant Putri Wulan Tary told the Post that British Ambassador Martin Hatfull would attend.

Separately, Lantip Prakoso from the German Embassy said his embassy had yet to confirm who it would send.

“The invitation was sent to Ambassador Norbert Bas. However, he has yet to receive an official accreditation, so it could be either the deputy ambassador, Hans-Joerg Brunner, or the head of the embassy’s political department, Alexander Wallau,” he said.

The high number of VIPs planning to attend the ceremony has prompted the MPR Secretariat to increase security.

For the event, around 2,000 police would be deployed within the assembly compound and 18,000 to other locations around Jakarta, MPR secretary-general Rahimullah said.

In a separate development, Antara reported that during his stay Rudd may raise the hot issue of human trafficking, since thousands of refugees from many countries have been streaming to Australia through Indonesia in the past year.

Reports in the last few weeks have seen the Australian government embroiled in a series of debates on the fate of the refugees.

The latest incident involved 255 Sri Lankan refugees, who were captured in the Sunda Strait by the Indonesian Navy on Oct. 10.

Rudd said Australia would not be moved by the refugees’ threat to go on a hunger strike and that they must apply for formal protection with the United Nations.


http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/20/global-dignitaries-join-sby%E2%80%99s-swearing.html