Conservatives’ Cameron now PM: What’s in it for us?
Hadianto Wirajuda, London | Mon, 05/17/2010 9:08 AM | Opinion
The British people were anxious to see the final result of the May 6 general election. I too was waiting for it with interest for one particular reason: to project what Indonesia can gain from Britain ’s future leader. And the result is now public, with a coalition government in place with David Cameron of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats as the prime minister and deputy Prime Minister respectively.
It appears that the public in London and elsewhere in Britain welcomed the result with caution; questions on whether the two parties could work together and set aside their differences remained a puzzle that needs to be resolved.
Indonesia and the United Kingdom have built a strong and comprehensive partnership in multiple areas.
Not only standing on government-to-government schemes alone, the partnership has involved citizens of both countries, as witnessed by the Islamic Advisory Group and the exchange of pupils between Islamic schools in Indonesia and schools in Britain.
This will bring the two countries closer and, most importantly, could build understanding between the people. Of course, this is something that we wish to maintain whoever the leader is, because clearly building a strong bridge that connects mutual understanding is much more substantial for the betterment of global civilization than any provisional political interests.
Indonesia needs to see Cameron’s victory as an opportunity to embrace a greater relationship between the two countries. There are, at lease, two main areas where we can nurture stronger partnership: in international institution reform and the promotion of democracy.
In its manifesto, the Conservatives outlined the importance of reform in the United Nations and the effective use of new intergovernmental organizations, particularly the G20.
In his campaign, Cameron vociferously expressed the need for the recovery of Britain ’s economy, though it remains unsure on how the government will work under the G20 framework. Indonesia can gain political capital from this effort, knowing that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has repeatedly called for an equal opportunity between developed and developing countries in gaining market access and global representation, hence, a reform on the global economic system is required.
To obtain support, let alone the reforms, for this idea is a strenuous job and this is where cooperation is needed. The Indonesian government and Cameron’s administration could use this line as an entry point for delivering a stronger partnership internationally.
The second theme is the promotion of national values. Both countries are democracies. Similar to Indonesia , Britain also envisions a world that embraces democratic values and freedom.
The Conservatives clearly underline that Britain ’s foreign policy should be based on moral authority and, having said that, it would act by using its soft power to ensure that democracy gains worldwide respect.
Though it never publicly states that its foreign policy is based on moral authority, Indonesia’s foreign policy strategy in promoting democracy abroad and projecting values of human rights through the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) initiative clearly sends a strong message, that to gain respect and recognition over a principle one should also welcome those of non-democracies, because the world comprises of different political values.
Our foreign policy is directed to the creation of world peace, and this is our moral responsibility as mandated by the 1945 Constitution.
Britain should see the forum as an opportunity to voice their global support of a value that has traditionally been upheld among its people and should treat it accordingly.
Although it says nowhere in the Conservative’s foreign affairs manifesto that it will deepen its strategic cooperation with Southeast Asians, to send the new foreign secretary to this year’s BDF would be seen as a constructive approach of the new leader in joining the effort to promote democratic values in Asia, a continent dominated with non-democracies yet being widely perceived as a new economic power.
In conclusion, there are strong reasons to be optimistic that under the new leadership Britain and Indonesia could nurture a stronger partnership that would involve people from both sides for the betterment of civilization.
The writer is a PhD student in international relations at the London School of Economics, London , England . This is his personal opinion.
