SBY declines Bush's climate change invitation

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Sydney

Political opponents including former president Megawati Soekarnoputri have accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of being controlled by western countries, especially the United States.

On Monday, the President proved that he could say, "No," to U.S. President George W. Bush when domestic interests are at stake.

Later this month his opponents will closely watch how Yudhoyono handles an invitation to Bush's private ranch in Texas, along with other regional leaders.

Yudhoyono, the host of the December UN conference on climate change in Bali, is scheduled to fly to New York to attend a special United Nations session on the issue.

In a media briefing before lunch with Australian Prime Minister John Howard here, the President disclosed that he had politely turned down Bush's invitation. So have the other leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The refusal came just after Bush offered US$20 million in aid to rehabilitate Indonesian forests.

While saying that Bush's invitation needed to be discussed further with his fellow ASEAN leaders, Yudhoyono emphasized there were places other than Texas if the American president wanted to meet his ASEAN counterparts.

"Should we come to the United States for such a meeting ...? There are so many international fora where we can also meet," Yudhoyono said.

A senior Indonesian official said the invitation would create domestic and regional consequences. By going to Texas, the public could perceive leaders of Indonesia and other ASEAN nations were reporting directly to the American leader.

In the meantime, it is clear that Bush will exclude Myanmar from his guest list. While ASEAN shares international concern over human rights abuses in Myanmar, they insist that the Myanmar issue be resolved by ASEAN itself.

Bush conveyed the invitation to ASEAN leaders when he invited them for a lunch on Friday, before they attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Saturday and Sunday here. Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei and Thailand are members of APEC, while Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are not.

ASEAN leaders have expressed disappointment with Bush's failure to come to a planned meeting in Singapore just before the APEC summit in Sydney. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also skipped the annual ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting with her counterparts in Manila in July. As a consolation Bush appointed a special envoy to ASEAN.

President Yudhoyono himself met with Bush on Saturday.