Mantan Menlu Australia Nyatakan Penarikan Dubes di Jakarta Tindakan Ceroboh
Withdrawing Australia`s Ambassador from Indonesia is a Bad Move: Says Bob Carr
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
MENARIK duta besar Australia dari Indonesia dalam menanggapi eksekusi mati duo Bali Nine adalah langkah yang buruk, kata mantan menteri luar negeri Australia Bob Carr.
Australia memiliki sejumlah kepentingan untuk bekerja sama dengan negara lain, kata Bob Carr kepada Sky News, mengutip kerjasama penyelundupan manusia, perdagangan ternak dan kontra-terorisme.
Dengan ketidakhadiran duta besar, Australia berpotensi berada pada risiko yang lebih besar di negara itu, katanya, sekaligus menimbulkan persoalan baru ketika duta besar kembali diitugaskan ke Indonesia.
"Untuk menarik duta besar dari jantung kota Jakarta artinya kita tidak punya kekuatan dan seluruh agenda Australia hilang begitu saja," kata Carr seperti dikutip AAP yang dilansir MailOnline.
Mr Carr juga memperingatkan pemerintah federal terkait masalah bantuan luar negeri ke Indonesia, sebuah langkah yang ia khawatirkan dapat menyebabkan berkembangnya ajaran Islam radikal.
"Pemotongan bantuan adalah sesuatu yang kita harus kesampingkan, bahkan sekarang, itu suatu hal yang bodoh untuk dilakukan," katanya.
"Saya pikir kita negara yang cerdas, serta penuh kasih."
Aaron Connolly, seorang peneliti di Program Asia Timur di Lowy Institute setuju dengan pendapat Carr bahwa keputusan untuk menarik duta besar kembali ke Canberra adalah salah besar.
"Ini akan sangat sulit untuk menghindari terjadinya eskalasi gerakan diplomatik tit-for-tat," katanya kepada radio ABC.
John McCarthy, Duta Besar Australia untuk Indonesia dari 1997-2000, juga mengatakan penarikan duta besar adalah langkah yang salah.
Australia malah harus menahan kunjungan bilateral setingkat setelah eksekusi mati, atau setidaknya selama sisa tahun ini.
"Kita harus mempertahankan duta besar kita di Jakarta karena masalah komunikasi," katanya.
Namun, eksekusi mati akan sangat mempengaruhi persepsi Presiden RI Joko Widodo terhadap Australia selama menjabat sebagai presiden, dan Indonesia, untuk tahun-tahun mendatang.
"Ini akan mengakibatkan turunnya harapan dan butuh ketekunan dan kesabaran yang lebih besar," katanya di blog Strategis Institut Kebijakan Australia.
WITHDRAWING Australia's ambassador from Indonesia in response to the Bali Nine executions is a bad move, according to former foreign minister Bob Carr.
Australia has an enormous amount to work on with the country, Mr Carr told Sky News, citing cooperation on people smuggling, the live cattle trade and counter-terrorism.
With an absent ambassador, Australians could potentially be at greater risk in the country, he said, while raising the awkward question of when he would be sent back.
"To pluck our ambassador out of the heart of Jakarta simply means we haven't got the clout and this whole agenda could slide away," Mr Carr said.
Mr Carr also warned against the federal government scaling back foreign aid to Indonesia, a move which he fears could lead to schools instead being built by Saudi Arabia, teaching a more extreme version of Islam.
"Cutting aid is something we should be ruling out, even now, it's such a dumb thing to do," he said.
"I thought we were an intelligent country, as well as a compassionate one."
Aaron Connolly, a research fellow in the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute agreed with Mr Carr that the decision to bring the ambassador back to Canberra was the wrong one.
"It's going to be very difficult to avoid an escalatory spiral of diplomatic tit-for-tat," he told ABC radio.
John McCarthy, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia from 1997-2000, also said withdrawing the ambassador was a wrong step.
Australia should instead withhold bilateral visits by ministers while executions continue, or for the rest of the year.
"We should keep our ambassador in Jakarta because communication matters," he said.
However, the executions would deeply affect Australia's perception of President Widodo through the rest of his tenure, and of Indonesia, for years to come.
"It will require lowering expectations and greater persistence and patience," he said on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute blog.
