Rita A. Widiadana and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Denpasar – The three bilateral agreements Indonesia and Singapore signed here on Friday received mixed reactions from politicians and military analysts.
House Speaker Agung Laksono and Theo Sambuaga, chairman of the defense and foreign affairs commission at the House of Representatives, hailed the agreements, which have been pursued for some time by Indonesia.
"The signing today of the three accords is historic for the two nations especially because Indonesia has lobbied Singapore to sign the extradition treaty for almost 35 years," he said after the ceremony.
He praised the extradition agreement as a stepping stone for Indonesia to capture fugitives hiding in Singapore. The treaty binds Singapore to extradite both Indonesians and foreigners suspected of committing 31 kinds of crime, including corruption and bank fraud, in the past 15 years.
Theo said the House would ratify the three pacts as soon as the government submitted them. But he said he was not entirely happy with Singapore's pledge to accept the 15-year retroactive period, saying it could have been longer because Singapore had dragged on its feet on the negotiations.
"The accord requires Singapore to extradite all Indonesian fugitives no matter if they have changed their citizenship. What counts is that they were Indonesian when they committed their crimes."
Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was skeptical about the Extradition Treaty. He said he feared Indonesian criminals would flee Singapore when the treaty takes effect. "Singapore should be cooperative in tracing the bank accounts of Indonesian fugitives," he said.
Yasonna and Theo were of the opinion that Indonesia should immediately draw up a trade agreement requiring the two countries to be transparent in their bilateral trade balance.
"The three agreements should encourage the two countries to enhance their economic ties," Yasonna said, adding he feared the three agreements could make vast Indonesia "more integrated" into the neighboring city state.
Yasonna said the two countries should also discuss border issues and take joint action to stop illegal sand quarrying on the Riau Islands for export to Singapore.
Meanwhile, Andi Widjayanto, a military analyst with the University of Indonesia, criticized the agreement on defense cooperation and the implementation of training areas between the two countries' militaries, saying it showed that Indonesia had less control of its territorial sovereignty.
"Indonesia gains nothing and makes available its territory to Singapore's military despite the ruling that Indonesia can say no to involvement of a third party (in the exercises) and that any breaches of law would be tried under Indonesian law," he said.
Pointers of the defense cooperation agreement:
1. Indonesia allows Singapore to use its certain waters and air territory for military exercises with or without Indonesia and third countries.
2. Any military exercises are conducted at the permits of Indonesian authorities.
3. Indonesia is allowed to send observers in any exercises.
4. Indonesia is also allowed to conduct military exercise and trainings in Singapore and given access to its military technology.
5. Military exercises are conducted with designed programs and under a three-layer supervisory system by a senior official defense committee, an annual joint ministerial meeting and a similar meeting that involves the two commanders of the two countries' armed forces.
6. Effective for 25 years and evaluated once in six years after a 13-year implementation.
7. The defense cooperation agreement is not a military pact.