This report, recently featured in the Straits Times’ article, “Indonesia’s Political Miracle”, is designed to take stock of developments in Indonesia and identify ways of enhancing our bilateral relationship. The authors, Andrew MacIntyre and The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative, Douglas Ramage, provide important insights based on their deep understanding of the subject. A central theme of the paper is that Indonesia has become a normal country, the world’s third largest functioning democracy, with a very lively, engaged parliament. Indonesia’s transformation of course poses challenges for Australia. In some ways, vibrant democracies are harder to deal with than dictatorships. The authors’ core message in this Strategy is that it’s the consolidation of Indonesia’s democratic governance that we should focus on as we improve our bilateral relationship and pursue our interests in Southeast Asia and the wider Asia–Pacific.

By Steven Rood

Steven Rood is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in the Philippines. He can be reached at srood@asiafound.org. The below is adapted from a speech given at the 4th Mindanao Media Summit,  “Mindanao 2020:  The Vision begins with Us”, from August 7 – 9, 2008 in Davao.

After living in the Philippines for 27 years, I spend a good deal of my time explaining the country to foreigners. Over the last few weeks, however, I have found myself explaining events that concern one group of Filipinos to other Filipinos.  The hot issues at the moment – the ones everybody is now talking about in this country – are ones I care deeply about.  As I told Carol Arguillas of MindaNews in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, “I’m worried that an exclusive focus on peace efforts makes it harder to draw in others who are concerned with better elections, better governance, development, etc. Peace can be profitably pursued in the broader context of good governance and development rather than in a narrow focus.”

So, let me talk some about the broader connections among the four words in my title:  Peace, Elections, Autonomy, and Development.
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For further information please contact Mr. Ichal Supriadi, ANFREL Mission Director, at ichal@anfrel.org.

Accredited by the Philippines’ Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed 22 international election observers representing seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) to observe regional elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). On election day, 11th August 2008, observers were deployed in all ARMM provinces, including Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabungsuan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. A total number of 443 precincts (polling stations) were observed. The ANFREL observers have been in the Philippines since 1st August 2008. The mission was conducted in the ARMM in partnership with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), 16 Muslim civil society organizations, and the Darul Ifta Assembly of the Philippines, with support from The Asia Foundation and the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency.

The executive summary can be read here. In sum, the ARMM elections were generally conducted with less violence. The new systems were certainly a welcome improvement over the manual system in previous elections.  That the COMELEC accredited and welcomed both local and international observers demonstrate an openness to further strengthening Philippines democracy.

By Scott Snyder

Scott Snyder is director of the Center for Korea Policy at The Asia Foundation and a senior associate at Pacific Forum CSIS. He can be reached at ssnyder@asiafound-dc.org.

President Bush’s stop to Seoul en route to the Beijing Olympics is a reminder that a once-firm security alliance with South Korea faces continuing difficulties over North Korea’s nuclear development, American beef imports to South Korea, and ratification of a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. But despite these difficulties, there is potential to refashion this relationship into a dramatically expanded partnership in the service of our mutual regional and global interests.

American and South Korean interests have converged and now expand well beyond the narrow focus on security interests that emerged as a result of the Korean War. South Korea’s successful economic modernization and its political consolidation into a vibrant democracy underscore the attraction of South Korea as a key Asian partner. South Korea has developed the economic, political, and security capacity to be considered as a first-tier partner in promoting both regional and global stability—as evidenced by South Korea’s contributions to peace operations in Timor Leste and Iraq.
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Doug Bereuter, President of The Asia Foundation, recently returned from Korea and Mongolia. In Mongolia, he met with President Enkhbayar, Democratic Party Leader Ts. Elbegdorj, and Civic Union/Green Party Leader Enkhbat, in addition to touring mine sites in Zamaar soum, Tov aimag. His interview with MM News Television can be viewed here. In Korea, Mr. Bereuter delivered the speech, “Challenges in U.S.-Asian Relations Awaiting a New American President” which can be read in its entirety here.

By Steven Rood

Steven Rood is The Asia Foundations Country Representative in the Philippines.. He can be reached at srood@asiafound.org.

Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, representatives of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were slated to sign yet another agreement, two years in the making, that would have moved peace talks one step closer to a comprehensive compact. However, dozens of us – peace negotiators, diplomats, officials, and civil society observers – on a Monday afternoon flight from Manila were startled to learn, when turning on our mobile phones upon landing, that the Philippine’s Supreme Court had issued a temporary restraining order to halt the signing, leaving us to wonder how to move forward. In the short run, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on August 15 on whether to lift the restraining order or to make it permanent.
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org.

Last week, the latest round of talks under the “Doha Round” of multilateral trade negotiations ended in disarray and disappointment. The trade ministers and negotiators gathered in Geneva could not – again – reach agreement on reforms in agricultural support and trade.

The mainstream press reports that the refusal of China and India to reduce import tariffs is the main reason for the collapse of the talks. Yet behind the belligerence of less-developed countries at the negotiations lies a much more important obstacle to trade reforms: the continuing and growing – and worse, unnecessary subsidies, and protection being provided to European and especially American, farmers.
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Who: The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) was established in 1997, as Asia’s first regional network of civil society organizations. It strives to promote and support democratization at national and regional levels in Asia.

What: Twenty-two COMELEC-accredited international election observers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, arrive in Manila for a briefing-orientation prior to being fielded to all provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), in collaboration with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), 16 partner Muslim civil society organizations, and the Assembly of the Darul Ifta of the Philippines coordinated the international election observation mission. ANFREL’s effort is being conducted with support from The Asia Foundation and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). On August 1, ANFREL will be formally presented to COMELEC Chairman Jose A. R. Melo and will hold a press conference.

Where: Ballroom B, Crown Regency Hotel, 1026 Arnaiz Avenue, San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
Tel. +63 2 845.0211 to 15

RSVP: Ms. Tatine G. Faylona +63 919 6301376 or Mr. Mark Guevarra +63 927 7162441

For other information on ANFREL, please visit www.anfrel.org which also contains reports on various other ANFREL works in Asian countries

Hosted by USAID, The Asia Foundaiton, and The Institute for Bangsamoro Studies.

Where:     Estosan Garden Hotel, Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines
Phone +63 82 235 0888

What:    The Forum on Aceh and the Mindanao Peace Processes is a venue for comparative learning between the Aceh (Indonesia) and Mindanao peace processes. Specifically, it aims to do the following:

•    identify factors that contribute to the success of the implementation of the 2005 Helsinki Agreement for Aceh;
•    describe the role of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in the initial implementation of the agreement;
•    suggest recommendations that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) can consider in the ongoing peace talks from both the Aceh Peace Agreement, and locally, from the experience of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) when it forged the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the GRP in 1996

Speakers: Mr. Wiratmadinata, the Forum’s principal speaker, is The Asia Foundation’s William P. Fuller Fellow in Conflict Resolution for 2007-2008.  He will be joined by Major Haroun-Al-Rashid Jaji of the Philippine Army assigned with the 6th Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao and Prof. Abhoud Lingga, Executive Director of the Institute for Bangsamoro Studies. Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema will give the opening remarks.

RSVP : Cris Cayon, The Asia Foundation: ccayon@asiafound.org, or Mobile: +63 (920) 916-8711.