DELAY IN OBAMA'S VISIT GOOD FOR MORE FOCUSED TALKS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 19 (ANTARA) - US President Barack Obama who has postponed his planned visit to Indonesia to June is expected then to be more able to  focus on US-Indonesia bilateral talks when he meets with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.          The US President, who is facing a vote on health insurance reform at home, would be more relaxed if he visits Indonesia after the US Congressional deliberations on Obama's  health care legislation are over.          Due to the health reform issue, Obama has had to postpone his planned three-day trip to Indonesia which was initially  scheduled  to begin in Jakarta next Tuesday.          According to Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, the President had telephoned the leaders of Indonesia and Australia and told them that he must postpone his planned visits to a later date so he can remain in Washington for the critical vote.          The President now expects to visit Indonesia and Australia in June. The passage of health insurance reform is of paramount importance, and the President is determined to see this battle through.          President Yudhoyono's Special Staff for foreign affairs Dino Patti Djalal said with the delay of his visit until June, Obama could be more focused in discussing efforts to increase cooperation between the two nations.          "We hope that when Obama is in Indonesia in June he will  be  focused 100 percent on increasing Indonesia-US cooperation. His focus of attention should be on Indonesia-US relations, not on his country's domestic affairs," Dino said.          Dino said that before Obama delayed his planned visit from March 20 to March 23, Yudhoyono had suggested that the US president should first focus his attention on the US domestic political affairs.          "President Yudhoyono had previously sent a message that Obama's  visit should  be made at a time when his  domestic affairs are settled," Dino said.          President Obama was previously planned to begin his visit in Indonesia on March 20 and later postponed to March 23. Yudhoyono hoped that Obama should not be in Jakarta while his attention would still be in Washington because of unsettled domestic problems.          "And for this, President Yudhono suggested that the visit be made in June," Dino said.          Communications between the White House and Jakarta had been very intense and on Thursday night the White House said Obama's visit to Jakarta was delayed until June.          "The president could understand it because we have been active in monitoring the situation in Washington since the beginning. We learned how tight the political process was in Washington regarding the health care legislation. And we really understand the paramount importance of the legislation for the government of Obama," he said.          But until now, no fixed date and schedules in Jakarta for the June visit of the US President have been made.          In the meantime, associate chairman of President Yudhoyono's Democrats Party Anas Urbaningrum said that Obama would be more relaxed and can concentrate on his visit if he made it next June.          "We appreciate President Obama's schedule. We could understand if he gives priority to his domestic agenda and for him his visit in June would make him more relaxed and full of concentration," Anas told ANTARA.          For Indonesia, the postponement of the visit would give a chance to make a more complete draft agreement on Indonesia-US comprehensive partnership scheme.  But Anas expressed his hope that the planned visit in June would no longer be postponed.          "If it is once again delayed it would give the impression that Obama's visit to Indonesia is not too nice, despite the fact that the substance of the visit would not change," Anas who is also former central executive board chairman of the Muslim Students Association (HMI), said.          He said that as countries which share similar sovereignty and a decisive role in the Asia-Pacific region, the United State and Indonesia needed to increase their mutual understanding and cooperation in various fields in order to commonly bring order to the world.          The same view was also expressed by political observer Ansari Yamah of the North Sumatra's State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN). He said that the visit of Obama to Indonesia would bring benefit to the nation.          In general sense, there is no strong reason to reject Obama's visit to Indonesia. Besides having respect for eastern values, Obama is also  able to give a lesson on the absence of race and color differences in the life of nation and state.          As a leader of a superpower nation, Obama is able to bring changes and peace process to the world. "Obama is also able to show his love for Muslims," Ansari said.          Therefore, Ansari expressed his disillusion over the postponement of Obama's planned visit.          "The postponement of his visit also means that the benefit Indonesia can reap from the trip is also delayed," he said.         (T.A014/A/HAJM/19:40/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 19-03-2010 19:52